Dina Kuremaa

This is me. The picture was taken in Tallinn in 1967. My cousin Dina Dantsig worked for the Council of the Ministers of Estonia and helped me get a job there. On 25th January 1945 I was employed by the gas and water supply trust by Tallinn Ispolkom. In May 1945 I got my first salary and ordered my first dress from a milliner. It was a memorable event for me. First I worked as an assistant to the secretary, then as an assistant to the accountant, then as a bookkeeper. I didn't work there for a long time, I changed my working place. I went to work for the Ministry of the State Planning. In 1952 I got an offer from the Russian Drama Theater in Tallinn. I worked there all my life: 48 years out of the 50 I was a chief accountant of the theater. Life got my easier when I started working. We received food cards right upon our return. When I got my first salary, we could afford some products from the market. We had enough to eat; we were not famished. When I came to work for the theater, I already had experience in working as an accountant. I didn't have a specialized education, I learned on spot. People treated me very well, and tried helping me. The theater paid for my education and after work I attended classes at financial college. I studied there for about three years and obtained a diploma of an accountant, a professional secondary education. In two years, after I was assigned chief accountant of the theater I had to enter the Party. At that time the Central Committee of the Party of the Soviet Union demanded that people who had leading positions in the company join the Party. The management changed very often in the theater. Our political officer became the director of the theater. He called me and said that I had a choice - to join the Party or to resign. I wasn't willing to quit my job, so I joined the Party. It was a mere formality for me and for the party bureau. I didn't even know the statutes of the Party. The political officer advised me to read today's paper in case someone would ask about global events. I did what he told me and became a party member. When perestroika broke out, I left the Party.