Selected text
Zelda had always been a very pious person. She was very charitable, helped the poor, gave them money for food. When some Jews died, she went to sew takhrikhim – Jewish traditional attire for the deceased. It was supposed to be a good deed for God. She always looked after some sick person. She helped everybody. People did not have to ask her for help, as she offered it anyways. She was honest in everything. There was one case: one old man whom she looked after, left her money. My aunt refused, saying that she had not right to take it. She found some of his distant relatives in Leningrad and sent the money to them. She had an easy death without suffering. Zelda died in her sleep in 1978.
We also marked Jewish holidays after the war. Grandmother made sure that everything would be observed that was sacred to her. If she observed it, her children did the same. On Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur my grandmother even forbade my cousin Gita and me to go to school. Thus, we obeyed her and went to the synagogue with our parents. When Grandmother was alive, the whole family got together to mark the holidays. Grandmother and Zelda made the feast. I remember that on Pesach my father always read from the Haggadah and put one drop of red Pascal wine on the saucer. Father also read a prayer, as I far as I remember. It is hard for me to recall things in detail, as things are forgotten over the years. The Soviet regime did its best for us to be away from Jewry.
On Yom Kippur my parents fasted for 24 hours in accordance with tradition. When I grew up, I also started fasting. We bought the products on the eve of the fast so that we could have them after fasting. We did not have family reunions after Grandmother’s death, but we marked holidays in our family. Our family always marked holidays. After Grandmother’s death our family went to the synagogue on major holidays, but we did not mark Sabbath at home.
We also marked Jewish holidays after the war. Grandmother made sure that everything would be observed that was sacred to her. If she observed it, her children did the same. On Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur my grandmother even forbade my cousin Gita and me to go to school. Thus, we obeyed her and went to the synagogue with our parents. When Grandmother was alive, the whole family got together to mark the holidays. Grandmother and Zelda made the feast. I remember that on Pesach my father always read from the Haggadah and put one drop of red Pascal wine on the saucer. Father also read a prayer, as I far as I remember. It is hard for me to recall things in detail, as things are forgotten over the years. The Soviet regime did its best for us to be away from Jewry.
On Yom Kippur my parents fasted for 24 hours in accordance with tradition. When I grew up, I also started fasting. We bought the products on the eve of the fast so that we could have them after fasting. We did not have family reunions after Grandmother’s death, but we marked holidays in our family. Our family always marked holidays. After Grandmother’s death our family went to the synagogue on major holidays, but we did not mark Sabbath at home.
Period
Location
Talinn
Estonia
Interview
Etta Ferdmann