Tag #129058 - Interview #99893 (Maria Sorkina )

My father wanted us to get a good education. All of us went to the German gymnasium. My father paid our education fees willingly. I wouldn’t say we were ever spoiled in our childhood. We had sufficient food and clothes, but nothing extra. At some point in time my father’s business went bad. Hunters had to obtain licenses for ground game hunting from the forestry office. The license was rather expensive. There wasn’t a lot of skin available. The family income decreased, but we continued our studies in the German gymnasium. My older brother worked with my father after finishing the gymnasium.

In 1914 World War I began. My parents decided to send Rosa and me to my mother’s relatives in Yaroslavl [today Russia]. My mother’s older brothers had moved there from Lithuania and her younger brother from Poland had also moved there. My parents didn’t want us to miss the start of the year in the gymnasium, and therefore, we were the first to go there. My parents and younger sisters were to join us later. My brother was recruited to the army after finishing the gymnasium. Rosa and I stayed with my uncles. My sister and I could speak a little Russian, and our Russian improved soon after. Children have no problem with languages. My sister and I went to a Russian gymnasium. We had studied German and Latvian previously, but in this gymnasium the second language was French. Wealthier families also spoke French at home. I was good at French as well. I wish I had finished learning it. The situation changed, and my parents didn’t have to leave Latvia. Besides, they didn’t quite like traveling. One year later we returned home. We studied another year in Aluksne, and then Rosa and I went to the school with a medical class in Riga [today Latvia]. The children studied Latin and Greek in this school. After finishing her studies Rosa went to the Dental Faculty of Tartu University. I was going to follow into her footsteps after finishing my studies.