Naum Poliak

This is me, Naum Poliak, student at the Kiev construction institute, 1946, Kiev.

I am Naum Iosifovich poliak. I was born on 3 September 1923 in Fastov, Kiev Province.

Our parents always spoke Russian with us, children. They sometimes used Jewish words talking to one another. In my childhood I went to a Ukrainian kindergarten and then went to a Ukrainian school, although there was a Jewish school in Fastov. I don't know what the reason was. Most likely, my father, suffering from the tragedy in his family was trying to tear us away from the Jewish life.
I had friends of different nationalities - Russian, Ukrainian and Jewish. Nationality didn't matter then. For example, later, in Kiev, we went to the Ukrainian and Jewish theater. In the Jewish theater we saw "Tevie-the dairy man" by Sholom Aleihem in Yiddish and translated the text to my Russian friends.

I went in for sports, gymnastics, in particular. I was a weak boy and I went in for gymnastics to grow stronger. I studied a lot and participated in quite a few Komsomol activities.