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My father’s older brother Motka was born in Starokonstantinov in 1871. Motka was a cabinetmaker and worked together with Grandfather in his shop. In 1895 he moved to Odessa and married a Jewish girl. His wife’s name was Chaika. Her family lived in Moldavanka [poor Jewish neighborhood on the outskirts of Odessa]. Motka and Chaika observed all Jewish holidays and fasted at Yom Kippur.
During the Civil War 3 Motka and his family moved to the village of Mayaki near Odessa. Motka starved to death in 1921 and Chaika died during the NEP 4 in 1928, I guess. They were buried in the Jewish cemetery in Mayaki.
They had twelve children. I knew three of them, born in Odessa. Their daughter Reveka, born in 1908, finished a likbez 5. She was married. Her husband, Yuzia Feldman, moved to Odessa from a smaller town. He was a galvanizing operator. Reveka and Yuzia had a son whose name was Marik. Reveka died in Odessa in 1971. Yuzia died in the 1990s. They were buried in the Jewish cemetery. Marik got married. He worked as an engineer. He moved to Germany with his family in the 1990s.
Motka’s daughter Zina was born in Odessa in 1910. She finished a Jewish school and got married at the age of 16. Her husband came from a wealthy family: his father owned a leather-currying factory during the NEP. After their only child died, Zina divorced her husband. He was a drunkard and a womanizer.
In 1934 she married a Jewish widower named Shtein, who had a son named Misha, born in 1928. Her second husband was a logistics manager. I don’t remember where he worked, though. In 1938 their son Alfred was born. During the Great Patriotic War 6 Zina and her children were in evacuation in Tashkent. Her husband perished at the front. In 1946 Zina became my second wife.
During the Civil War 3 Motka and his family moved to the village of Mayaki near Odessa. Motka starved to death in 1921 and Chaika died during the NEP 4 in 1928, I guess. They were buried in the Jewish cemetery in Mayaki.
They had twelve children. I knew three of them, born in Odessa. Their daughter Reveka, born in 1908, finished a likbez 5. She was married. Her husband, Yuzia Feldman, moved to Odessa from a smaller town. He was a galvanizing operator. Reveka and Yuzia had a son whose name was Marik. Reveka died in Odessa in 1971. Yuzia died in the 1990s. They were buried in the Jewish cemetery. Marik got married. He worked as an engineer. He moved to Germany with his family in the 1990s.
Motka’s daughter Zina was born in Odessa in 1910. She finished a Jewish school and got married at the age of 16. Her husband came from a wealthy family: his father owned a leather-currying factory during the NEP. After their only child died, Zina divorced her husband. He was a drunkard and a womanizer.
In 1934 she married a Jewish widower named Shtein, who had a son named Misha, born in 1928. Her second husband was a logistics manager. I don’t remember where he worked, though. In 1938 their son Alfred was born. During the Great Patriotic War 6 Zina and her children were in evacuation in Tashkent. Her husband perished at the front. In 1946 Zina became my second wife.
Location
Ukraine
Interview
Isaac Klinger