This is me, Irina Lidskaya in 10th grade. The photo was taken in Kiev in 1950.
When I was at this school I became a pioneer, but I have no memories of it. I almost had problems with Komsomol, as I hesitated to become a member. By the beginning of the tenth grade, all the other students had become Komsomol members. I was called to the Director on a daily basis. They kept asking me over and over when I would join the Komsomol. My answer was always the same -- that I was not quite ready for it. We had long discussions, and they told me that it would be a problem for me to enter the Institute if I were not a Komsomol member. In the end I went to the district Komsomol Committee and obtained my Komsomol membership card.
Irina Lidskaya
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.