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My mother Nehama Khatset (nee Rabin) was born in Boguslav on 8 October 1888. I have a copy of her Birth Certificate signed by the Korsun State Rabbi. At the age of 11 she lost her both parents. Her brothers and sisters had left their home long before. Therefore, my mother didn't remember much about her family. She only told me that they spoke Yiddish in the family and she spoke fluent Yiddish, too. Her parents were religious and observed all Jewish traditions. She lived with one or another sister and felt herself a burden. None of my mother’s brothers or sisters ever visited us. They didn’t keep in touch with my mother, and she was sad about it. My mother remembered that the majority of population in Boguslav was Jewish and Yiddish was commonly spoken everywhere. My mother finished a public secondary school in Boguslav.
At 16 she moved to Kiev having heard about a 3-year Frebel school 8. There were no residential restrictions to admission to this school. My mother went to study and rented a room in Shuliavka in the outskirts of Kiev. So my mother became independent at 16 and earned her own living. She went to work as a cashier at a vegetarian canteen in the center of the town. She was paid 3 rubles per month. The customers were students for the most part since this was an inexpensive canteen where they could get a sufficient meal for reasonable money. Being a first-year student my mother met my father that was a first-year student at the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics in Kiev St. Vladimir University. My mother had to take an exam in Latin at Frebel school. She needed a teacher and somebody recommended my father to her. It was a common thing that students earned money by giving classes.
My father began to teach my mother, but he didn’t charge her for his work knowing that all she had was 3 rubles per month. After my mother finished her first year at school it turned out that she needed a residential permit, or else she would have had to leave Kiev. In order for my mother to be able to continue her studies she and my father arranged a marriage of convenience in 1907. They went to have their marriage registered secretly in Kanev (100 km from Kiev) since my father’s parents were against their marriage. It was their big secret and my parents didn’t disclose it even to their friends or acquaintances. They did it to for my mother to be able to obtain a residential permit.
My mother went to school during a day and worked 2nd shift. For 7 years my mother was my father’s wife without entering into close relationships with him. I don’t think there are any idealists like them left. In 1913 my father had to terminate his studies at the University since he fell ill with tuberculosis and had to go take a treatment in Mentona, France, wealthy people used to travel to get the best medical treatment in Europe. He returned before World War I, passed his graduate exams in 1915 and became an attorney assistant. When my father began to earn his living he insisted that their pro forma marriage became actual. This happened in 1916. My mother didn’t agree to do it for two reasons: firstly, she knew that his parents, his mother in particular, were strongly against this marriage. My mother was poor, but proud. Secondly, my mother thought that my father wanted to consummate their marriage from the feeling of pity. He had to prove to her that this was love on his part. This lasted for several years before my mother finally agreed. I remember my mother’s landlady from Shuliavka visiting us before the Great Patriotic War. Every time she rang the doorbell she joked laughingly ‘Is your husband home, Miss?’ When my mother rented a room in Shuliavka and my father came to see her there this landlady said to mother ‘Your husband is here, Miss!’ After finishing Frebel school my mother continued working at the canteen until consummation of marriage. My father rented an apartment in the center of Kiev. In 1917 their first son Lev was born. My mother didn’t work since then. Later she finished a course of librarians and worked as a librarian before the Great Patriotic War and some time after.
At 16 she moved to Kiev having heard about a 3-year Frebel school 8. There were no residential restrictions to admission to this school. My mother went to study and rented a room in Shuliavka in the outskirts of Kiev. So my mother became independent at 16 and earned her own living. She went to work as a cashier at a vegetarian canteen in the center of the town. She was paid 3 rubles per month. The customers were students for the most part since this was an inexpensive canteen where they could get a sufficient meal for reasonable money. Being a first-year student my mother met my father that was a first-year student at the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics in Kiev St. Vladimir University. My mother had to take an exam in Latin at Frebel school. She needed a teacher and somebody recommended my father to her. It was a common thing that students earned money by giving classes.
My father began to teach my mother, but he didn’t charge her for his work knowing that all she had was 3 rubles per month. After my mother finished her first year at school it turned out that she needed a residential permit, or else she would have had to leave Kiev. In order for my mother to be able to continue her studies she and my father arranged a marriage of convenience in 1907. They went to have their marriage registered secretly in Kanev (100 km from Kiev) since my father’s parents were against their marriage. It was their big secret and my parents didn’t disclose it even to their friends or acquaintances. They did it to for my mother to be able to obtain a residential permit.
My mother went to school during a day and worked 2nd shift. For 7 years my mother was my father’s wife without entering into close relationships with him. I don’t think there are any idealists like them left. In 1913 my father had to terminate his studies at the University since he fell ill with tuberculosis and had to go take a treatment in Mentona, France, wealthy people used to travel to get the best medical treatment in Europe. He returned before World War I, passed his graduate exams in 1915 and became an attorney assistant. When my father began to earn his living he insisted that their pro forma marriage became actual. This happened in 1916. My mother didn’t agree to do it for two reasons: firstly, she knew that his parents, his mother in particular, were strongly against this marriage. My mother was poor, but proud. Secondly, my mother thought that my father wanted to consummate their marriage from the feeling of pity. He had to prove to her that this was love on his part. This lasted for several years before my mother finally agreed. I remember my mother’s landlady from Shuliavka visiting us before the Great Patriotic War. Every time she rang the doorbell she joked laughingly ‘Is your husband home, Miss?’ When my mother rented a room in Shuliavka and my father came to see her there this landlady said to mother ‘Your husband is here, Miss!’ After finishing Frebel school my mother continued working at the canteen until consummation of marriage. My father rented an apartment in the center of Kiev. In 1917 their first son Lev was born. My mother didn’t work since then. Later she finished a course of librarians and worked as a librarian before the Great Patriotic War and some time after.
Location
Ukraine
Interview
Frida Khatset