Rozalia Akselrod’s family

Rozalia Akselrod’s family

Our family, from left to right: my mother, Yevgenia Akselrod (nee Weber), my elder sister Manya, I, Rozalia Akselrod, and my father, Yakov Akselrod.

On 20th January 1910, my parents got married. I don’t know what kind of wedding they had, they never told me about it. In 1910 my elder sister Maria was born and in 1919 I was born. My parents also had a son, who was born in 1913, but he died as a baby. I don’t know where exactly in Khorol my parents lived at that time. In 1918, my sister Maria went to a Ukrainian school.

My parents welcomed the October Revolution. They were ordinary people and believed what they were told about the rule of workers and peasants. They were told that their lives would be better than under the tsar, so they hoped for it. I don’t know whether they took any part in the revolution. Father said he distributed leaflets. But there were practically no changes in Khorol after the revolution; people continued to live as they did before and raised their children.

I did not go to kindergarten. I stayed home with my mother. I had no babysitter but my mother spent a lot of time with me because she had a housemaid to help her around the house. We had large rooms, and she cleaned them, cooked and washed. My mother’s character was strict. I don’t remember her hugging or kissing me. But she cared. She did her best to provide for us.

My father’s character was softer than that of my mother. If one of us got sick, it was father who gave us medicine, pet us on the head or told us fairytales. I can say that our father and mother traded their family roles. But their relationship was very good. 

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