Tag #145079 - Interview #103798 (Mina Smolianskaya Biography)

My mother earned her living by making skirts and aprons and embroidered blouses and towels for Ukrainian women. She earned very little and we lived from hand to mouth. We didn’t even have enough bread. Mother used to bake bread for the family once a week. Once my mother’s sister Tzypa visited us and saw me eating a piece of bread. She reprimanded my mother telling her that she shouldn’t allow us to nibble on bread between meals. Mother took bread to the storeroom and locked it. We, kids, were desperately hungry. We broke the lock to get this bread. Mother told us off later, but stopped locking bread. Life was very hard when I was a child…