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We were very happy to hear about the liberation of Kiev. We felt winners. We were dreaming about going home. But it was not to be soon. I worked at the military plant and they did not let me go. It was a cold and hungry time. My uncle Lyonia Unshtel, the husband of mamma’s younger sister Katia, sent me a pair of boots. Everything was rationed there. My ration was 400 grams of bread - this was much. I worked on a test station, and this involved work with engines and oils – hazardous work. We were given milk for hazardous conditions. We also had meals at the canteen.
We didn’t hear anything about my father until 1944. In 1944 he was moved from the front to Uralsk. Her worked there in the Aviation College where he served until the end of the war. At the end of the war my mother went to join my father in Uralsk.
In 1946 mamma returned to Kiev from the evacuation. In Kiev mamma met my drawing teacher Alexandr Ivanovich Fomin. He asked her where I was and helped to obtain a request to send me to study at school. It was impossible to get to Kiev without such request. I was 22 when they let me go.
After the war the Art school was looking for all those that could continue to study. This school prepared students to enter the Art Institute. Only 4 people of those who studied there before the war continued to study at school. All others perished. I was strongly oriented to master art. I dreamt about it throughout the war. When in Kuibyshev, I had a short meeting with art. Lifanov, Savitskiy, very interesting artists from Moscow, were in the evacuation there. They established a night studio. I went there whenever I had time. But it was rarely that I could find time. I came back to Kiev very enthusiastic about proceeding with my studies. The school was directly in the building of the Art Institute. I decided to study sculpture. My teacher was Kovalyov. He is the author of the monument to Pushkin in Kiev. The conditions were hard – it was cold and hungry. But we were studying.
We didn’t hear anything about my father until 1944. In 1944 he was moved from the front to Uralsk. Her worked there in the Aviation College where he served until the end of the war. At the end of the war my mother went to join my father in Uralsk.
In 1946 mamma returned to Kiev from the evacuation. In Kiev mamma met my drawing teacher Alexandr Ivanovich Fomin. He asked her where I was and helped to obtain a request to send me to study at school. It was impossible to get to Kiev without such request. I was 22 when they let me go.
After the war the Art school was looking for all those that could continue to study. This school prepared students to enter the Art Institute. Only 4 people of those who studied there before the war continued to study at school. All others perished. I was strongly oriented to master art. I dreamt about it throughout the war. When in Kuibyshev, I had a short meeting with art. Lifanov, Savitskiy, very interesting artists from Moscow, were in the evacuation there. They established a night studio. I went there whenever I had time. But it was rarely that I could find time. I came back to Kiev very enthusiastic about proceeding with my studies. The school was directly in the building of the Art Institute. I decided to study sculpture. My teacher was Kovalyov. He is the author of the monument to Pushkin in Kiev. The conditions were hard – it was cold and hungry. But we were studying.
Location
Ukraine
Interview
Grigoriy Yakovlevich Husid