Selected text
I attended school while in evacuation for a short while, and I hadn’t finished the first grade. It took my mother a while to decide which school to choose for me. I had forgotten some Estonian during the evacuation, and I spoke poor Russian. Finally she decided for a Russian school for me. I went to the first grade, when I was way over eight years old. However, I wasn’t the only over age pupil in my class. There were many such children.
I did well at school, when I fell ill in the fourth grade. My legs were swollen, and I felt weak. My condition got worse, until I started fainting and walking to school became too much for me. I didn’t tell my mother about this until she noticed that something was wrong with me. I was taken to the children’s hospital where I stayed for three months. I happened to have severe anemia and infectious rheumatic heart disease. The most difficult thing for me was that I was staying in an infectious unit, and my mother wasn’t allowed to visit me there. I was separated from my mother, and this was very hard on me. Many children were dying there. However, my physical and moral suffering was insignificant to me compared to my separation from my mother. When I was released from the hospital, my doctor told me that my heart would never be strong again. I was not allowed to go in for sports or play outdoor games. I had to be very careful.
I was still very weak after I was released from hospital. I couldn’t catch up with my class. I had to go back to the fourth grade the following year. This was a different class. My friend Tsylia Perl’man was in this class, too. I knew Tsylia before the war. Her paternal grandmother, Mrs. Perl’man was the owner of the Bialik club restaurant before the war. It was a Jewish restaurant. Its visitors came to have a nice meal, talk to one another, learn what was new and listen to Jewish music. After the war Mrs. Perl’man reopened her restaurant. It goes without saying that she couldn’t do this officially, considering the Soviet regime’s restrictions. They had a large apartment, and she made something like a diner in one room. People came to have a meal and talk there. As for the Soviet officials, Tsylia’s grandmother told them her relatives and friends were visiting with her.
When we returned from the evacuation life was very hard. Ms. Perl’man offered my mother to help her about the kitchen. She did the cooking, while my mother helped her prepare fish and vegetables and wash the dishes. My mother worked there, and I went there to have lunch every day. So I met Tsylia. We sat at the same table and found many common interests soon. We also lived close to one another. When I joined Tsylia’s class, we soon became best friends. There were other Jewish girls in my class. My distant relative Pesia Marjenburger also studied in this class. Now her marital name is Speranskaya.
I did well at school, when I fell ill in the fourth grade. My legs were swollen, and I felt weak. My condition got worse, until I started fainting and walking to school became too much for me. I didn’t tell my mother about this until she noticed that something was wrong with me. I was taken to the children’s hospital where I stayed for three months. I happened to have severe anemia and infectious rheumatic heart disease. The most difficult thing for me was that I was staying in an infectious unit, and my mother wasn’t allowed to visit me there. I was separated from my mother, and this was very hard on me. Many children were dying there. However, my physical and moral suffering was insignificant to me compared to my separation from my mother. When I was released from the hospital, my doctor told me that my heart would never be strong again. I was not allowed to go in for sports or play outdoor games. I had to be very careful.
I was still very weak after I was released from hospital. I couldn’t catch up with my class. I had to go back to the fourth grade the following year. This was a different class. My friend Tsylia Perl’man was in this class, too. I knew Tsylia before the war. Her paternal grandmother, Mrs. Perl’man was the owner of the Bialik club restaurant before the war. It was a Jewish restaurant. Its visitors came to have a nice meal, talk to one another, learn what was new and listen to Jewish music. After the war Mrs. Perl’man reopened her restaurant. It goes without saying that she couldn’t do this officially, considering the Soviet regime’s restrictions. They had a large apartment, and she made something like a diner in one room. People came to have a meal and talk there. As for the Soviet officials, Tsylia’s grandmother told them her relatives and friends were visiting with her.
When we returned from the evacuation life was very hard. Ms. Perl’man offered my mother to help her about the kitchen. She did the cooking, while my mother helped her prepare fish and vegetables and wash the dishes. My mother worked there, and I went there to have lunch every day. So I met Tsylia. We sat at the same table and found many common interests soon. We also lived close to one another. When I joined Tsylia’s class, we soon became best friends. There were other Jewish girls in my class. My distant relative Pesia Marjenburger also studied in this class. Now her marital name is Speranskaya.
Period
Location
Talinn
Estonia
Interview
Edith Umova