Riva Shternere with the staff of the Jewish hospital

This is the Jewish hospital in Kaunas. This is the staff of the hospital. This picture was taken on the occasion of the professional holiday in 1938. My sister Riva Shternere, who worked there as a nurse, is standing to the left.

We were rather poor, though we weren't starving. We wore the clothes of our elder sisters. So I had pretty worn out clothes. My mother made most of the clothes herself. She was good at everything. In 1925, my eldest sister Dora left for Kaunas. She finished the Teachers' Training School and became a teacher. Dora got married and her marriage was a success. Her husband, a Jew from Kaunas, Srol Moskovich, was a well-bred businessman. Having finished school, Riva left for Kaunas as well. She finished a medical school there and became a nurse. Riva worked in a Jewish hospital in Kaunas and lived with Dora. Dora helped us a lot. She often sent parcels to my parents. On holidays she always sent presents. That's why I always looked forward to the holidays. I always got presents from my elder sister.

All of us understood that I had to study as well in order to get a specialty, but there was no place to study in our town and it was decided in the family council that I should go to my sisters in Kaunas. I lodged with Riva, slept on one sofa with her. Dora watched that I wasn't hungry, if I didn't manage to have lunch at her place; she gave me one litas for lunch. With that money I could by half a liter of milk, a roll and a piece of salted Lithuanian cheese. Kaunas really impressed me. It was beautiful and huge as compared to Ukmerge.