Tag #140008 - Interview #97330 (Grigoriy Yakovlevich Husid)

I am Grigoriy Yakovlevich Husid. I was born in Yelisavetgrad (Zinovievsk, Kirvograd) on 7 October 1924. The town was called Yelisavetgrad before the revolution. After the revolution it was named Zinoviesk after Lenin’s fellow-fighter Zinoviev. In 1934 Zinoviev was declared an enemy. At the same time Kirov was murdered, and the town was called Kirovograd in his commemoration. This is what it is called now. It used to be a prosperous merchant town in Odessa Province. It is located on the rich steppe lands.   According to what my parents told me it was a well-known town. Quite a few politicians and artists came from it. 50% of its population was Jewish.