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My sister Mindel and her husband Efim Galker.
I had two older sisters and a brother. My oldest sister Dina was born in 1905 and the next was my brother Mindel, born in 1913.
Sometimes we spent holidays at Dina's home. I remember celebration of "Simhat Torah" in 1940. On this day Jewish people finish their annual reading of Torah and begin it again from the first page. I remember rabbi in kippah carrying the Torah scroll along the street. People around were singing and dancing and enjoying themselves. This holiday was a lot of fun.
Mindel married Efim Galker, a Jew and a jeweler in 1938. There were many gusts at their wedding. There was music and people enjoyed the party very much. However, this wasn't a Jewish traditional wedding. This was a different time . Bella moved to her husband's apartment. He was a very well to do man.
Husbands of Dina and Bella were recruited on the first days of the war. They both perished on the first months of the war during defense of Kiev.
My sister Bella was working as an accountant at the NKVD office and NKVD employees and their families were the first to be evacuated. We left Kiev on 3 July 1941.
Sisters Dina and Mindel (Bella) didn't get married and worked as accountants at various enterprises in Kiev. Dina died in 1994, Mindel - in 1989.
