Tag #129242 - Interview #100063 (Edith Umova)

After we returned to Tallinn, which was the capital of Soviet Estonia, we had no opportunity to keep observing Jewish traditions to the same extent as we used to before the war. However, we celebrated Jewish holidays according to the rules. When my paternal grandparents were with us, my mother and grandmother used to cook festive Jewish meals together. We no longer went to the synagogue, but we did everything necessary at home. We had matzah on Pesach, and my grandfather conducted the seder. My mother’s brothers and sisters and my paternal relatives visited us on holidays. We had a Jewish meal: stuffed fish and chicken broth. Even during the postwar years, when there was a shortage of food everywhere, my mother and grandmother managed to arrange for a festive meal. After my father’s parents died, my mother continued this tradition, and the whole family gathered at the table to celebrate Jewish holidays.