Frida Shatkhina’s mother Reizl Shatkhina

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

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

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

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

Centropa Collection acquired by USHMM

The Centropa archive has been acquired by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC. 

USHMM will soon offer a Special Collections page for Centropa.

Academics please note: USHMM can provide you with original language word-for-word transcripts and high resolution photographs. All publications should be credited: "From the Centropa Collection at the United States Memorial Museum in Washington, DC". Please contact collection [at] centropa.org.