Tag #149719 - Interview #78161 (roman reznikov)

I don't remember any discussions about the forthcoming war either at school or at home. My parents must have discussed Hitler's rise to power and the beginning of the war in Europe, but they never discussed such serious subjects in my presence. Therefore, the war came as a complete surprise to me. I remember hearing about the war when I was standing in line to buy some bread or cereal. At that time the situation with food products was aggravating. I don't even remember any fear. The war was an abstract notion for me. I was curious about what was going to happen next. Our relatives from Kiev - Aunt Anna and Marina, Uncle Boris' wife and her daughter Mara, Uncle Emil's wife and my grandmother's sister Fania and her son - arrived at our place for evacuation during the war. We all lived in one room. Although there wasn't enough space for all of us, we could manage all right and treated each other nicely. The situation with food products became very bad. I had to stand in line for hours to buy some food. I matured at once somehow. The war didn't show its frightening character yet, but it was clear that there was to be nothing good or 'interesting' about it.

In October 1941 Pavel Shoihet, Aunt Ania's husband, arrived. He was involved in the evacuation of enterprises from Ukraine to Middle Asia. He wanted to take Aunt Anna and Marina to Chimkent where his factory was evacuated. But Anna refused firmly to leave her close ones. Therefore, all relatives from Kiev, including my grandmother Maria, went there.