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Our family was poor and we came to the first ranks of the new regime. My mother was elected a deputy of the district council. I finished eight classes in 1940 and entered the agricultural college in Rezin, 30 kilometers from our village. On the first day in college I became a Komsomol member [9] I believed in the ideas of communism and dropped religion and everything about Jewish traditions.
My parents continued to observe Jewish traditions and celebrate holidays. They had to do it in secret. I didn’t try to dissuade my parents from Jewish traditions or holidays. I understood that it was useless and might only cause argument in the family. When I was at home I usually joined them for a festive meal during celebrations. Saturday was a working day and our father had to work in the field that belonged to the collective farm [10].
Young people in Moldova were called to work at the communist construction sites in the USSR. My older sister Haya, who had turned 18 by that time, went to work in Makeevka, Donetsk region. She wrote us letters. She was working at the construction in mines. It was very hard work and there were no comforts in their living quarters, but young people were enthusiastic about their work anyway. Some of them, even young men, tried to escape, but they were imprisoned if captured.
My parents continued to observe Jewish traditions and celebrate holidays. They had to do it in secret. I didn’t try to dissuade my parents from Jewish traditions or holidays. I understood that it was useless and might only cause argument in the family. When I was at home I usually joined them for a festive meal during celebrations. Saturday was a working day and our father had to work in the field that belonged to the collective farm [10].
Young people in Moldova were called to work at the communist construction sites in the USSR. My older sister Haya, who had turned 18 by that time, went to work in Makeevka, Donetsk region. She wrote us letters. She was working at the construction in mines. It was very hard work and there were no comforts in their living quarters, but young people were enthusiastic about their work anyway. Some of them, even young men, tried to escape, but they were imprisoned if captured.
Location
Ukraine
Interview
Boris Slobodianskiy