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We rarely visited my parents. There was nothing to do there. My sisters and brothers had left them to have their own life, and my parents were constantly arguing. We always argued with my father. He always swore about the Soviet power and we defended it. He hated the Soviet regime, he called people ragamuffins.
With the outbreak of World War II, my mother was evacuated along with her cousin Polia to Chimkent in Central Asia. My father refused to be evacuated. He said that the Germans were cultured people and wouldn’t do anything bad to him. He always had this spirit of contradiction, he always did the opposite from what he was expected to do. Well, the Germans, these “cultural people” shot him at Babi Yar1, in September 1941, along with thousands of other Jews.
The aircraft plant where Dorochka and I worked was fulfilling military orders, and when the war began on 22 June 1941, it came under bombing from the start. The plant was urgently evacuated to Chuguev (near Kharkov). There was a flying school there and big aircraft repair facilities.
We worked in the spare parts repair shop. I wasn’t drafted. Besides having poor eyesight, I was working at a military plant, and this was basis for exemption from the army service. I had a special exemption stamp in my passport. I was considered to be of more importance in the rear. When the Germans approached Kharkov, we were evacuated to Chimkent (Kazakhstan). We rented an apartment and worked in a shop of the plant which was also evacuated to this town. Dora was made a guard for the chief of workshops Manager at the Chuguev flying school, but I worked in the shop.
With the outbreak of World War II, my mother was evacuated along with her cousin Polia to Chimkent in Central Asia. My father refused to be evacuated. He said that the Germans were cultured people and wouldn’t do anything bad to him. He always had this spirit of contradiction, he always did the opposite from what he was expected to do. Well, the Germans, these “cultural people” shot him at Babi Yar1, in September 1941, along with thousands of other Jews.
The aircraft plant where Dorochka and I worked was fulfilling military orders, and when the war began on 22 June 1941, it came under bombing from the start. The plant was urgently evacuated to Chuguev (near Kharkov). There was a flying school there and big aircraft repair facilities.
We worked in the spare parts repair shop. I wasn’t drafted. Besides having poor eyesight, I was working at a military plant, and this was basis for exemption from the army service. I had a special exemption stamp in my passport. I was considered to be of more importance in the rear. When the Germans approached Kharkov, we were evacuated to Chimkent (Kazakhstan). We rented an apartment and worked in a shop of the plant which was also evacuated to this town. Dora was made a guard for the chief of workshops Manager at the Chuguev flying school, but I worked in the shop.
Period
Location
Ukraine
Interview
Yevsey Kotkov