Selected text
At school I came across no manifestations of anti-Semitism and till the 8th class did not know my nationality. My parents never spoke about it. I was an excellent pupil; I liked to study very much. Every subject was easy for me: literature, mathematics, etc. I used to take part in different contests for schoolchildren. I remember that one day my teacher of Russian language Antonina Ivanovna said that in her opinion I should become a professor in the future. Our teacher of physics was a very interesting person, he was elegant in dress. I remember that our teacher of biology Bella (I do not remember her patronymic), a Jewess pronounced the word myasso (meat) in a very funny manner. In my early childhood when we got to Moscow, my parents bought a violin for me, but my studies lasted not long: my family could not afford my lessons. I remember that in 1930 (when people suffered from starvation) my parents sold their wedding rings and bought tasty meals in Torgsin store [6].
During my school years I was engaged in amateur art activities, an actor Yemelyanov from the Vakhtangov theatre taught us. We put on the stage “Gypsies” by Pushkin [7]. I read the narrator’s text, and my friend Tolya played the role of the old gipsy. I also recited the poem To The Sea by Pushkin, and got a diploma for it.
When I was a pupil of the 8th and 9th form, I studied at a glider school. There I learned to make short climbs, but did not fly. I remember the opening ceremony of the Palace of Pioneers in 1937 or 1938. N. Khrushchev [8] was present at it (at that time he was a secretary of the Moscow CPSU committee). I was an active pioneer.
I visited Yumashev [Andrey Yumashev was a test pilot, a member of the Gromov’s crew - participant of the flight over the North Pole in 1937] and Krestinsky [Nikolay Krestinsky was a Soviet CPSU and statesman, in 1930-1938 he was a USSR deputy people's commissar of foreign affairs] to invite them to our school. Yumashev did not come, and Krestinsky came and gave us a lecture.
In my childhood I was lucky to see Chkalov [9] and his son in Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow. I heard that his son said to him ‘Daddy, look! Here is your portrait’.
At school I was the chairman of the group pioneer organization. Kanina, our school director was an Honored Worker of Education; she was always nice to me. I had got a schoolmate Boris Goldin, who became an outstanding architect later.
During my school years I was engaged in amateur art activities, an actor Yemelyanov from the Vakhtangov theatre taught us. We put on the stage “Gypsies” by Pushkin [7]. I read the narrator’s text, and my friend Tolya played the role of the old gipsy. I also recited the poem To The Sea by Pushkin, and got a diploma for it.
When I was a pupil of the 8th and 9th form, I studied at a glider school. There I learned to make short climbs, but did not fly. I remember the opening ceremony of the Palace of Pioneers in 1937 or 1938. N. Khrushchev [8] was present at it (at that time he was a secretary of the Moscow CPSU committee). I was an active pioneer.
I visited Yumashev [Andrey Yumashev was a test pilot, a member of the Gromov’s crew - participant of the flight over the North Pole in 1937] and Krestinsky [Nikolay Krestinsky was a Soviet CPSU and statesman, in 1930-1938 he was a USSR deputy people's commissar of foreign affairs] to invite them to our school. Yumashev did not come, and Krestinsky came and gave us a lecture.
In my childhood I was lucky to see Chkalov [9] and his son in Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow. I heard that his son said to him ‘Daddy, look! Here is your portrait’.
At school I was the chairman of the group pioneer organization. Kanina, our school director was an Honored Worker of Education; she was always nice to me. I had got a schoolmate Boris Goldin, who became an outstanding architect later.
Period
Location
Moscow
Russia
Interview
Grigory Gendler
Tag(s)