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I entered the 5th year of the Philology Faculty at Alma-Ata University. In 1943 I passed the final exams successfully and graduated from the university. There were no vacancies for me, though. I was offered a job as a Russian teacher in China. I gave my consent, but my parents talked me out of it. Once my father talked about me to his student. She told him that there was a vacancy at the Cinematography College, and I became a teacher of Russian language there.
In 1944 my father obtained all necessary documents to go back to Kiev and resume his position at the Institute of Psychology. We returned to Kiev, and my father got a job with the Institute of Psychology and the Institute of Physical Culture. We stayed at the hotel, and the institute paid our hotel bills. I couldn't find a job, because there were only a few schools open. My mother found a job as a bibliographer at a book center. She was very happy to get this job. My father had a lot of work. He did a lot of consulting work and worked at the Ministry of Transport. He submitted the book that he had written in evacuation for publication. But in 1946 my father died from infarction during a meeting at the Council of Ministers. He was buried in the cemetery. It wasn't a Jewish funeral.
Shortly after the funeral I went to the Ministry of Education located in Kreschatik. Kreschatik was still in ruins, and German prisoners were working on its clean up. I met with the minister and explained my situation to him. There was a newspaper with an obituary of my father on his desk. He said he would see what he could do. He helped me to get a job in the center of Kiev. I was a teacher of Russian language and literature.
After my father died my mother received a pension for him. This pension was a few times more than my mother's salary, but to receive it my mother had to quit her job. She did.
My father's book, The Basics of Psychology, was published, but the author's name was different. I had given directions for the publication of this book to Kostyuk, the director of the Institute of Psychology. After some time I went to ask him about the news, and he said that I hadn't given him anything. Within a year's time this book was published under the name of Kostyuk. I was so upset, but I couldn't prove anything. But this is all the past. I never tried to fix this injustice. Time has passed, and this book has been forgotten.
In 1944 my father obtained all necessary documents to go back to Kiev and resume his position at the Institute of Psychology. We returned to Kiev, and my father got a job with the Institute of Psychology and the Institute of Physical Culture. We stayed at the hotel, and the institute paid our hotel bills. I couldn't find a job, because there were only a few schools open. My mother found a job as a bibliographer at a book center. She was very happy to get this job. My father had a lot of work. He did a lot of consulting work and worked at the Ministry of Transport. He submitted the book that he had written in evacuation for publication. But in 1946 my father died from infarction during a meeting at the Council of Ministers. He was buried in the cemetery. It wasn't a Jewish funeral.
Shortly after the funeral I went to the Ministry of Education located in Kreschatik. Kreschatik was still in ruins, and German prisoners were working on its clean up. I met with the minister and explained my situation to him. There was a newspaper with an obituary of my father on his desk. He said he would see what he could do. He helped me to get a job in the center of Kiev. I was a teacher of Russian language and literature.
After my father died my mother received a pension for him. This pension was a few times more than my mother's salary, but to receive it my mother had to quit her job. She did.
My father's book, The Basics of Psychology, was published, but the author's name was different. I had given directions for the publication of this book to Kostyuk, the director of the Institute of Psychology. After some time I went to ask him about the news, and he said that I hadn't given him anything. Within a year's time this book was published under the name of Kostyuk. I was so upset, but I couldn't prove anything. But this is all the past. I never tried to fix this injustice. Time has passed, and this book has been forgotten.
Location
Ukraine
Interview
izolda rubinshtein