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My mother was a highly educated person with absolutely no profession. For a long time she was registered at the employment agency, but in vain. One time she was sent to collect strawberries far away, outside Irpen. This work certainly brought no income. In fact, this work happened very seldom. But finally she got lucky. There was a woodworking company on our street: a saw worked under the sky and my mother helped out there. It was July; my mother suffered a sunstroke and luckily just passed out. The director of the company felt pity for her and made her a cleaner at the company, so that she wouldn't have to work outside any more. It was certainly very good, but her salary was very low. She was a very smart woman and was made a courier. It meant that she had to go around the city and even outside the city to deliver bureaucratic documents, sign journals of registration, take receipts back. She was given money for transportation, but she almost always went on foot in order to save that money.
She also continued working as a cleaner. During the day she worked as a courier and in the evenings I helped her clean the office: she washed the floor and I washed the tables. Some time later she was made a cashier collector as she was officially registered. She had to daily register financial documents at the bank, which was located where the Central Bank is located now. She also had to issue salaries to the workers of her company. But people worked in Puscha-Voditsa, Svyatoshino, Kurenyovka, Podol [18], and then the main office moved to Nizhny Val. The distances between these places were big. My mother would carry money in a purse to Puscha-Voditsa, for instance. She came back late at night, with some money that was left. It was wild because public transportation was bad before the war. At the same time, we had an ideal order at home. My mother had to work in order to feed a family of four people and cook practically from nothing.
She also continued working as a cleaner. During the day she worked as a courier and in the evenings I helped her clean the office: she washed the floor and I washed the tables. Some time later she was made a cashier collector as she was officially registered. She had to daily register financial documents at the bank, which was located where the Central Bank is located now. She also had to issue salaries to the workers of her company. But people worked in Puscha-Voditsa, Svyatoshino, Kurenyovka, Podol [18], and then the main office moved to Nizhny Val. The distances between these places were big. My mother would carry money in a purse to Puscha-Voditsa, for instance. She came back late at night, with some money that was left. It was wild because public transportation was bad before the war. At the same time, we had an ideal order at home. My mother had to work in order to feed a family of four people and cook practically from nothing.
Location
Ukraine
Interview
Deborah Averbukh