In 1932 famine 14 began in the country. At this period Torgsin stores 15 were opened in Kiev where people could buy food and delicacies like caviar or sea fish for gold and valuables. There was a saying ‘Look, kids, what your ancestors ate before the first 5-year plan’ 16. We didn’t have any gold or valuables and didn’t go to these stores, but I remember how other boys went to look at the windows of one of these stores. Watchful NKVD officers put down names of customers taking them to their cells to find out where they kept their gold treasures. I remember peasants from surrounding villages dying of starvation in the streets. They came to Kiev looking for work or food. Special trucks patrolled the streets to take away dead bodies. People said that those starving villagers kidnapped and murdered children to sell their meat at the market. My mother told me to be on guard and not to talk to strangers. Mother received some bread and food per coupons. She also brought some food packages and exchanged clothes for food. Sometimes we got a bowl of soup and a bun at school. The period of famine lasted all through 1933. This was a horrible time.
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Displaying 47761 - 47790 of 50402 results
Solomon Manevich
I finished school in 1933 and entered the Industrial Rabfak 17. This was a free educational institution for workers. To be admitted young people had to work and my mother’s acquaintances helped me to get a position of apprentice of mechanic at a shop. I didn’t have to go to work, but was on the list of employees to be able to enter the Rabfak as a worker. I joined Komsomol 18 at school. It was mandatory to be a Komsomol member to be able to go to work or enter a College after finishing studies at school.
I was aware of the actual situation and knew that historians manipulated with the history and I decided to stay aside from any political or social sciences and go to study at the Industrial College (that became Polytechnic College after the war). I entered the Faculty of Chemistry at the Industrial College in 1935. Efimov, the rector of this college was arrested and executed as a Trotskist 19 when I was a 1st year student. Then every year there was another director of the college assigned. Nobody asked where a previous one disappeared. [Editor’s note: each year the actual director was arrested, then killed. So while Solomon studied there the college had 4 directors, from which 3 was killed.] We were all aware that they were exterminated as ‘enemies of the people’ and that they were innocent victims. The last rector during my studies – a postgraduate student called Shpilko, shook every student’s hand fearing that one might be an informer and write a report on him. He was assigned by the Party committee of the College and was afraid to refuse this position.
I remember the Komsomol meetings conducted in the biggest conference hall of the College. They started after the lectures and ended at 2-3 at night, or at 6-7 next day in the morning. There were streetcars waiting at the entrance of the building. The main issue on the agenda was identification and denunciation of ‘enemies of people’. We had discussions of the following kind: one saw Ivanov talking with Sidorov and Sidorov was having beer with Petrov who met with an ‘enemy of the people’ Stepanov that was arrested later. Summary: Ivanov, Petrov and Sidorov didn’t report on Stepanov, which means that they were also ‘enemies of the people and were to be expelled from College and Komsomol. [Editor’s note: all names are fictive.] Decision of the meeting was sent to ‘competent’ NKVD authorities and nobody ever saw Ivanov, Petrov or Sidorov again. All these people were innocent victims of Stalin’s regime. They vanished in camps and exile. Nobody questioned what happened to them. There was a person and then he disappeared. Keep your mouth shut if you want to live – this was a rule of life.
I remember how the secretary of the Komsomol committee of the College was expelled from the Party. At the time when Kosarev was the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the All-Union Lenin Komsomol, the secretary of the college said a few good words about him not knowing that Kosarev would become an ‘enemy of the people’. He was repressed immediately after the meeting at the College. Going home late I saw people pushed into the cars that people called ‘Black Maria’ cars. The head of the Chair of Higher Mathematics, Academician of the Academy of Sciences of the UkrSSR Kravchuk was repressed and so was the head of the Military Department of the College Kozko awarded with two Orders of the Combat Red Banner during the Civil War. People said that the reason for Kozko execution was his friendship with Yakir 20, Commander of Kiev regiment, who had been executed shortly before. Kozko asked me once about my patronymic of Henrikhovich thinking that it might be of German origin and whether my father was German [everything related to foreigners aroused suspicions in espionage]. I explained that my father was a Jew and change his Jewish name Genekh to Henry.
It was impossible to believe that people who had recently protected their country from fascism were traitors. Party and state officials and common people suffered from repression. My mother’s friend Grigori Sitnitski, a bank employee was arrested by a false report. He was incriminated acquaintance with his former supervisor, ‘enemy of the people’, ties with foreign intelligence agencies and some other nonsense. Grigori was ‘lucky’. After tortures in NKVD cells he became an invalid and was released for absence of corpus delicti. He had to sign confirmation that he would not disclosed what happened to him in prison for the fear of death penalty. He told it in secret to his wife and she told my mother after Grigori died shortly after he was released.
I was fortunate as well: since I wrote in all forms that I didn’t know my father I managed to escape the fate of the so-called ‘members of the family of an enemy of the people’ who perished in Stalin’s camps. I realized that I had to adjust to the system or it might destroy me.
I remember how the secretary of the Komsomol committee of the College was expelled from the Party. At the time when Kosarev was the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the All-Union Lenin Komsomol, the secretary of the college said a few good words about him not knowing that Kosarev would become an ‘enemy of the people’. He was repressed immediately after the meeting at the College. Going home late I saw people pushed into the cars that people called ‘Black Maria’ cars. The head of the Chair of Higher Mathematics, Academician of the Academy of Sciences of the UkrSSR Kravchuk was repressed and so was the head of the Military Department of the College Kozko awarded with two Orders of the Combat Red Banner during the Civil War. People said that the reason for Kozko execution was his friendship with Yakir 20, Commander of Kiev regiment, who had been executed shortly before. Kozko asked me once about my patronymic of Henrikhovich thinking that it might be of German origin and whether my father was German [everything related to foreigners aroused suspicions in espionage]. I explained that my father was a Jew and change his Jewish name Genekh to Henry.
It was impossible to believe that people who had recently protected their country from fascism were traitors. Party and state officials and common people suffered from repression. My mother’s friend Grigori Sitnitski, a bank employee was arrested by a false report. He was incriminated acquaintance with his former supervisor, ‘enemy of the people’, ties with foreign intelligence agencies and some other nonsense. Grigori was ‘lucky’. After tortures in NKVD cells he became an invalid and was released for absence of corpus delicti. He had to sign confirmation that he would not disclosed what happened to him in prison for the fear of death penalty. He told it in secret to his wife and she told my mother after Grigori died shortly after he was released.
I was fortunate as well: since I wrote in all forms that I didn’t know my father I managed to escape the fate of the so-called ‘members of the family of an enemy of the people’ who perished in Stalin’s camps. I realized that I had to adjust to the system or it might destroy me.
Before graduation I was called to the military registry office where I got an assignment to serve in the army in Saratov, a big Russian town near the Volga after I defended my diploma thesis. In December 1940 I arrived to Saratov. The headquarters assigned me as a machine gunner to the rifle regiment no. 110. I suffered all intimidation of a private of the army there. Any commanding officer could abuse or hurt us especially the first sergeant.
On 22 June 1941 my friend Misha Polesov from Zaporozhiye and I watched First Lieutenant Lermontov 21 at the Drama Theater in Kuibyshev. During an interval someone said to us ‘Guys, the war began’. We left the theater.
In July 1941 we received an assignment to military schools in Kuibyshev for positions of Komsomol leaders at battalions. Since I was a chemical engineer I was sent to the Volsk school of chemical defense in the town of Sheihana Saratov region. At this school I was insistently advised to join the party since only a member of the Party could hold my position. After I worked at school for a year I was given a recommendation and became a candidate and then – member of the Party. I had no choice and had to join the Party. It was my duty as a military.
In 1946 my acquaintances wrote a request to release me from the army. This request was approved by a military plant in Kiev. I demobilized and returned to Kiev, only I was not going to work at the plant, but wanted to be involved in science. I looked for a job at educational institutions and scientific research institutes. After the potential employers saw my nationality in application form they always gave me a polite refusal. This was the first time in my life when I faced stable anti-Semitism on a state level.
I looked for a job for about three months before I went to work at the military plant that manufactured radar sets. I was a senior foreman and deputy superintendent of galvanic shop. When working at the plant I got a good knowledge of greatly praised socialist organization of labor and planned economy. There was no work in the first two weeks of a month when all employees had to come to work to pretend they worked hard between 8am – 6pm. In the next two weeks the shop got overloaded with work. We worked until 2-3 am to complete the plan or otherwise workers might be fired or even arrested for ‘sabotage’. There were terrible conditions at the plant when exhaust ventilation didn’t function and workers refused to work. Lower management had to give an example of work in such conditions.
In the summer of 1947 the Town Party Committee sent me to Kopachev village, Obukhov district, Kiev region. I was responsible for harvesting. 20-30 people, mostly women, worked in this village. There was no equipment, but starved horses. However, it was necessary to collect the crops and I had to demand superhuman efforts from these miserable exhausted people. We worked 12-14 hours per day. Another difficulty was that the chairman of the kolkhoz was permanently drunk and it was next to impossible to make him work.
In the summer of 1947 the Town Party Committee sent me to Kopachev village, Obukhov district, Kiev region. I was responsible for harvesting. 20-30 people, mostly women, worked in this village. There was no equipment, but starved horses. However, it was necessary to collect the crops and I had to demand superhuman efforts from these miserable exhausted people. We worked 12-14 hours per day. Another difficulty was that the chairman of the kolkhoz was permanently drunk and it was next to impossible to make him work.
In January 1948 I managed to get out of the hell of rushed work at the plant. I was invited to the position of senior lab assistant at the Department of general chemistry of Kiev College of Civil Aviation which was newly established. I also taught at seminars and supervised laboratory activities at the daytime department and lectured at the evening department. I also wrote manuals for extramural students. In some time Professor Izbekov, Head of Department of General Chemistry of Kiev Polytechnic College invited me to become a lecturer at the College. Since the College of Civil Aviation was located across the street from the Chemical department of Polytechnic College and I managed to commute between two Colleges during an interval. Working in two Colleges I also passed exams for the title of candidate of sciences and became a scientific researcher.
The second campaign was openly anti-Semitic. Mass media had publications about struggle against ‘rootless cosmopolites’ 22 – Jewish intellectuals and workers of culture. In both Colleges where I worked Jewish lecturers were not allowed to participate in commissions during entrance exams or even were dismissed. Party officials found formal reasons to fire people. Many Jewish employees from our College lost their job. I don’t know whether any Jewish employee kept his job at that time. We didn’t discuss this subject since we might be punished for such discussions. People didn’t trust one another. I was also fired from the Polytechnic College in 1948.
At the end of the academic year 1947–48 the director of the College of Civil Aviation Pochasov told me that I was to be dismissed since the program in chemistry was reduced. I asked to resign after vacation to be able to find a job during vacation. I couldn’t find a job at any College or scientific institute since they also were firing their Jewish employees. I was given polite refusals at all institutions.
At the end of the academic year 1947–48 the director of the College of Civil Aviation Pochasov told me that I was to be dismissed since the program in chemistry was reduced. I asked to resign after vacation to be able to find a job during vacation. I couldn’t find a job at any College or scientific institute since they also were firing their Jewish employees. I was given polite refusals at all institutions.
Once I met my former co-student who worked at the commissioning trust called Orgcommuneenergo responsible for the power supply in Kiev. My former co-student helped me to get employed by this trust. Valia Gordienko, another friend of mine from the prewar time was a supervisor at this trust. I became an equipment mechanic and liked this job. I worked with new equipment and was involved in its commissioning, start up and modifications. I trained the personnel and installed this equipment. I was promoted to an engineer’s positions in due time, then to senior engineer, to crew engineer and foreman. I received a higher salary than a standard engineer at any other enterprise. I worked at the commissioning departments for the rest of my life until I retired in 1982.
I remember Stalin’s death in 1953. I sighed with relief when he died, although many of my acquaintances including Jews, were in panic. They believed that Stalin protected them from anti-Semites and that the situation would be worth after his death. I always believed that there would be time, when Stalin’s tyranny would come into open, but I never thought that in less than three years after his death I would be reading a secret report of Khrushchev 23 ‘The cult of Stalin and how to overcome its consequences’ on XX Party Congress 24 under the portrait of Stalin at a party meeting in the office of director of the trust. I would like to mention that working at the plant after the war, at Colleges and commissioning departments I never faced any prejudiced attitude caused by my nationality. This was another proof that ‘fish gets rotten from its head’ and anti-Semitism was forced from higher levels of power.
We got married in 1968 and have been together since then. We have no children, but this enabled us to dedicate our life to one another. Emma shares her outlooks with me and we are very much alike. We are fond of reading and go to theaters and concerts together. We spent vacations in the Crimea and Caucasus. We could afford traveling. Only I never traveled abroad – Jews were not allowed to travel abroad. My wife is a teacher of chemistry at school and I am retired.
I have a dual attitude towards perestroika. Pensioners suffered from it. We lost our savings and have miserable pensions. But I wouldn’t want any return of the past. I don’t want to live in the country where no human rights were observed. During the rule of Gorbachev I quit the Party in 1980s. I voluntarily returned my Party membership card to the Party authorities. I think Ukraine is right to seek independence and it would be wrong to seek unification with Russia at the moment. Russia inherited ruinous features from the Soviet Union: aggressiveness and ties with Arab regimes. I am convinced that there must be no union with Russia since communist fascists are very strong there. I vote for independent Ukraine. If I were young I would find a place in this new life. I believe that young people have more opportunities in life nowadays.
I’ve never celebrated Jewish holidays or observed traditions. I attend the Hesed in Kiev and am a member of the Jewish Culture Society. We, elderly Jews, get together once a month in Hesed. We listen to music, exchange books, discuss what we have read, talk about biographies of Soviet and Jewish writers and have various discussions. I attend lectures about Jewish life and read Jewish newspapers. I find it all interesting, but I feel it is too late to change my habits. I shall never believe in God, although I think there is some higher power, but it is nothing certain. I give tribute to Jewish traditions during Pesach: my wife and I eat matzah and no bread during this time.
Raissa Makarevich
My name is Raissa Grigorievna Makarevich. That's my maiden name, I didn’t change it after I got married. I was born on 12 February 1922 in Kiev.
My grandmother and grandfather on my mother’s side died before I was born, so all I know about them is what my mother told me.My maternal grandfather’s first name was Fivel, his last name was Golubchik. My maternal grandmother’s name was Leya Golubchik. I don’t know her maiden name. They lived in the town of Gornostaipol in Chernigov province. Later they moved to Kiev. I don’t know exactly what my grandfather did for a living. Mamma said he owned a business, it may have been a small store. They were relatively well off. My mamma told me that my grandfather and grandmother were very religious. They attended their town's synagogue. Grandfather began each day with a prayer. He put on his tallit and tefillin. They celebrated all the religious holidays at home, and strictly observed kashrut. A Ukrainian woman, their neighbor, came to their place every Saturday to start the fire and help my grandmother around the house. On Saturdays Grandmother didn’t do anything. Grandfather had been married before. Grandmother Leya was his second wife. He had one daughter, Lisa, from his first marriage. She was my mamma’s older stepsister. Her last name was Gershman after she got married. She lived in Kiev. I called her aunt Leika. She died before the war. She left two daughters, Bella and Sarra. Bella was an English teacher, but she got sick after the evacuation and died in the mid-1950s. Sarra moved to the USA. She died there in 2001.
My mother had siblings: an older sister, Rysia, and a younger sister, Fruma. Mamma’s older sister Rysia’s married name was Shekhtman. She died before the revolution. I was born in 1922 and they gave me her name. Rysia Shekhtman had three children: a daughter, Ania, and twins, Boris and Naum. Ania got married. Her married name was Rappo. She finished high school in Kiev and worked as an economist. During the war she was evacuated and died around 1960 in Kiev. Boris finished military college before the war, was summoned to the front as a lieutenant, and perished in 1942. Naum finished his degree at an institute in Kiev before the war. After Ukraine's western territories were united with the rest of Ukraine, he was sent to work there. He disappeared before the war. Mamma’s younger sister Fruma was married but she didn’t have any children. During a flu epidemic, Fruma got sick and died at the age of 32.
My mother, Dvoira Makarevich (née Golubchik), was born in Gornostaipol in 1894. Her family eventually moved to Kiev, but I don’t know when or why they moved. In Kiev, Mamma finished high school. Later she became a seamstress - a prestigious profession for Jewish girls. She met my father in Kiev.
My grandmother and grandfather on my mother’s side died before I was born, so all I know about them is what my mother told me.My maternal grandfather’s first name was Fivel, his last name was Golubchik. My maternal grandmother’s name was Leya Golubchik. I don’t know her maiden name. They lived in the town of Gornostaipol in Chernigov province. Later they moved to Kiev. I don’t know exactly what my grandfather did for a living. Mamma said he owned a business, it may have been a small store. They were relatively well off. My mamma told me that my grandfather and grandmother were very religious. They attended their town's synagogue. Grandfather began each day with a prayer. He put on his tallit and tefillin. They celebrated all the religious holidays at home, and strictly observed kashrut. A Ukrainian woman, their neighbor, came to their place every Saturday to start the fire and help my grandmother around the house. On Saturdays Grandmother didn’t do anything. Grandfather had been married before. Grandmother Leya was his second wife. He had one daughter, Lisa, from his first marriage. She was my mamma’s older stepsister. Her last name was Gershman after she got married. She lived in Kiev. I called her aunt Leika. She died before the war. She left two daughters, Bella and Sarra. Bella was an English teacher, but she got sick after the evacuation and died in the mid-1950s. Sarra moved to the USA. She died there in 2001.
My mother had siblings: an older sister, Rysia, and a younger sister, Fruma. Mamma’s older sister Rysia’s married name was Shekhtman. She died before the revolution. I was born in 1922 and they gave me her name. Rysia Shekhtman had three children: a daughter, Ania, and twins, Boris and Naum. Ania got married. Her married name was Rappo. She finished high school in Kiev and worked as an economist. During the war she was evacuated and died around 1960 in Kiev. Boris finished military college before the war, was summoned to the front as a lieutenant, and perished in 1942. Naum finished his degree at an institute in Kiev before the war. After Ukraine's western territories were united with the rest of Ukraine, he was sent to work there. He disappeared before the war. Mamma’s younger sister Fruma was married but she didn’t have any children. During a flu epidemic, Fruma got sick and died at the age of 32.
My mother, Dvoira Makarevich (née Golubchik), was born in Gornostaipol in 1894. Her family eventually moved to Kiev, but I don’t know when or why they moved. In Kiev, Mamma finished high school. Later she became a seamstress - a prestigious profession for Jewish girls. She met my father in Kiev.
, Ukraine
My father and mother got married soon after, in 1917.
They had a traditional Jewish marriage in a synagogue. They observed all the rituals, and there was chuppah. My father was a very religious man. My father and mother always went to the synagogue on Saturday. He always prayed - donning the tallit right up until the end of his life. He died in 1972. Mamma said his time serving in the tsarist army had been a trial for him, he hadn't wanted to join. But he didn’t have parents, so he had nobody to stand up for him. And so he had no choice. After my parents got married, they rented an apartment in a three-story building on Bratskaya Street, in Podol. Their landlord was a Jew, his name was Lukashevich. There were fifteen apartments in the building and they were all leased. Our apartment was on the first floor.
They had a traditional Jewish marriage in a synagogue. They observed all the rituals, and there was chuppah. My father was a very religious man. My father and mother always went to the synagogue on Saturday. He always prayed - donning the tallit right up until the end of his life. He died in 1972. Mamma said his time serving in the tsarist army had been a trial for him, he hadn't wanted to join. But he didn’t have parents, so he had nobody to stand up for him. And so he had no choice. After my parents got married, they rented an apartment in a three-story building on Bratskaya Street, in Podol. Their landlord was a Jew, his name was Lukashevich. There were fifteen apartments in the building and they were all leased. Our apartment was on the first floor.
, Ukraine
My parents got married in 1917, and in 1919 they had their first daughter, my older sister Feiga. At home we called her Fenia. Fenia went to school and took music classes. (It was fashionable to give children music lessons.) After she finished school she worked as an accountant at the plant. Later, she married a Jew named Raikhstadt. Fenia was in evacuation during the war. After the war she continued to work at the plant. She died in Kiev in 1987. Her husband is alive, he is ninety years old. During the war he was at the front, got captured, and went through several concentration camps. He managed to hide the fact that he was Jewish and miraculously survived. He lives with his daughter and my cousin Lina.
In 1920 my older brother Naum was born. He was named after Daddy’s brother Naum. Naum died as a baby. Mamma told me that, because it happened during the pogrom in Kiev, they couldn’t bury the baby's body. People were afraid to leave their homes and there was nobody to bury the dead. Daddy hired a cab and took his dead son to the cemetery to bury him.
In 1920 my older brother Naum was born. He was named after Daddy’s brother Naum. Naum died as a baby. Mamma told me that, because it happened during the pogrom in Kiev, they couldn’t bury the baby's body. People were afraid to leave their homes and there was nobody to bury the dead. Daddy hired a cab and took his dead son to the cemetery to bury him.
, Ukraine
My father, Gersh Peisah-Aizekovich Makarevich, was born in Kiev in 1886. He became an orphan at the age of 12. I know nothing about his parents. I know he had a brother – Naum, who lived in Podol, Kiev, with his family. I don’t remember Naum; he died at an early age. His son, Mikhail Makarevich (my cousin), perished during the war. He was part of the River Fleet and was involved in the evacuation of women and children. He perished during an air raid on the Dnieper. My father, being an orphan, became a butcher’s apprentice and later started working at a butcher’s shop. During the First World War, my father was a private in the tsarist army. He served for a period in Ussuriysk. He was photographed while there and sent the picture to my mother – they had met by then. He was wounded and sent to a hospital in Moscow. Mamma went to Moscow to take care of him. Given the period, this was a bold step as they weren't yet married. Once Father recovered he returned to Kiev and got a job with the same butcher.
, Ukraine
I had many friends and we celebrated holidays together. In 1940, at a New Year's celebration, I met my future husband. He came with his girlfriends, but he liked me very much. The following day he found out my address and came to our home. He started courting me and we got married on 5 March, by which time I had turned 18.
My husband's name was Sokolanskiy Semyon Phippovich. He was much older than me. He was born in 1908 in Kiev, but his family came from Litin, in the Vinnitsa region. I didn’t know my husband’s parents. But I did know his brothers, Victor and Yuriy. They both held high, official positions and were Party members. My husband had finished his service in the army and graduated from the Institute of Trade. He was the director of a store. We didn’t have a big wedding. We just had a festive dinner. Although my parents insisted on a religious wedding, we didn’t have any religious rituals. We didn’t even want to hear about it, as I was a Komsomol member and my husband was a Party member. I moved to my husband’s place. He had a big room in a communal flat in the center of town. Four families were living in this apartment. There was a big kitchen and each family had a coal stove. There was running water and a toilet.
At the beginning of 1941 our daughter Larissa was born. She died from diphtheria at the age of two years and ten months during the evacuation.
We knew about fascism and Hitler, but we all thought the disaster wouldn't touch us.
My husband's name was Sokolanskiy Semyon Phippovich. He was much older than me. He was born in 1908 in Kiev, but his family came from Litin, in the Vinnitsa region. I didn’t know my husband’s parents. But I did know his brothers, Victor and Yuriy. They both held high, official positions and were Party members. My husband had finished his service in the army and graduated from the Institute of Trade. He was the director of a store. We didn’t have a big wedding. We just had a festive dinner. Although my parents insisted on a religious wedding, we didn’t have any religious rituals. We didn’t even want to hear about it, as I was a Komsomol member and my husband was a Party member. I moved to my husband’s place. He had a big room in a communal flat in the center of town. Four families were living in this apartment. There was a big kitchen and each family had a coal stove. There was running water and a toilet.
At the beginning of 1941 our daughter Larissa was born. She died from diphtheria at the age of two years and ten months during the evacuation.
We knew about fascism and Hitler, but we all thought the disaster wouldn't touch us.
, Ukraine
I’m the middle sister. I was born on 12 February 1922. Our family lived at Bratskaya Street 8. We had a two-room apartment and everything we needed. We had metal beds, but, then again, we also had a leather sofa, embroidered and starched little napkins, little china elephants on the shelf. These were the symbols of being well-to-do. Our kitchen was really big, but this may have just been my impression as a child. The girls lived in one room until our older sister got married, and the parents lived in another room. After Fenia got married, we moved into the room with our parents and the newlyweds got a room to themselves. The toilet and water were in the yard, but we were used to it. We had electricity.
In the early 1920s, during NEP [New Economic Policy], Daddy worked in a big butcher shop. We were living the good life then; my parents could afford to pay for a big apartment, we had good food and clothes. After NEP, my father worked in an ordinary, state-owned store and our life became more complicated. But still, we were an average family. We were not poor.
We lived in Podol, near the synagogue, and my parents went there every week. When Father couldn’t go to the synagogue, he prayed at home. We celebrated Shabbat at home. Father had to go to work, as he worked in a state-owned store. But our mother didn’t even light the primus [small kerosene stove] – she asked us to do it for her. I also went to our old neighbor, Tsylia, to light her primus on Saturdays. Because Mamma didn’t touch money on Saturday, as it wasn’t allowed, we bought everything we needed in advance. On Friday evenings Mamma used to light the candles and say a prayer.
In the early 1920s, during NEP [New Economic Policy], Daddy worked in a big butcher shop. We were living the good life then; my parents could afford to pay for a big apartment, we had good food and clothes. After NEP, my father worked in an ordinary, state-owned store and our life became more complicated. But still, we were an average family. We were not poor.
We lived in Podol, near the synagogue, and my parents went there every week. When Father couldn’t go to the synagogue, he prayed at home. We celebrated Shabbat at home. Father had to go to work, as he worked in a state-owned store. But our mother didn’t even light the primus [small kerosene stove] – she asked us to do it for her. I also went to our old neighbor, Tsylia, to light her primus on Saturdays. Because Mamma didn’t touch money on Saturday, as it wasn’t allowed, we bought everything we needed in advance. On Friday evenings Mamma used to light the candles and say a prayer.
, Ukraine
When I was six years old I started attending Jewish school. I was small and they didn't want to admit me. But I was bored at home, I was a smart girl, and so Mamma convinced them to let me go to school. At the Jewish school we studied the same subjects as in Russian or Ukrainian schools. The only difference was that the language of instruction was Yiddish. But we didn’t have any special subjects related to the history of the Jewish people, their culture, or their religion. I studied at this school for five years and then went to the Russian school. Our entire class moved to the Russian school because the Jewish one closed. This was around 1932. Goldhar, the director of the Jewish school, was arrested in the early 1930s. He was charged with having ties to Zionists. I don’t know what happened to him, but I never saw him again.
When I got to the Russian school, I made quite a few Russian and Ukrainian friends. They treated us very well. All nationalities were equal back then. Podol, where we lived, was a historically Jewish neighborhood. Many Jewish families lived there. One of my classmates was Misha Reider, who became a musician and worked in the philarmonic. His brother, Abram Reider, became a military pilot and served in the army throughout the entire war. There were also our neighbors, the Olevskiy family, who all got a higher education and became candidates and doctors in the sciences. Basically what I'm saying is that, before the war, the Jews were treated the same as any other nationality. I didn't know the word "zhyd," I'd never heard it.
I liked my school. I liked math the most out of all my subjects. I was also part of the school's dancing and singing clubs. Soviet schools only observed Soviet holidays, and rejected all the others. So if I had missed school and stayed home to celebrate a Jewish holiday, I would have been punished as if I had just been skipping. But we did celebrate the Soviet holidays: the 1st of May, October Revolution Day. I remember our regional office sent a wagon to take all the residents to the festive parade in Kreschatik. After the parade, we had guests; Mamma laid the table and they all enjoyed themselves.
When I got to the Russian school, I made quite a few Russian and Ukrainian friends. They treated us very well. All nationalities were equal back then. Podol, where we lived, was a historically Jewish neighborhood. Many Jewish families lived there. One of my classmates was Misha Reider, who became a musician and worked in the philarmonic. His brother, Abram Reider, became a military pilot and served in the army throughout the entire war. There were also our neighbors, the Olevskiy family, who all got a higher education and became candidates and doctors in the sciences. Basically what I'm saying is that, before the war, the Jews were treated the same as any other nationality. I didn't know the word "zhyd," I'd never heard it.
I liked my school. I liked math the most out of all my subjects. I was also part of the school's dancing and singing clubs. Soviet schools only observed Soviet holidays, and rejected all the others. So if I had missed school and stayed home to celebrate a Jewish holiday, I would have been punished as if I had just been skipping. But we did celebrate the Soviet holidays: the 1st of May, October Revolution Day. I remember our regional office sent a wagon to take all the residents to the festive parade in Kreschatik. After the parade, we had guests; Mamma laid the table and they all enjoyed themselves.
, Ukraine
This period was terrible, when Jewish people were killed for no reason. Mamma told me that across the street from us, at Bratskaya 9, a rabbi and an Orthodox Christian priest lived in the same building. During the pogrom, the priest hid the rabbi’s family and the families of all of the neighboring Jews, including our family. Bandits did not dare to enter the priest's home. This priest was a very kind and honest man. In 1938, during the period of repression, both the rabbi and the priest were arrested. They disappeared without a trace - they were probably killed. I have dim memories of the rabbi and the priest, but I remember the rabbi's daughter, Donia, well. We used to play with her. I never saw her after the war. They say she perished at Babi Yar.
My younger sister Rosa was born in Kiev in 1925. During the war she was in evacuation with me. After the war she married Leonid Markman. My sister was always very sick and couldn't work. In the late 1970s she, her husband, and her son Vladimir moved to the USA. She lives there now, in Cleveland.
My younger sister Rosa was born in Kiev in 1925. During the war she was in evacuation with me. After the war she married Leonid Markman. My sister was always very sick and couldn't work. In the late 1970s she, her husband, and her son Vladimir moved to the USA. She lives there now, in Cleveland.
, Ukraine
We celebrated all the Jewish holidays at home. During Pesach, Father went to the synagogue and brought back a basket of matzah. We cleaned up the house and put our beautiful kosher dishes on the table. Mamma called them "Easter dishes." Father sat at the head of the table and guided the first seder. He said all the traditional prayers and words in Yiddish. All the traditional items were laid out on the table at Pesach: matzah, bitter greens, eggs, chicken. And Mamma cooked a lot of other delicious things. There was no bread in the house during Easter. For Purim, Mamma always baked hamantash, little triangular pies stuffed with poppy seeds. We had guests over to our house and they all drank wine and enjoyed themselves. At Hanukkah we children would always get money and gifts. But at that time we didn't understand the origin of these holidays. Our parents didn’t tell us anything. During Yom Kippur Mother and Father kept the fast, but the children didn’t. Children were not supposed to fast. At home our parents spoke Yiddish to each other, and Russian to us children.
, Ukraine
But it was not always like this. I remember well the Ukrainian famine of 1933. Father got horse sausage somewhere. He and Mamma didn’t eat it, they left it for us, children. I remember the starving people. Once, I came down our building's stairs and saw a stranger. He was lying on the ground, his legs were swollen and huge as barrels, he was breathing hard and died soon after. Sometime later, a wagon covered with black cloth came to pick up the dead man. At school they gave us some food and bread in exchange for special coupons. Our situation at home was a little better than it was for other families – at least our father worked in a store. Mamma taught us to share bread and food with those who were suffering more than us. And at school we always shared our breakfast with other children.
At school, I was an Octobrist and a pioneer. I was proud to wear my red pioneer tie – I thought it was the most beautiful thing ever. My father, however religious he was, was understanding about our interest in all this stuff. He did not object to our becoming pioneers and, later, Komsomol members. We, in turn, respected his outlook and his faith. Our family was very close.
I finished seven classes at school. I went to work at the Kiev-Petrovka railroad station as an assistant accountant and then became a full accountant. While working there, I took night classes and finished secondary school. At the same time, I became a member of the Komsomol League and the Komsomol Bureau.
At school, I was an Octobrist and a pioneer. I was proud to wear my red pioneer tie – I thought it was the most beautiful thing ever. My father, however religious he was, was understanding about our interest in all this stuff. He did not object to our becoming pioneers and, later, Komsomol members. We, in turn, respected his outlook and his faith. Our family was very close.
I finished seven classes at school. I went to work at the Kiev-Petrovka railroad station as an assistant accountant and then became a full accountant. While working there, I took night classes and finished secondary school. At the same time, I became a member of the Komsomol League and the Komsomol Bureau.
, Ukraine
On 22 June 1941, as we were on the way to the beach, we heard that the war had begun. Molotov made an annoucement at 12:00 over the radio. I had heard the sound of an air raid earlier, but I didn’t know why. On that same day, my husband received his military call-up papers and left. I took my child and we went with him to the military office. I remember the crying women in the yard of the military office well. They were saying their farewells to their husbands, sons, and brothers. From there, I went to my parent’s place in Podol. We stayed in Kiev for a while. But we didn’t think of evacuation, even though many people were leaving.
My husband stayed in the area around Kiev for a while. Their military unit was between Nezhyn and Bakhmach. In August, he came to Kiev with his commanding officer, Colonel Vlasov. The Germans were near the town, they told us. Kiev was in a panic. People were stealing food from the stores and the markets were closed. People were saying there were German spies disguised in the town. Colonel Vlasov told me to evacuate immediately. He said that the army would leave Kiev soon.
We all left Kiev on the same truck on which my husband and colonel Vlasov had arrived: Larissa and I, my older sister Fenia, my younger sister Rosa, and my parents. We went to Bakhmach where my husband’s military unit was, and later we all moved to Akhtyrka, in the Sumskaya region. My husband was with his military unit, and we rented an apartment. But we didn’t stay there long. As the front moved closer to Kiev, the military command organized the evacuation of all military families. They sent us to some plant in Ulianovsk. We went there on a freight train. On the way, we stopped in Kharkov. There was a terrible raid going on there that killed tons of people.
It took us several weeks to get to Ulianovsk. When we arrived, we rented a room. I started work as an accountant at the plant, and my sister Rosa worked in a shop there. As a military wife, I received 400 grams of bread and 200 grams for my child. My parents got bread through ration cards. As a military family we also received some wood. This was a great help as the winters were very cold.
My husband stayed in the area around Kiev for a while. Their military unit was between Nezhyn and Bakhmach. In August, he came to Kiev with his commanding officer, Colonel Vlasov. The Germans were near the town, they told us. Kiev was in a panic. People were stealing food from the stores and the markets were closed. People were saying there were German spies disguised in the town. Colonel Vlasov told me to evacuate immediately. He said that the army would leave Kiev soon.
We all left Kiev on the same truck on which my husband and colonel Vlasov had arrived: Larissa and I, my older sister Fenia, my younger sister Rosa, and my parents. We went to Bakhmach where my husband’s military unit was, and later we all moved to Akhtyrka, in the Sumskaya region. My husband was with his military unit, and we rented an apartment. But we didn’t stay there long. As the front moved closer to Kiev, the military command organized the evacuation of all military families. They sent us to some plant in Ulianovsk. We went there on a freight train. On the way, we stopped in Kharkov. There was a terrible raid going on there that killed tons of people.
It took us several weeks to get to Ulianovsk. When we arrived, we rented a room. I started work as an accountant at the plant, and my sister Rosa worked in a shop there. As a military wife, I received 400 grams of bread and 200 grams for my child. My parents got bread through ration cards. As a military family we also received some wood. This was a great help as the winters were very cold.
, Ukraine
I was a Komsomol member and we were all extremely patriotic. I went to the hospital to care for the severely wounded. In 1943 I became a member of the Communist Party.
My husband was part of the front-line forces. He was wounded in a battle around Rostov and sent to the hospital in Oufa. I needed a special permit to visit him, and I managed to get it because he was severely wounded. His leg was damaged and he became an invalid.
I returned to Ulianovsk and after some time my husband joined me there. He got a job with a local trade organization and our life got a little better. Later, I changed jobs and joined the State Trade Inspection. I was the Ulianovsk Region's State Trade Inspector for the Ministry of Trade of the USSR. I was responsible for inspecting public catering establishments, canteens, and stores. I received more food through ration cards as my provisions now came under category A, a category reserved for managerial staff. We received meat and oil. In general, we managed all right.
I remember one store inspection that happened before the holidays. Remizov, Head of the Department for the Struggle Against Theft of Socialist Property, accompanied me during this inspection. We entered a store and he told the shop assistants, “Put your bags on the counter and stay where you are.” This was to prevent them from hiding food in their bags. The store was found to have an excess of egg powder [at that time, people were given egg powder instead of meat]. The director of this store, Valia, was a widow. Her husband had perished on the front. She had two small children. She got so scared that we would find out about the excess, which would mean court and then prison for her. Remizov trusted me completely and never double-checked my findings. So I issued a deed of inspection indicating that everything was all right and entered the figures that should have been there. I was risking my own neck, but I felt sorry for Valia. That evening, Valia found me and came to our home. She brought a package of cookies, cried, and thanked me for saving her from jail. I didn’t take the cookies, of course, and I sent her home. I always tried to help people if I could, because this was a terrible time.
I felt awfully sorry for children. They never got enough food and they were always sick. My daughter Larissa died in Ulianovsk in 1944. She had diphtheria. My mother was in hospital with her, as I couldn’t leave my job. The doctors couldn’t help Larissa – they didn’t have the necessary medication. My husband was on a business trip in Ulan-Ude. By the time he returned, Larissa had died. We mourned our daughter deeply. Only work could distract us a little. At the end of 1944, my daughter Nelia was born.
My husband was part of the front-line forces. He was wounded in a battle around Rostov and sent to the hospital in Oufa. I needed a special permit to visit him, and I managed to get it because he was severely wounded. His leg was damaged and he became an invalid.
I returned to Ulianovsk and after some time my husband joined me there. He got a job with a local trade organization and our life got a little better. Later, I changed jobs and joined the State Trade Inspection. I was the Ulianovsk Region's State Trade Inspector for the Ministry of Trade of the USSR. I was responsible for inspecting public catering establishments, canteens, and stores. I received more food through ration cards as my provisions now came under category A, a category reserved for managerial staff. We received meat and oil. In general, we managed all right.
I remember one store inspection that happened before the holidays. Remizov, Head of the Department for the Struggle Against Theft of Socialist Property, accompanied me during this inspection. We entered a store and he told the shop assistants, “Put your bags on the counter and stay where you are.” This was to prevent them from hiding food in their bags. The store was found to have an excess of egg powder [at that time, people were given egg powder instead of meat]. The director of this store, Valia, was a widow. Her husband had perished on the front. She had two small children. She got so scared that we would find out about the excess, which would mean court and then prison for her. Remizov trusted me completely and never double-checked my findings. So I issued a deed of inspection indicating that everything was all right and entered the figures that should have been there. I was risking my own neck, but I felt sorry for Valia. That evening, Valia found me and came to our home. She brought a package of cookies, cried, and thanked me for saving her from jail. I didn’t take the cookies, of course, and I sent her home. I always tried to help people if I could, because this was a terrible time.
I felt awfully sorry for children. They never got enough food and they were always sick. My daughter Larissa died in Ulianovsk in 1944. She had diphtheria. My mother was in hospital with her, as I couldn’t leave my job. The doctors couldn’t help Larissa – they didn’t have the necessary medication. My husband was on a business trip in Ulan-Ude. By the time he returned, Larissa had died. We mourned our daughter deeply. Only work could distract us a little. At the end of 1944, my daughter Nelia was born.
, Ukraine
In 1947 our second daughter, Svetlana, was born. Although we had a family and two daughters my husband and I didn’t get along. In the early 1950s he went to Kemerovo on a business trip and never returned. After that, he was seldom interested in our life, never helped, and rang only on holidays. We got divorced years later. I worked hard for the rest of my life to raise my daughters and provide them with a good education. My ex-husband saw his daughters rarely, and only if it was on his way to the Crimea or the Caucasus. He died a long time ago, in 1978. We didn't even know where the funeral was.
I've been proposed to several times over the years, but I was always afraid of giving my children a stepfather that treated them badly. So I didn't remarry.
My girls Nelia and Sveta finished school. They did very well. This was during the eruption of anti-Semitism. Nelia and Sveta chose to be officially recognized as Ukrainian rather than Jewish. By having Ukrainian written on their passports they were able to enter educational institutes. Their friends were mainly Russian and Ukrainian.
At home we didn’t observe any Jewish traditions or celebrate any Jewish holidays. I was a Party member and I was afraid.
My parents moved into our old apartment in Podol when they returned home from evacuation. After the war, my father worked in a store for a while. Then he retired. My mother didn’t work. My father died in 1972 and my mother died in 1977. My parents continued to observe Jewish traditions and celebrate all the holidays. They regularly went to the synagogue in Podol. All our relatives got together at their place during Pesach. My children and I also went. I believe my girls identified as Jews, even though they were officially listed as Ukrainian. They always asked my father about Jewish holidays, traditions, and the history of our people.
Nelia finished her degree at the Institute of Trade and Economy. She worked in commerce for several years. Now she is retired. Her husband is Ukrainian, but he treats Jews with respect. My grandson, Yura, Nelia’s son, works at a car company. They lead a moderate life. They have enough to survive.
I've been proposed to several times over the years, but I was always afraid of giving my children a stepfather that treated them badly. So I didn't remarry.
My girls Nelia and Sveta finished school. They did very well. This was during the eruption of anti-Semitism. Nelia and Sveta chose to be officially recognized as Ukrainian rather than Jewish. By having Ukrainian written on their passports they were able to enter educational institutes. Their friends were mainly Russian and Ukrainian.
At home we didn’t observe any Jewish traditions or celebrate any Jewish holidays. I was a Party member and I was afraid.
My parents moved into our old apartment in Podol when they returned home from evacuation. After the war, my father worked in a store for a while. Then he retired. My mother didn’t work. My father died in 1972 and my mother died in 1977. My parents continued to observe Jewish traditions and celebrate all the holidays. They regularly went to the synagogue in Podol. All our relatives got together at their place during Pesach. My children and I also went. I believe my girls identified as Jews, even though they were officially listed as Ukrainian. They always asked my father about Jewish holidays, traditions, and the history of our people.
Nelia finished her degree at the Institute of Trade and Economy. She worked in commerce for several years. Now she is retired. Her husband is Ukrainian, but he treats Jews with respect. My grandson, Yura, Nelia’s son, works at a car company. They lead a moderate life. They have enough to survive.
, Ukraine
The entire family of my mother’s relative, Goldenberg, perished at Babi Yar. They had missed their window to evacuate. Boris Shehtman, my cousin, perished on the front. My husband's sister, Maria Sokolianskaya, perished in the Northern Caucasus. She was a nurse in the kindergarten and they evacuated with the children to the Northern Caucasus. They were captured by the Germans there, and Maria was shot because she was a Jew. David Raikhstadt, my sister Fenia’s husband, went through several concentration camps. He managed to conceal the fact that he was a Jew. In one of the camps, somebody reported that he was a Jew. When he was called up for a medical examination, his Russian went in his stead. He rescued him.
In 1945 we returned to Kiev. My husband, Nelia, my sister, her child, and I traveled by train. My parents arrived in Kiev later. Our apartment on Chkalov Street had been occupied, and we were not allowed to move in. We lived for some time with our neighbor Musia on Chkalov Street. She was Russian and had stayed in occupied Kiev. Her husband became a traitor and was executed when our forces returned. We only lived there a few days. My husband thought that a longer stay might spoil our reputation, as both of us were Party members.
My husband received a small room in Podol as a war invalid. It was a small room with a little kitchen, a stove, and a sink. That was all there was but we were happy to have anything, however small. We were happy to be back in our dear city.
Kiev was destroyed, Kreschatik was in ruins.
I remember going to watch the execution of the fascists. They were hanged in the square in front of the Conservatory. These were the Germans that had tortured people during the occupation. The whole town came to watch the execution, there were thousands of people.
I needed to find a job after the war. But after the war the general attitude towards Jews was totally different. It was next to impossible for a Jew to find a job. When my sister’s husband returned, he asked his acquaintance from the Town Party Committee to help me find a job. His answer was “We already have one Rabinovich in commerce.” He was talking about Rabinovich, the director of Podolskiy's department store. I couldn’t find a job for a long time, all because I was a Jew. Finally, and with much difficulty, they helped me get a job as an accountant in a shop. There were many such small shops and they were the only places that would hire Jews. But you still needed connections to get this sort of job. I worked there until 1956, and then I went to work for the Kiev Artists’ Community, where I worked until retirement.
My husband didn't have any problems finding a job. During the war he managed to change his official nationality. He became a Ukrainian when they were reissuing his papers after he was wounded. He came to Ulianovsk as a Ukrainian. So my husband didn’t have any problems with employment. He found a job as a director of a store.
In 1945 we returned to Kiev. My husband, Nelia, my sister, her child, and I traveled by train. My parents arrived in Kiev later. Our apartment on Chkalov Street had been occupied, and we were not allowed to move in. We lived for some time with our neighbor Musia on Chkalov Street. She was Russian and had stayed in occupied Kiev. Her husband became a traitor and was executed when our forces returned. We only lived there a few days. My husband thought that a longer stay might spoil our reputation, as both of us were Party members.
My husband received a small room in Podol as a war invalid. It was a small room with a little kitchen, a stove, and a sink. That was all there was but we were happy to have anything, however small. We were happy to be back in our dear city.
Kiev was destroyed, Kreschatik was in ruins.
I remember going to watch the execution of the fascists. They were hanged in the square in front of the Conservatory. These were the Germans that had tortured people during the occupation. The whole town came to watch the execution, there were thousands of people.
I needed to find a job after the war. But after the war the general attitude towards Jews was totally different. It was next to impossible for a Jew to find a job. When my sister’s husband returned, he asked his acquaintance from the Town Party Committee to help me find a job. His answer was “We already have one Rabinovich in commerce.” He was talking about Rabinovich, the director of Podolskiy's department store. I couldn’t find a job for a long time, all because I was a Jew. Finally, and with much difficulty, they helped me get a job as an accountant in a shop. There were many such small shops and they were the only places that would hire Jews. But you still needed connections to get this sort of job. I worked there until 1956, and then I went to work for the Kiev Artists’ Community, where I worked until retirement.
My husband didn't have any problems finding a job. During the war he managed to change his official nationality. He became a Ukrainian when they were reissuing his papers after he was wounded. He came to Ulianovsk as a Ukrainian. So my husband didn’t have any problems with employment. He found a job as a director of a store.
, Ukraine