Tag #147473 - Interview #94561 (Zinoviy Rukinglaz )

My parents’ families lived in Kherson [480 km south of Kiev, Kherson], a young town [editor’s note: Kherson is a little older than 220 years; the town was founded during the reign of Katherine II 1] in the early 20th century its population was about 60 thousand people with about 20 thousand Jewish residents]. This town was within the pale of Settlement [2], and had mild climate, fruitful soil and clean water and favorable trading conditions. Kherson stands at the spot where the Dnieper flows into the Black Sea. There are two ports: a river port and a seaport. There was also Ukrainian, Russian, Tatar, Greek and German population: it was a multinational town. There were 26 synagogues and houses of prayer, three yeshivah schools, Saturday schools for boys and girls, free vocational schools for boys and girls, few private grammar schools and vocational schools, a Jewish hospital and an elderly people home. Wealthier Jews – doctors, lawyers and merchants – lived in their mansions in the center of the town. There was well-developed commerce in the town: wholesale grain, sunflower, corn and plant oil trade.