Frida Shatkhina’s mother Reizl Shatkhina

My mother Reizl Shatkhina. This photo was taken in Chernivtsy in 1960.

In 1934 I got a job at the post office as a telephone operator. I continued to work there after World War II. I didn't consider a marriage. I had to take care of Mama. There were no old age pensions paid at that time, and Mama had never worked in her life, she was a housewife, so she didn't receive a work pension. I was the only breadwinner. Of course, this wouldn't have been enough for living in a town, but in the village we quite managed.

I met my future husband, Isaac Brisman, a Jew, in Chernevtsy in 1960. He came on a long business trip from Mogilyov-Podolskiy. He worked as a postal worker.
Before going home Isaac proposed to me. Of course, we didn’t have a Jewish wedding. We registered our marriage in a registry office and in the evening invited my relatives and friends to a dinner. Then Isaac left and I stayed in Chernevtsy. I couldn’t get a job in Mogilyov-Podolskiy and I didn’t want to be a housewife. Mama couldn’t move either due to her health condition.

Mama died in 1962. We buried her in the Jewish cemetery in Chernevtsy, near my father's grave. There was a Jewish funeral. My husband recited the Kaddish over her grave.