Izia Gershman with his comrades

Izia Gershman with his comrades

My son Izia Gershman ( in the center) and his fellow comrades in the army. Izia is wearing the Soviet army uniform of that time. The photo was taken in 1955 in Uzbekistan. My son sent this photo to me.

When Kiev was liberated in December 1944 my son and I went home. We came to Moscow to see Shunia's parents. My mother-in-law whose daughter Ania had starved to death, got very attached to her grandson. She didn't want to let him go with me. She convinced me to let Izia stay with her because the war was still on and there were Germans in Ukraine. I decided it was alright for my son to stay with her until we settled down because I didn't know where we would get accommodation or how things would go on.

Izia stayed with my first husband's parents in Moscow. My mother-in-law didn't forgive me for remarrying. She thought that I had betrayed her son. But I was young and wanted to enjoy life. For her sake I agreed that Izia stayed with her. After finishing school he took a course to become a trolley bus driver. In 1962 he married a Jewish girl called Lena. They had a wedding party at a restaurant; it wasn't a religious wedding. They received an apartment in Moscow. They have two sons. Izia always identified himself as a Jew, but his family didn't observe any Jewish traditions. I sent money to support him every month and went to visit him. Izia spent his summer vacations with us.

Izia and his wife live in Moscow Region. He worked as a trolleybus driver. Izia's two sons live in Moscow. When they were young boys they used to spend their summer vacations with us. My husband loved them dearly. He took them to the sea. After finishing school they stopped seeing us that much, but we still try to see each other at least once a year. They are married. Arkasha graduated from the Technical- Physical Institute; his wife Lena, a Jewish girl, is also a physicist. Yasha graduated from the Trade Institute in Moscow. He worked at a restaurant.

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