Iyah Dziekovskaya’s mother Nadezhda Dziekovskaya

This is my mother Nadezhda Dziekovskaya. This photo was taken in Kiev in 1928.  This photograph was taken for the college diploma.  

For my mother the choice of profession was a decided matter since her childhood. She used to go on calls with my grandfather.  Before the revolution of 1917 my mother entered the medical faculty of Kharkiv University. During the Civil War, after my grandfather died, she came home. Shortly afterward Denikin troops and Western Ukrainian units [editor's note: at the beginning of WWI, in summer 1914 in Lvov (Austro-Hungary then) the Ukrainian Legion later called 'Ukrainian Sich Riflemen' was formed from Ukrainian volunteers. Members of Ukrainian organizations for young people and students constituted a big part of this unit.] These two armies united to struggle against Bolsheviks. Somebody reported to them that my mother was a revolutionary and a Bolshevik. Two officers came to our house: one was a young officer of the Western Ukrainian army, student of the Vienna University, and a Denikin officer.  My mother remembered this Denikin officer very well: he lounged with his leg crossed and look very hostile.  My mother would have been arrested. The Ukrainian officer called my mother's sister Vera and said: 'Bring a Ukrainian man to guarantee that your sister would stay at home and I will take him away for an hour. You will disappear during this time, or he would never let your sister go'.  Vera rushed to Vladimir Dziekovskiy, my future father, who worked with her.  He ran to the house and signed his guarantee that my mother would stay.  The Ukrainian officer took the Denikin officer away and my father took my mother, grandmother and my mother's sister to an acquaintance of his who had returned from the czar's exile for being a Ukrainian nationalist. And this stranger of a man gave shelter to my mother, grandmother and my mother's sister.  They stayed there for over a week while Denikin troops were in Belaya Tserkov. He saved their lives. 

When the Civil War was over, my mother went to continue her studies in Kiev. However, my mother was soon expelled from university for her, so to say, bourgeois origin. It was this way then: workers, peasants and bourgeoisie, there were no other categories. My mother's acquaintance from Belaya Tserkov expelled my mother. He was as store owner and before the revolution he took every effort to belong to the circle of my mother's family acquaintances. When Bolsheviks came to power he became a Bolshevik immediately.  Grandmother Ethel went to Kharkov that was the capital of Ukraine at that period [1918-1934], to see Petrovskiy [Petrovskiy, Grigoriy Ivanovich (1878-1958) - Soviet state and Party official], who was head of the Ukrainian government. His office was on the 4th floor. Seeing my grandmother off, Petrovskiy escorted her downstairs and said: 'Don't worry, your daughter will be resumed before you reach Kiev'. It was true, my mother resumed her studies in the university.