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My parents had four children. We were all born in Putila. I was born on 14th October 1919. My brother Mothe followed in 1921, and my younger sister, Milia, was born in 1923.
My parents were religious people, but they weren't fanatically religious. They celebrated all Jewish holidays and Sabbath. My mother always cooked Saturday meals on Friday. She left the food in the stove to keep it warm for Saturday. It wasn't allowed for Jews to light a fire on Saturday to warm up the food. It wasn't even allowed to have a fire to heat the room in the winter. However, my parents asked our Ukrainian neighbor to come in and light the fire in the stove and the lamp. On Fridays we said a prayer, my mother lit candles and we began Sabbath. On Saturdays our whole family went to the synagogue. When we returned, my father used to read the chapter of the Torah which is read on Saturday. Then we sat down at the table. In the evening we conducted HAavdalah, the separation of Saturday from weekdays. All Jews went to the synagogue to avoid being condemned by the community.
My mother strictly followed the laws of kashrut. There was kosher and non- kosher meat in every food store; it was the same price. Jews only bought kosher meat, of course. They sinned every now and then and ate non-kosher meat, but in general, Jews followed the kashrut. There was no market in the village. There were suppliers, who delivered products to each family.
We spoke Yiddish and German at home. Even after Bukovina joined Romania in 1919 German was more frequently spoken than Romanian.
My parents were religious people, but they weren't fanatically religious. They celebrated all Jewish holidays and Sabbath. My mother always cooked Saturday meals on Friday. She left the food in the stove to keep it warm for Saturday. It wasn't allowed for Jews to light a fire on Saturday to warm up the food. It wasn't even allowed to have a fire to heat the room in the winter. However, my parents asked our Ukrainian neighbor to come in and light the fire in the stove and the lamp. On Fridays we said a prayer, my mother lit candles and we began Sabbath. On Saturdays our whole family went to the synagogue. When we returned, my father used to read the chapter of the Torah which is read on Saturday. Then we sat down at the table. In the evening we conducted HAavdalah, the separation of Saturday from weekdays. All Jews went to the synagogue to avoid being condemned by the community.
My mother strictly followed the laws of kashrut. There was kosher and non- kosher meat in every food store; it was the same price. Jews only bought kosher meat, of course. They sinned every now and then and ate non-kosher meat, but in general, Jews followed the kashrut. There was no market in the village. There were suppliers, who delivered products to each family.
We spoke Yiddish and German at home. Even after Bukovina joined Romania in 1919 German was more frequently spoken than Romanian.
Location
Ukraine
Interview
max shykler