After I returned to Kiev in 1945 I went to the Babiy Yar. 4 of my father’s distant relatives and my mother’s cousin Efim (the son of her Uncle Dizik, with who she lived when she was a child) were exterminated there. At that time it was a decayed weeded area. Afterwards I attended lectures of Ilia Erenburg, a writer14, when he visited Kiev. He described the Babiy Yar in every detail. After hearing his story I went there again, to take as look at this place.
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Major events (political and historical)
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Displaying 49651 - 49680 of 50826 results
Yuriy Paskevich
In 1949 struggle against “cosmopolites” began. My mother lost her job at the University as well as many of her friends and our acquaintances. My mother understood that it was done to get rid of Jews at the University but against any logic she didn’t think it was anti-Semitism.
So I went to the preparatory course to Kiev Engineering and Construction Institute. I started in April and entrance exams were in August. I made 5000 drawings between April and August. My teacher showed my drawings at the exam to demonstrate what a person could achieve in 4 months. People from Surikov Art school and from Kiev Art School were taking entrance exams there, but there were only two “5” grades. I got one of these two. And so I entered the Institute. However, this was quite an effort. I was drawing constantly. I always had a pencil, a sketch-book and paints with me. I liked it. There was a lot of competition. Competition between 9 times more entrants than the admission rate and 11 exams. It’s hard to imagine. I don’t think the nationality was as significant as some time later. Quite a few Jews entered. There were 10 Jews of 50 students at my course.
I remember the “Kremlin doctors’ case”15 in 1953. I still cannot understand. I was just a boy, but I understood the absurdity of charges against them, so how could adults take them seriously? But this was the reality. I remember a middle age man in the polyclinic. He had a swollen cheek and evidently was suffering from toothache, but he was asking the receptionist what the nationality of the dentist was. But there were other consequences, resulting from the doctors’ case. There were talks among Jewish people (and they must have had grounds) that all Jews would be forced to move to Birobijan16, the Jewish autonomous region. I remembered deportation of the Chechen and Ingush people. I had a vision of an empty village. That’s why I think there were grounds for such talks. Stalin’s death in 1953 put an end to this. Stalin’s death stirred no emotions in me. I guess it was the influence of my father. His attitude towards Stalin was critical, but my mother took his death as her personal grief.
I finished Institute in 1955. I had job offers from the Academy of architecture and “Kievproject”. They knew me there, I was even awarded a bonus at the contest there, but my job assignment was in Ashghabad, destroyed by an earthquake then. It was a hard blow for me. It might be that this case had nothing to do with my nationality. Just before graduation I had a big argument with the secretary of the Party bureau. But still, almost all Jews from my course happened to get their job assignments in Ashghabad. And there were so many requests to provide architects in Kiev.
In Ashghabad I worked at a design office for a year. The town was to be restored from the ruins. I lived in a hostel, but then I left for Kiev. I just ran away. I had to do it, because I might have lost the right to live in Kiev.
In Ashghabad I worked at a design office for a year. The town was to be restored from the ruins. I lived in a hostel, but then I left for Kiev. I just ran away. I had to do it, because I might have lost the right to live in Kiev.
I came back to my parents in Kiev and got employed by a small design office involved in construction. I worked there 8 years. There were interesting people there but my work was dull. My work was related to communal architecture: public utilities service centers, plants, etc. Even if there was an interesting facility to be designed I couldn’t do it well due to poor funding that I had to be based on. There were many Jews in this office. I think there were more Jews in smaller companies because they were not employed by big design institutes.
In 1960 I married Ella Yakovlevna, a Jewish woman. I don’t usually remember names; therefore, I can’t tell you her nee name. Ella was 7 years younger than I. We didn’t have a place to live. Thus, she lived with her parents and I was living with mine. Later I moved to her parents’ place. Her parents helped us to buy a 3-room apartment. It cost 6 thousand rubles. This was a lot of money at that time. The two of us earned about 250 rubles per month. It was a beautiful, fabulous for its time apartment. Ella was a literature specialist. She knew English well and tried to translate fiction into Russian. Unfortunately, she wasn’t doing well. I don’t know, perhaps she didn’t have enough patience, or wasn’t quite fond of what she was doing or there were other reasons. In 1965 our daughter Elena was born. But our marriage wasn’t a success and even our daughter couldn’t help us grow closer to one another. I believe that marriage is not just love; it is a union of two people responsible for one another. They have to help and take care of each other. Otherwise separation becomes inevitable. We got divorced.
Elena is in Israel now. She is a teacher. She got married and left in 1991. She always wanted to get out of here.
In 1964 I was offered a job at Kievproject, the biggest design institute in Kiev. I was immediately involved in the development of 1967 Kiev General Construction Plan. It was interesting. I accepted this job offer to understand the essence of a city or a town. And such understanding came to me. I retied from this work on 1 January 2001.
In 1977 I got married for the second time. My wife’s name is Galina Andreyevna. She is an economist and works in this same Headquarters. She is Ukrainian. We’ve been together for 24 years. I am happy.
We have two sons. Andrei, the older, was born in 1978, and Evgeniy was born in 1984. My older son is fond of history and writes poems. He is Master of Theoretical Cybernetics and Mathematician. He is a very nice young man. He is single. He loves literature and reads a lot. He also loves theater and classical music. He also likes jazz music. I do, too. He is a post-graduate student at Paris University. He won a students’ exchange grant with no support on my part. He takes after me. Our younger son left us abruptly. He has to come to his own understanding of things. Evgeniy studies at Solomon University17. He is a first year student at the department of computer sciences. He finished school last year. He is a poor student. He doesn’t feel like studying. Well, what can one do? He must come to it on his own. My sons are children of two nationalities. Evgeniy identifies himself as a Jew. He attends Gilel, a young people asociation at the Hesed, takes part in cheder and attends their seminars. Andrei is a man of the world, atheist and cosmopolite.
Nationality has never been of any importance to me. Never. A human being, a personality and his outlooks – that’s what is important. My friends are my friends regardless of their nationally. Russian, Ukrainian, Jews – people, they are just my friends.
I came to Judaism after the Babiy Yar, after my work on the monument and Menorah. I tried to glue together this crack in my soul but I failed. Then a friend of mine asked me to help with the repairs of the Brodsky central synagogue. I went to the synagogue (I was taken there, as my leg was broken at the time and I had to stay in bed). They showed me their documentation and I gave them some advice on what could be done and made some sketches. This used to be the central synagogue in Kiev before the revolution, the biggest in the city and very beautiful. Later the Bolsheviks took away this building (as well as 300 other synagogues) and it housed the Puppet Theater. In 1996 the authorities returned this building to the Jewish community. The building was severely damaged. The inner walls were destroyed and its rear wall began to slide away from the front wall, because there was nothing to keep these two walls together. I drew the chart for them to keep this building together. I felt happy. This was my road to the temple.
Nowadays I go to the synagogue almost every day. I am always busy doing something there: a partial or a cabinet, etc. Thank God I can do this now! I am 71 years old. Did I believe in God when I was young? Yes, I did. Regardless of my mother being a communist. How can I explain how this could happen? I don’t know? Can one say what creativity or inspiration is about? I don’t think so. Or what happiness is. If you feel this happiness from being somewhere and can arrange it so that you can share this happiness with another individual it means that you’ve been led by God.
Nowadays I go to the synagogue almost every day. I am always busy doing something there: a partial or a cabinet, etc. Thank God I can do this now! I am 71 years old. Did I believe in God when I was young? Yes, I did. Regardless of my mother being a communist. How can I explain how this could happen? I don’t know? Can one say what creativity or inspiration is about? I don’t think so. Or what happiness is. If you feel this happiness from being somewhere and can arrange it so that you can share this happiness with another individual it means that you’ve been led by God.
I spent 2 weeks in Israel recently. We traveled all around Israel (its holy places) one week and then I spent the next week with my daughter. They are great people and it is a great country. I admired them. However, I wouldn’t want to move to Israel. If I moved there I would have to become an orthodox believer and defend this faith, I am convinced it would have to be so, although I can’t explain why. I can’t do it. From the spiritual point I must belong to the Judaism completely. But I am a cosmopolite. I’ve traveled a lot around the word since 1991, I’ve been to France, England, Netherlands, Austria, Egypt, Japan, Korea. I admire any culture, pieces of art, etc. I can’t focus on one culture. It’s too late.
Riva Pizman Biography
I know very little about my grandmother and grandfather. My parents became orphans at an early age. My paternal grandfather’s name was Moishe Gershberg, but I don’t know my grandmother’s first or maiden name. They lived in Mogilyov-Podolskiy. I don’t know what my grandfather did for a living. As for my grandmother, I think she was a housewife like all other married Jewish women at the time. I don’t know how many children they had, but besides my father, I knew his two older brothers: Froim and Isaac. My father Shloime Gershberg was born in 1890. His mother tongue was Yiddish, as well as his brothers’. He never told me about his childhood. It must have been hard: he was a little boy, when his parents died. All I know is that they died in the 1900s, and that my grandmother lived a little longer than my grandfather. They were buried in the Jewish cemetery in Mogilyov-Podolskiy. I don’t know how religious m grandfather and grandmother were. My father was an atheist, when I knew him. Only my father’s older brother Froim was religious. He went to the synagogue on Jewish holidays and celebrated Sabbath and holidays at home. His children were atheists, though.
My father had to go to work at an early age. He became an apprentice of a cabinetmaker. Later he started working on his own making furniture. Of course, this was plain furniture that he made, but his customers were common people. His older brother Froim was also a carpenter. My father’s brother Isaac was a tailor. They were married. Froim had five children: son Vladimir [Common name] 1, Velvl was his Jewish name, and daughters Golda, Rosa – her Jewish name was Reizl, Musia and Anna, whose Jewish name was Hana. My father’s brother Isaac had three children: sons Iosif and Vladimir and daughter Miriam.
My father had to go to work at an early age. He became an apprentice of a cabinetmaker. Later he started working on his own making furniture. Of course, this was plain furniture that he made, but his customers were common people. His older brother Froim was also a carpenter. My father’s brother Isaac was a tailor. They were married. Froim had five children: son Vladimir [Common name] 1, Velvl was his Jewish name, and daughters Golda, Rosa – her Jewish name was Reizl, Musia and Anna, whose Jewish name was Hana. My father’s brother Isaac had three children: sons Iosif and Vladimir and daughter Miriam.
, Ukraine
My mother’s parents also lived in Mogilyov-Podolskiy. I don’t know, when or where they were born. My grandfather’s name was Faivish Weinstein and my grandmother’s name was Riva. I don’t know my grandmother’s maiden name. I was named after her. There were five children in the family. The older son’s name was Srul and then came three daughters: Sheila, Lisa and my mother Golda. Mama was born in 1891. The youngest Mikhail, his Jewish name was Moishe, was born in 1895. My grandfather was a tailor and my grandmother was a housewife. My mother told me that the family was religious. They celebrated Sabbath and Jewish holidays at home. They spoke Yiddish. I don’t know what kind of education mama, her sisters or brothers got. Mama could read a write a little, but I don’t know how she learned it. My grandfather taught his daughters his profession. I don’t know what my mother’s brothers did for a living. My grandmother and grandfather died in the early 1900s, when my mama and her younger brother were still in their teens. My mother’s older brother and sisters raised the younger children.
My mother’s older brother Srul got fond of revolutionary ideas after World War I and attended a group where they studied works of the theoretical revolutionaries. When the czarist government arrested few members of their revolutionary underground organization, Srul and few other members moved to Brazil. As far as I know, there were no contacts with them. Sheila married a Jewish man from Simferopol and moved to live with her husband. This is all I know about her. My mother’s sister Lisa married Abram Goltzman from Mogilyov-Podolskiy. Lisa was a housewife. She had two daughters: Mariam, her Russian name was Maria, and the younger one was Riva, like me, also named after our grandmother. My mother’s younger brother Mikhail moved to the USA during the revolution of 1917 2. For some time the family corresponded with him. In 1932-33 during the period of famine 3 Mikhail sent us food parcels and money. Shortly before WORLD WAR II having relatives [Keep in touch with relatives abroad] 4 was no longer safe. This raised suspicion of espionage. Mama was very scared that authorities might learn that she had relatives in America. They kept writing us for some time and sent wedding photographs of their children, but mama did not reply and then the correspondence terminated. Mama destroyed the photographs and the address and later we didn’t try to find our relatives.
My mother’s older brother Srul got fond of revolutionary ideas after World War I and attended a group where they studied works of the theoretical revolutionaries. When the czarist government arrested few members of their revolutionary underground organization, Srul and few other members moved to Brazil. As far as I know, there were no contacts with them. Sheila married a Jewish man from Simferopol and moved to live with her husband. This is all I know about her. My mother’s sister Lisa married Abram Goltzman from Mogilyov-Podolskiy. Lisa was a housewife. She had two daughters: Mariam, her Russian name was Maria, and the younger one was Riva, like me, also named after our grandmother. My mother’s younger brother Mikhail moved to the USA during the revolution of 1917 2. For some time the family corresponded with him. In 1932-33 during the period of famine 3 Mikhail sent us food parcels and money. Shortly before WORLD WAR II having relatives [Keep in touch with relatives abroad] 4 was no longer safe. This raised suspicion of espionage. Mama was very scared that authorities might learn that she had relatives in America. They kept writing us for some time and sent wedding photographs of their children, but mama did not reply and then the correspondence terminated. Mama destroyed the photographs and the address and later we didn’t try to find our relatives.
, Ukraine
My mother became independent at an early age. In the early 1900s some distant relative of hers died and left her little store to my mother. Perhaps, she felt sorry for the orphan girl and wanted to help her. Whatever it was, my mother became the owner of this store. She purchased and sold everyday goods: matches, kerosene, needles, soap, etc. After the revolution my mother’s store was expropriated. This was when mama began sewing at home. She altered old clothes and did it so well that everybody believed the thing was brand new. She had her clients: at first poorer women , but later she got wealthier clients, who liked her sewing.
I remember the prewar Mogilyov-Podolskiy: a clean, cozy and quiet town buried in verdure on the bank of the Dnestr River. On the other side it is surrounded by a range of lime hills covered with woods. The Dnestr was the border between the Ukraine and Bessarabia 5.
Mogilyov-Podolskiy is a Jewish town. Jews constituted a bigger part of the population before the revolution. Vinnitsa region was within the Pale of Settlement 6 before the revolution. Jews settled down in the central part of the town. There were few 2-storied stone houses in the center, but mostly people lived in small clay houses. The houses adjoined closely to one another. Ukrainians, Greeks and Moldavians lived in the suburbs of the town. They were farmers and supplied food products to the town. There was a market in the center of the town. There was a shochet, and Jewish housewives brought their poultry to him to slaughter. There was a synagogue across the street from the market. There was another synagogue near our house, few prayer houses, and there was a cheder in the town. There was also a Russian Orthodox church, a Catholic cathedral and a Greek Orthodox church in Mogilyov-Podolskiy.
I remember the prewar Mogilyov-Podolskiy: a clean, cozy and quiet town buried in verdure on the bank of the Dnestr River. On the other side it is surrounded by a range of lime hills covered with woods. The Dnestr was the border between the Ukraine and Bessarabia 5.
Mogilyov-Podolskiy is a Jewish town. Jews constituted a bigger part of the population before the revolution. Vinnitsa region was within the Pale of Settlement 6 before the revolution. Jews settled down in the central part of the town. There were few 2-storied stone houses in the center, but mostly people lived in small clay houses. The houses adjoined closely to one another. Ukrainians, Greeks and Moldavians lived in the suburbs of the town. They were farmers and supplied food products to the town. There was a market in the center of the town. There was a shochet, and Jewish housewives brought their poultry to him to slaughter. There was a synagogue across the street from the market. There was another synagogue near our house, few prayer houses, and there was a cheder in the town. There was also a Russian Orthodox church, a Catholic cathedral and a Greek Orthodox church in Mogilyov-Podolskiy.
, Ukraine
There were few cemeteries: a Jewish, Catholic, Christian Orthodox and a common town cemetery. There were no conflicts in the town: people respected each other’s religion and traditions. After the revolution the Soviet regime started struggle against religion 7 [editor’s note: In reality it was not started right after the revolution but much later, in the 1930s.]. They closed the cheder, one synagogue and converted the Greek church into a storage facility. After WORLD WAR IIthe second synagogue was also closed. The younger generation was not religious, and older people went to pray in prayer houses despite the ban on religion. There was a Jewish school before WORLD WAR II. I remember children from this school: they were different from other schoolchildren. We had bags or satchels to take to school, while the Jewish children went to school with wooden cases hanging on their shoulders on leather belts. There were magen David painted on their cases. Children of the poorest, uneducated and usually very religious people went to the Jewish school. More educated and secular people, like our family, sent their children to Russian schools for them to know fluent Russian and have no problems with entering higher educational institutions.
Jews of Mogilyov-Podolskiy engaged in crafts: they were cabinetmakers, carpenters, tailors, barbers, tinsmiths, vendors. After the revolution all bigger stores were expropriated, but smaller vendors continued their trade. There were Jewish doctors, teachers and lawyers. Most Jews were rather poor earning just enough to make ends meet. Jewish families usually had many children, as many as God gave them. Many children died in infancy, but three or more survived in each family. Mama told me that there was a strong Jewish community in the town before the revolution supporting the needy providing clothes and food products. After the revolution religious people were persecuted and the community terminated its activities. However, the tradition to help those whose situation was poor remained. I remember how mama took whatever clothes she could to our neighbor, who was a widow woman and had four children.
During the Civil War 8 there were Jewish pogroms 9 in the town made by the gangs 10 torturing Jews, beating and robbing them. These were also made by Denikin troops 11. Mama told me about one pogrom. Don’t know how my parents met, but they got married in 1918. They had a Jewish wedding with a chuppah, a rabbi and many guests. At the height of the wedding party the Petlura soldiers 12 broke into the house. Mama was very pretty, and in her wedding outfit she looked strikingly beautiful. The bandits feasted their eyes upon her and said it was sinful to spoil the wedding for such bride. They were served some vodka, which they drank and left the wedding. Of course, this was an exceptional case since usually the Petlura gangs left a bloody trace behind them.
Jews of Mogilyov-Podolskiy engaged in crafts: they were cabinetmakers, carpenters, tailors, barbers, tinsmiths, vendors. After the revolution all bigger stores were expropriated, but smaller vendors continued their trade. There were Jewish doctors, teachers and lawyers. Most Jews were rather poor earning just enough to make ends meet. Jewish families usually had many children, as many as God gave them. Many children died in infancy, but three or more survived in each family. Mama told me that there was a strong Jewish community in the town before the revolution supporting the needy providing clothes and food products. After the revolution religious people were persecuted and the community terminated its activities. However, the tradition to help those whose situation was poor remained. I remember how mama took whatever clothes she could to our neighbor, who was a widow woman and had four children.
During the Civil War 8 there were Jewish pogroms 9 in the town made by the gangs 10 torturing Jews, beating and robbing them. These were also made by Denikin troops 11. Mama told me about one pogrom. Don’t know how my parents met, but they got married in 1918. They had a Jewish wedding with a chuppah, a rabbi and many guests. At the height of the wedding party the Petlura soldiers 12 broke into the house. Mama was very pretty, and in her wedding outfit she looked strikingly beautiful. The bandits feasted their eyes upon her and said it was sinful to spoil the wedding for such bride. They were served some vodka, which they drank and left the wedding. Of course, this was an exceptional case since usually the Petlura gangs left a bloody trace behind them.
, Ukraine
After the wedding my parents rented a little house where all four children were born. There were 2 little rooms and a kitchen in the house. It was heated with a Russian stove 13 located in the kitchen. Mama cooked on this stove as well. Papa was a cabinetmaker and made whatever plain furniture we had. Papa also made plank beds for us. My older brothers slept in one room, and my sister and I slept in another where our parents also slept. My father also made chairs, cupboards and wardrobes. The most luxurious piece of furniture we had was a rectangular table with thick carved legs that my father made. It was my father’s dream that the whole family would be getting together at this table, including my mother’s and his own brothers and sisters and their children, but this dream was not to come true: we were not that wealthy to afford such gatherings. Only on rare occasions the family got together at this table. Mama was saving a part of her earning to buy a house.
My parents’ first child Grigoriy – his Jewish name was Gershl, was born in 1920. In 1921 Mikhail, Moishe named after grandfather Moishe Gershberg, was born. My sister Anna, whose Jewish name was Hana, was born in 1926. I was born in October 1929. I was named Riva after my maternal grandmother.
My parents became atheists after the revolution. They observed no Jewish traditions. Their marriage was their last tribute to traditions, and they gave it for the sake of their relatives, rather than for themselves. We, children, were raised atheists. Our parents only spoke Russian with us. They only switched to Yiddish, when they didn’t want us to understand the subject of their discussion. However, we somehow picked some Yiddish, though nobody taught us specifically. I can still understand Yiddish, though I can’t speak it. We didn’t celebrate Sabbath or other holidays. Saturday was an ordinary day. My father went to work, as usual, and mama worked about the house. Of all relatives, only my father’s older brother Froim was religious. He and his wife went to the synagogue on Jewish holidays, celebrated holidays at home and followed kashrut, but we looked at them as if they were vestige of the past. My father’s brother Isaac and my mama’s sister Lisa were atheists. My father and Froim were very close. Froim always invited us on Jewish holidays and we joined in with them to celebrate. Froim’s wife only cooked Jewish food, and I can still remember her delicious gefilte fish, puddings from matzah and potatoes and strudels. They must have conducted the seder according to the rules, but we never participated in it. Froim told us about the Jewry and the history of Jewish people and I still remember what he told us.
My parents’ first child Grigoriy – his Jewish name was Gershl, was born in 1920. In 1921 Mikhail, Moishe named after grandfather Moishe Gershberg, was born. My sister Anna, whose Jewish name was Hana, was born in 1926. I was born in October 1929. I was named Riva after my maternal grandmother.
My parents became atheists after the revolution. They observed no Jewish traditions. Their marriage was their last tribute to traditions, and they gave it for the sake of their relatives, rather than for themselves. We, children, were raised atheists. Our parents only spoke Russian with us. They only switched to Yiddish, when they didn’t want us to understand the subject of their discussion. However, we somehow picked some Yiddish, though nobody taught us specifically. I can still understand Yiddish, though I can’t speak it. We didn’t celebrate Sabbath or other holidays. Saturday was an ordinary day. My father went to work, as usual, and mama worked about the house. Of all relatives, only my father’s older brother Froim was religious. He and his wife went to the synagogue on Jewish holidays, celebrated holidays at home and followed kashrut, but we looked at them as if they were vestige of the past. My father’s brother Isaac and my mama’s sister Lisa were atheists. My father and Froim were very close. Froim always invited us on Jewish holidays and we joined in with them to celebrate. Froim’s wife only cooked Jewish food, and I can still remember her delicious gefilte fish, puddings from matzah and potatoes and strudels. They must have conducted the seder according to the rules, but we never participated in it. Froim told us about the Jewry and the history of Jewish people and I still remember what he told us.
, Ukraine
When I was 4, my father fell severely ill. It all started from ordinary flu. He recovered, but then he went outside to chop some wood and caught cold since this happened in winter. My father fell ill with meningitis and shortly afterward he got paralyzed and never recovered. He could move around, but he could work no longer. His hands were shaking, and he could not hold any tool. My mama had to take over supporting our family of 6 people. Besides being a pretty woman, she also had a strong character, was a smart, honest and fair person. She raised her children kind, caring and devoted people. It helped us to survive through the hard times, particularly, the period of WORLD WAR II. Mama worked from morning till night, and we could manage somehow. Mama altered our old clothes, and we had even better clothes than other boys and girls. We also had sufficient food. Mama also managed to involve my father in the life of the family: she let him go shopping to a nearby store. Father learned to talk, however illegibly, but we learned to understand him. Mama loved going to the cinema in the park near our house. She took us, children, and my father joined us to go to the cinema. We never missed one movie. All I remember about the movies is that they were mute movies with captions. There was music accompaniment: I don’t remember whether it was live music or a record player. Mama and papa also went to the theater every now and then. One of the sons accompanied them to the theater helping our father to walk that far. However busy mama was, she always found time to talk to Father and always asked his advice, even if she didn’t follow it.
Our family survived the famine in 1932-33. Of course, this was my mother’s support that helped us. She continued sewing for her clientele who paid her with food products. Mama took her golden ring and a chain with mogen Duvid [magen David] to the Torgsin 14 store where they sold food for foreign currency and jewelry. My mother’s brother Mikhail from the USA sent us food products and money through the Joint 15, so we didn’t starve like others during this period.
Our family survived the famine in 1932-33. Of course, this was my mother’s support that helped us. She continued sewing for her clientele who paid her with food products. Mama took her golden ring and a chain with mogen Duvid [magen David] to the Torgsin 14 store where they sold food for foreign currency and jewelry. My mother’s brother Mikhail from the USA sent us food products and money through the Joint 15, so we didn’t starve like others during this period.
, Ukraine
In 1936 my mother’s dream came true. She bought a small 2-bedroom apartment in a 2-storied house in the Komsomolskaya Street in the suburb of the town. There were 4 apartments in this house. There were two small rooms, a fore room and a kitchen in the apartment. It was so good to have our own apartment! I remember how we were happy to move into our new apartment. Mama hired two wagons to haul our belongings to the new place. When the older children went to school, mama bought a used desk for them to study. Mama took every effort to make our home a cozy place to live: she made new curtains and quilt rugs. There were no comforts in the apartment. There was a toilet in the yard and we fetched water from the well from across the street. Our neighbors were a Ukrainian family of the Kolesniks and two Jewish families: the Zilberts and the Goizbergs. All families had daughters of about the same age with me. Galina Kolesnik and I have been lifelong friends. Zilbert was a wealthy man. He owned a mill. His daughter Yevgenia was also my friend. Goizberg was a military. Shortly after we moved into our new apartment he got an assignment in Leningrad, and his family followed him there. Two older Ukrainian women, the Romanenko sisters, moved into their apartment. Ours was the only house with Jewish tenants in our street – the rest of tenants were Ukrainian. We had a big backyard. There was a swing in the yard. My friends and I spent much time playing in the yard.
, Ukraine
My older brothers studied in an 8-year Ukrainian school. When my brothers grew older, they started helping mama about the house. My brothers actually raised me. My brothers went shopping, cooked food, cleaned the apartment and looked after me. After finishing school my older brother Grigoriy became an apprentice of a mechanic at the machine building plant. He bought me my first doll, a rubber naked doll, when he received his first wage. I was ill and had to stay in bed and he wanted to cheer me up. Mama made dolls from whatever cloth leftovers she had. The doll my brother bought me seemed a real beauty to me. He also bought me brown shoes with buckles: these were also my first shoes, since all I had before were what I got from my sister and brothers. I was even reluctant to step on the floor wearing the shoes: I didn’t want to daub them. One year later my second brother finished school and went to work as a shop assistant in a store. My brothers gave mama their wages.
I went to a 10-year Ukrainian general education school in 1936 before I turned 7. I remember my first teacher Tina Mikhailovna Voloshina. She was a young beautiful woman. She loved children and she taught us to like studying and our school.
I only had one Jewish classmate. His name was Lev Guss. We lived in the suburb where thee were few Jewish families living. I made Ukrainian friends at school and felt myself very comfortable with them. I was no stranger for them, either. I don’t think there was any anti-Semitism before the war.
I went to a 10-year Ukrainian general education school in 1936 before I turned 7. I remember my first teacher Tina Mikhailovna Voloshina. She was a young beautiful woman. She loved children and she taught us to like studying and our school.
I only had one Jewish classmate. His name was Lev Guss. We lived in the suburb where thee were few Jewish families living. I made Ukrainian friends at school and felt myself very comfortable with them. I was no stranger for them, either. I don’t think there was any anti-Semitism before the war.
, Ukraine
My sister studied in my school as well. She had more Jewish classmates than I did. Anna’s best friend was her classmate Larisa Lerner, a Jewish girl. She also had other Jewish friends. I often spent time with my sister’s friends. They sometimes danced to the record player or went to the dance pavilion and I joined them to go there. Of course, I just watched them dancing. We were not like modern accelerate girls.
I knew Ukrainian and had no problems with studying at school. My favorite subject was Russian literature. I wanted to become a teacher of the Russian literature, when I grew up. I became a young Octobrist 16, and then a pioneer 17 in the 3rd form. There was a ceremony by the monument to Lenin 18 where we gave the oath of young pioneers: “To love the Motherland dearly, to live, study and fight according to the teaching of the great Lenin and the Communist Party”. And then we had red ties tied round the neck.
Our teacher of physics Krachkovskiy was a very nice person. He loved music. He organized and conducted a choir at school. I liked singing and happened to have a good ear for music. I attended the choir since I was in the 2nd form and sometimes was a soloist. We usually sang Ukrainian songs at school concerts. Later I also went to the dancing group. We had concerts on all Soviet holidays– 1 May, 7 November 19, Soviet army Day 21, and New Year, of course. In the morning all schoolchildren and teachers went to the parade and then returned to school. We invited parents and relatives to our concerts. We didn’t celebrate Soviet holidays at home since mama was always busy doing her work and didn’t have time for celebrations.
I know very little about the period of arrests in 1937 and the following years 21. Nobody was arrested in our family. After WORLD WAR II, mama told me about this period. She said NKVD 22 people arrested people at home at night. People were afraid of falling asleep at night listening for the noises behind their front door. I also recall how my parents mentioned that Guzman, director of the plant where my brother Grigoriy was working, and my father’s acquaintance Givand were arrested.
I knew Ukrainian and had no problems with studying at school. My favorite subject was Russian literature. I wanted to become a teacher of the Russian literature, when I grew up. I became a young Octobrist 16, and then a pioneer 17 in the 3rd form. There was a ceremony by the monument to Lenin 18 where we gave the oath of young pioneers: “To love the Motherland dearly, to live, study and fight according to the teaching of the great Lenin and the Communist Party”. And then we had red ties tied round the neck.
Our teacher of physics Krachkovskiy was a very nice person. He loved music. He organized and conducted a choir at school. I liked singing and happened to have a good ear for music. I attended the choir since I was in the 2nd form and sometimes was a soloist. We usually sang Ukrainian songs at school concerts. Later I also went to the dancing group. We had concerts on all Soviet holidays– 1 May, 7 November 19, Soviet army Day 21, and New Year, of course. In the morning all schoolchildren and teachers went to the parade and then returned to school. We invited parents and relatives to our concerts. We didn’t celebrate Soviet holidays at home since mama was always busy doing her work and didn’t have time for celebrations.
I know very little about the period of arrests in 1937 and the following years 21. Nobody was arrested in our family. After WORLD WAR II, mama told me about this period. She said NKVD 22 people arrested people at home at night. People were afraid of falling asleep at night listening for the noises behind their front door. I also recall how my parents mentioned that Guzman, director of the plant where my brother Grigoriy was working, and my father’s acquaintance Givand were arrested.
, Ukraine
In 1939 Hitler’s armies attacked Poland. Then the Finnish campaign 23 began. I remember this well since my parents were very concerned: it was about time my brothers were to go to the army. When the war was over, we all sighed with relief. My older brother Grigoriy was recruited to the army in 1940. In March 1941 my brother Mikhail was to go to the army. Some time before mama went to the military registry office to ask the commander to let one son stay at home considering that my father was paralyzed. The commander promised my mother that Grigoriy would be demobilized in June-July being the breadwinner in the family, but Mikhail had to go to the army. Before going to the army Mikhail bought me my first winter coat from thick coffee-colored woolen fabric. He wrote us from the army, ad in each letter he added few words for me. He told me to study well at school and that he would work to help me to finish in college, when he returned, but this was not to be.
I remember the Sunday of 22 June 1941 [Great Patriotic War] 24. It was a warm and sunny day. I was playing with my friends outside, when mama came out and told us that the radio had just announced Germany attacked the Soviet Union. Since we didn’t have a radio, I think our neighbors told mama about the war. I got very scared for my two brothers. My older brother was immediately sent to the front. The town was bombed for the first time on 23 June. We lived near the railway station, and German planes started bombing the railroad track. The shell splinters broke the window and flew into the corridor, but other than that, the house was not damaged.
I remember the Sunday of 22 June 1941 [Great Patriotic War] 24. It was a warm and sunny day. I was playing with my friends outside, when mama came out and told us that the radio had just announced Germany attacked the Soviet Union. Since we didn’t have a radio, I think our neighbors told mama about the war. I got very scared for my two brothers. My older brother was immediately sent to the front. The town was bombed for the first time on 23 June. We lived near the railway station, and German planes started bombing the railroad track. The shell splinters broke the window and flew into the corridor, but other than that, the house was not damaged.
Mama was a strong woman and tried to hide her feelings from us, but we knew that Grigoriy and Mikhail were in great danger. Mama supported us as much as she could, but how much could she do having to care about two daughters and her paralyzed husband? Many people were saying that Germans would do us no harm and those, who wanted to leave the town were panic-strikers, but mama decided we should evacuate. Somebody told mama there was the last train at the station and we hardly had any time left to pack. We packed whatever there was at hand, put my father into a wheel cart and rushed to the station, but there was no train there. Some people waited at the station since morning, but there was no train at all. Later we got to know that the party town committee people had evacuated few days before, and that there was no town evacuation scheduled. People were leaving the town on foot, to find their relatives in the neighboring towns or villages, but we could not go far with our paralyzed father. So we stayed Mogilyov-Podolskiy. In the end of June German air raids became more frequent. We took shelter in the basement. Some local Ukrainians were robbing the Jewish houses abandoned by their owners. Even though we stayed in our house one night some people from the suburb came into our house. We knew them, they were from the Kozak family. They broke down the door grabbing everything they could get. They wanted to kill mama to take away the sewing machine. Mama grabbed my sister and me and we ran outside and took hiding in a ditch. My father stayed in his bed. The robbers pulled down his mattress and pillow from under him. Our neighbors - sisters Romanenko also came into our apartment pretending they wanted something for themselves. They took few things, including the sewing machine, which they gave back to us, when we returned to the apartment in the morning. However, the robbers took away a lot more that the sisters managed to save for us.
In early 1941 German troops entered Mogilyov-Podolskiy and stayed till middle August, when the Romanian troops replaced them. Mama hated it that Germans behaved as if they were masters of the town and mentioned to some neighbors that Germans had no rights here. They reported on her that she was agitating people against the German regime. Few Germans and Ukrainian policemen came into our apartment one day. One of the policemen was our neighbor Kushniruk. Mama said something to him that he didn’t like. He hit her on her arm with his rifle butt and broke her arm. Mama was taken to the town prison where she was kept few days. My mother sister Lisa’s daughter Riva came to her rescue. Riva worked as a teacher. Director of her school Ivanov had the German commander of the town staying in his apartment. Riva asked her director to talk to the commander about my mother. All I know is that on that very day my mother was released. At night the Dnestr flooded the riverside where the jail was located. All prisoners drowned. Our neighbors who had reported on my mama, started telling all that the God punished my mother and that if Germans failed to kill her, she drowned in the Dnestr. How surprised they were to see my mother alive! In late July there were German and Romanian forces in Mogilyov-Podolskiy. Once mama went to see an old tailor, who was an acquaintance of hers. He was fitting a coat on a Romanian officer. Something was going wrong and his hands were shaking. Mama offered her help and finished the trying on. The coat came out all right, and the major came to mama’s home to thank her. He mentioned that she could count on his help, and mama needed his help very soon. In early August a Romanian soldier came into our house. He wanted to take something from our home. Mama pushed him outside saying that he was not the one to have a word in her home. She was arrested again and taken to the school that was converted into a barrack for Romanian soldiers. She was forced to sit on a big stone in the school yard. They placed a bunch of grenades beside her. Mama was sure they would blast her, but at that moment the major was passing by. He asked mama why she was sitting there. The Romanians wanted to give him an explanation, but he ordered them to let mama go and never again come into our apartment. Mama avoided death for the second time.
Our Ukrainian neighbors supported us well. Even before the ghetto was established, they often brought us vegetables, milk and flour. Zbarskiy, a teacher from school, also visited us. They helped us to survive.
Our Ukrainian neighbors supported us well. Even before the ghetto was established, they often brought us vegetables, milk and flour. Zbarskiy, a teacher from school, also visited us. They helped us to survive.
In August 1941 a ghetto was established in Mogilyov-Podolskiy. This was when I realized I was a Jew. The central part of the town and the riverside were fenced, and there were guards at the gate. The Ukrainians within this area were forced to move out and instead, Jews from outside the area were accommodated in their houses. Our house was outside the ghetto and we were to move out of there, when the Romanian major came to our rescue again. He helped us to obtain a residential permit to stay outside the ghetto. We didn’t look like Jews. My sister and I wore casual clothes and had long plaits. My sister, my mother and I had to go to the central part of the town looking for clients and buying food products. This was dangerous, but we had to support ourselves. When German troops left, the Romanians ordered all Jews to wear black armbands with yellow hexagonal stars, but we didn’t obey. Of course, the risk was big, but mama hated to obey the occupants’ orders.
There was a network of concentration camps and ghettos all over Vinnitsa region. This area between the Dnestr and the Bug Rivers was called Transnistria 25 where Jews from Bessarabia and Romania were kept. There were few families stuffed in each house. Many inmates of the ghetto were taken to the Pechora camp. They said there were no survivors there. There were raids in town. People were captured to be sent to the Pechora camp. My sister was captured during one raid in May 1942. She went to the market, when gendarmes captured her. The group of captives was convoyed past our house and Anna screamed: “Mama, they’ve seized me!” Would any mother leave her child in trouble? Mama jumped out of the house, the convoy put my father on the wagon, and we joined the march to Pechora 26. My mother only managed to grab her sewing machine hoping that she would manage to earn a little by sewing.
There was a network of concentration camps and ghettos all over Vinnitsa region. This area between the Dnestr and the Bug Rivers was called Transnistria 25 where Jews from Bessarabia and Romania were kept. There were few families stuffed in each house. Many inmates of the ghetto were taken to the Pechora camp. They said there were no survivors there. There were raids in town. People were captured to be sent to the Pechora camp. My sister was captured during one raid in May 1942. She went to the market, when gendarmes captured her. The group of captives was convoyed past our house and Anna screamed: “Mama, they’ve seized me!” Would any mother leave her child in trouble? Mama jumped out of the house, the convoy put my father on the wagon, and we joined the march to Pechora 26. My mother only managed to grab her sewing machine hoping that she would manage to earn a little by sewing.
We returned to our house and our life was gradually coming into its routine. Of course, it was still hard, but we didn’t feel it. We were happy that we didn’t have to be afraid of air raids, Germans or camps. Schools opened in April. I returned to my school. I was the only Jew in my class, but I faced no anti-Semitism. Everybody tried to support me. We didn’t have vacation that summer studying to catch up with what we had missed at school.
We received a letter from my younger brother Mikhail with whom we had no contacts through the whole period of occupation. He was looking for us and wrote my father’s brother Froim, who gave us his letter. Mama could hardly write, and I wrote letters for my brother. Mama began to receive allowances per my brother’s military certificate. My brother wrote us that at the beginning he was sent to an artillery school. In 1942 he was sent to the front as a lieutenant, in 1944 he was promoted to the rank of captain and had a machine gun company under his command. We received the last letter from Mikhail’s aide in July 1944. He wrote that Mikhail perished in Austria on 25 June 1944. He was inspecting the positions, when a shell splinter wounded him on the head. His aide wrote us that Mikhail was a nice person and a good commanding officer and that we could be proud of him. Soon afterward we received a letter from the military unit where Grigoriy had served. They wrote us that my older brother Grigoriy disappeared near Stalingrad. There were three of us left: mama, my sister and I. If it had not been for my mother, we would not have survived. Mama altered clothes or made new clothes, which Froim sell at the market.
In 1946 I finished the 5th form at school. That year our school was disbanded. There were only 13 of 30 schoolchildren left in my class: some perished during the war, others had to go to work to support themselves and their families, and authorities decided to bring two schools together. I thought I it was time for me to support mama, and went to work as a lab assistant at the buttery and went to the 6th form in the evening school where my cousin Riva was a mathematic teacher. Of course, it was hard to study and work but I felt better supporting my mother. I joined Komsomol 27 in the evening school.
We received a letter from my younger brother Mikhail with whom we had no contacts through the whole period of occupation. He was looking for us and wrote my father’s brother Froim, who gave us his letter. Mama could hardly write, and I wrote letters for my brother. Mama began to receive allowances per my brother’s military certificate. My brother wrote us that at the beginning he was sent to an artillery school. In 1942 he was sent to the front as a lieutenant, in 1944 he was promoted to the rank of captain and had a machine gun company under his command. We received the last letter from Mikhail’s aide in July 1944. He wrote that Mikhail perished in Austria on 25 June 1944. He was inspecting the positions, when a shell splinter wounded him on the head. His aide wrote us that Mikhail was a nice person and a good commanding officer and that we could be proud of him. Soon afterward we received a letter from the military unit where Grigoriy had served. They wrote us that my older brother Grigoriy disappeared near Stalingrad. There were three of us left: mama, my sister and I. If it had not been for my mother, we would not have survived. Mama altered clothes or made new clothes, which Froim sell at the market.
In 1946 I finished the 5th form at school. That year our school was disbanded. There were only 13 of 30 schoolchildren left in my class: some perished during the war, others had to go to work to support themselves and their families, and authorities decided to bring two schools together. I thought I it was time for me to support mama, and went to work as a lab assistant at the buttery and went to the 6th form in the evening school where my cousin Riva was a mathematic teacher. Of course, it was hard to study and work but I felt better supporting my mother. I joined Komsomol 27 in the evening school.
My sister Anna got married in 1946. Her husband Yakov Nudrin, a Jew, had returned from the front where he was an officer. He was an invalid of the war. He was 13 years older than my sister. He was born and lived in Vinnitsa. He went to the front on the first days of the war and his family perished during occupation. My sister and her husband registered their marriage in the registry office, and in the evening my mother arranged a wedding dinner. Only our close relatives came to the wedding. After the wedding my sister moved to live with her husband in Vinnitsa. Their first baby Mikhail named after our brother was born in 1952. Their daughter Vera named after Yakov’s mother was born in 1958.
1947 was the year of hardships and hunger. There were food cards, but it was not always possible to get food products by them. Later the cards were cancelled and salaries increased. Life was improving, well, at least compared to the period of the occupation everything else seemed to be paradise for us.
In 1948 I met my future husband Aron Pizman. Aron was born in Mogilyov-Podolskiy in 1930. His father Isaac Pizman was a shoemaker and his mother Nehama Pizman was a housewife. They had two children: Aron and David, born in 1939. Aron’s father went to the army on the first days of the war. He perished near Semenovskaya village, Rzhev district, Kalinin region, in 1942. Aron, his mother and his younger brother were in the ghetto in Mogilyov-Podolskiy. After liberation he studied at school and after finishing the 6th form he went to work as a clock repair man at the clock shop. He had to support his mother. We met at a party on 1 May 1948. I liked Aron and so did my mother. She believed him to be a nice and reliable person. Aron met me after my classes in the evening school to accompany me home. He carried my briefcase since I didn’t have mittens and my hands froze. Soon he proposed to me and I gave my consent. Aron’s mother Nehama became very religious in the ghetto and insisted that we had a traditional Jewish wedding. Of course, I didn’t want to argue with my future mother-in-law, and Aron and I decided to obey her. We had a civil ceremony in the registry office on 5 December 1949. It was a frosty day and there was some snow on the ground – the day was lovely. Mama bought a white silk coat underlining at the market and made me a wedding gown. She even made a little rose from leftovers of the fabric. I borrowed a little white crocheted from my friend. Aron didn’t even have a white shirt. Aron made me a wedding ring from a silver spoon. In the evening my mother arranged a wedding dinner for us. My sister and her husband, my cousin Riva, Aron and my friends came to our wedding. There were 18 of us at the party. We had lots of fun, sang and danced to the record player. Then I stayed at home and Aron went to where he lived. So we lived one month till we had a Jewish wedding. There was a chuppah installed in the yard of Aron’s house, and his mother invited a rabbi from a prayer house – he lived nearby. In the evening my mother-in-law made a wedding dinner for the closest relatives. Only after the wedding I moved to live with my husband. I had to adjust to my mother-in-law way of living. She only cooked Jewish meals, celebrated Sabbath and Jewish holidays and followed kashrut. She often made stuffed fish, chicken broth, very delicious tsimes 28, baked different puddings and strudels with nuts, jam, raisins and apples. It was new to me and I tried to learn from her. At first it was difficult for me to tell apart a knife for meat products from one for dairy products and it took me some time to get adjusted and learn to cook following the kosher rules. I observed these traditions though while we lived with my mother-in-law. Of course, I had to go to work on Saturday and didn’t go to the prayer house with her. Aron was also an atheist. My mother-in-law was a very smart and tolerant woman. She admitted our ways and said that our generation was never going to be real Jews. She just accepted this as it was. Nehama liked me and even had my photograph over her bed. We got along well and tried to avoid conflicts. And we managed well.
1947 was the year of hardships and hunger. There were food cards, but it was not always possible to get food products by them. Later the cards were cancelled and salaries increased. Life was improving, well, at least compared to the period of the occupation everything else seemed to be paradise for us.
In 1948 I met my future husband Aron Pizman. Aron was born in Mogilyov-Podolskiy in 1930. His father Isaac Pizman was a shoemaker and his mother Nehama Pizman was a housewife. They had two children: Aron and David, born in 1939. Aron’s father went to the army on the first days of the war. He perished near Semenovskaya village, Rzhev district, Kalinin region, in 1942. Aron, his mother and his younger brother were in the ghetto in Mogilyov-Podolskiy. After liberation he studied at school and after finishing the 6th form he went to work as a clock repair man at the clock shop. He had to support his mother. We met at a party on 1 May 1948. I liked Aron and so did my mother. She believed him to be a nice and reliable person. Aron met me after my classes in the evening school to accompany me home. He carried my briefcase since I didn’t have mittens and my hands froze. Soon he proposed to me and I gave my consent. Aron’s mother Nehama became very religious in the ghetto and insisted that we had a traditional Jewish wedding. Of course, I didn’t want to argue with my future mother-in-law, and Aron and I decided to obey her. We had a civil ceremony in the registry office on 5 December 1949. It was a frosty day and there was some snow on the ground – the day was lovely. Mama bought a white silk coat underlining at the market and made me a wedding gown. She even made a little rose from leftovers of the fabric. I borrowed a little white crocheted from my friend. Aron didn’t even have a white shirt. Aron made me a wedding ring from a silver spoon. In the evening my mother arranged a wedding dinner for us. My sister and her husband, my cousin Riva, Aron and my friends came to our wedding. There were 18 of us at the party. We had lots of fun, sang and danced to the record player. Then I stayed at home and Aron went to where he lived. So we lived one month till we had a Jewish wedding. There was a chuppah installed in the yard of Aron’s house, and his mother invited a rabbi from a prayer house – he lived nearby. In the evening my mother-in-law made a wedding dinner for the closest relatives. Only after the wedding I moved to live with my husband. I had to adjust to my mother-in-law way of living. She only cooked Jewish meals, celebrated Sabbath and Jewish holidays and followed kashrut. She often made stuffed fish, chicken broth, very delicious tsimes 28, baked different puddings and strudels with nuts, jam, raisins and apples. It was new to me and I tried to learn from her. At first it was difficult for me to tell apart a knife for meat products from one for dairy products and it took me some time to get adjusted and learn to cook following the kosher rules. I observed these traditions though while we lived with my mother-in-law. Of course, I had to go to work on Saturday and didn’t go to the prayer house with her. Aron was also an atheist. My mother-in-law was a very smart and tolerant woman. She admitted our ways and said that our generation was never going to be real Jews. She just accepted this as it was. Nehama liked me and even had my photograph over her bed. We got along well and tried to avoid conflicts. And we managed well.
, Ukraine
The campaign against cosmopolitans 29 in 1948 had no impact on me. I was young and hardly cared about anything, but my personal life.
In 1951 my husband was recruited to the army. I was already pregnant. Our first son Igor was born in 1952, when my husband was away from home. My husband and I did not observe Jewish traditions and our sons were not circumcised. Aron didn’t want me to go to work. He believed that a married woman had to take care of the household and the husband had to provide for the family. I had to quit my job, when my son Igor was born. At that time the maternity leave was one month before and one month after the birth. There was no children’s food sold and I had to breastfeed the baby. I had to walk 5 km to work and could not come home to feed the baby. I had to choose between my son and my job and I made my choice. My mother-in-law was not too well, and it was hard for her to have a baby in the house, particularly, when the baby was crying and she could not sleep at night. I had to stay with my mother, when my husband was in the army. My mother-in-law often visited us. My husband served in the army for four years and came to visit us on his two-week leave once a year.
In January 1953 newspapers began to publish article about poisoning doctors [doctor’s plot] 30, who wanted to poison Stalin, and by the way, they all had Jewish surnames. This caused a flow of anti-Semitism. It was hard to believe these articles and I didn’t want to believe what they published. However, I didn’t get much involved in this: I stayed at home taking care of my son and hardly communicated with other people. I remember how the radio announced that Stalin died on 5 March 1953. I had a feeling that this was the end of the world, as if heaven collapsed onto the Earth. There was a medical school across the street from our home where they had Stalin’s portrait in the black frame on the front wall. I stood by the window looking at the portrait sobbing like a child. My mother and relatives grieved after Stalin. When Khrushchev 31 spoke on the 20th Party Congress 32 about Stalin’s ‘crimes’, I didn’t quite believe him. I have always been Stalin’s admirer. Our family did not suffer from any persecution, we had a good life, and we studied and worked during his rule. My cousin Riva was awarded a medal for her work and the title of an Honored Teacher of the USSR. I’ve always respected Stalin as a political leader. This is my point of view and it is my right.
In 1951 my husband was recruited to the army. I was already pregnant. Our first son Igor was born in 1952, when my husband was away from home. My husband and I did not observe Jewish traditions and our sons were not circumcised. Aron didn’t want me to go to work. He believed that a married woman had to take care of the household and the husband had to provide for the family. I had to quit my job, when my son Igor was born. At that time the maternity leave was one month before and one month after the birth. There was no children’s food sold and I had to breastfeed the baby. I had to walk 5 km to work and could not come home to feed the baby. I had to choose between my son and my job and I made my choice. My mother-in-law was not too well, and it was hard for her to have a baby in the house, particularly, when the baby was crying and she could not sleep at night. I had to stay with my mother, when my husband was in the army. My mother-in-law often visited us. My husband served in the army for four years and came to visit us on his two-week leave once a year.
In January 1953 newspapers began to publish article about poisoning doctors [doctor’s plot] 30, who wanted to poison Stalin, and by the way, they all had Jewish surnames. This caused a flow of anti-Semitism. It was hard to believe these articles and I didn’t want to believe what they published. However, I didn’t get much involved in this: I stayed at home taking care of my son and hardly communicated with other people. I remember how the radio announced that Stalin died on 5 March 1953. I had a feeling that this was the end of the world, as if heaven collapsed onto the Earth. There was a medical school across the street from our home where they had Stalin’s portrait in the black frame on the front wall. I stood by the window looking at the portrait sobbing like a child. My mother and relatives grieved after Stalin. When Khrushchev 31 spoke on the 20th Party Congress 32 about Stalin’s ‘crimes’, I didn’t quite believe him. I have always been Stalin’s admirer. Our family did not suffer from any persecution, we had a good life, and we studied and worked during his rule. My cousin Riva was awarded a medal for her work and the title of an Honored Teacher of the USSR. I’ve always respected Stalin as a political leader. This is my point of view and it is my right.
, Ukraine