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Uncle Nochim continuously went to see a military commissar with his requests to be sent to the front. He remained fanatically devoted to the Soviet power and believed everything that happened to him to be an unfortunate misunderstanding and mistake. Since he was under arrest he wasn't fully trusted to be sent to the front, but in the middle of 1942 Nochim went to the front. He perished at the beginning of 1945 in battles on the Oder [during the Battle for Berlin, which lasted from January-May 1945]. His wife passed away and his daughter lives in Kiev.
When the Great Patriotic War was began my mother's sister Ania evacuated to Poltava region. Then she came to Stalingrad region at the beginning of fall 1941. Ania became the director of a school and invited my mother to work as a teacher there. We didn't know anything about the living conditions in the village where Ania was working and the family council decided that I would stay to finish school and receive my certificate of secondary education and my mother would go there. In October or November my mother wrote me a letter telling me to come to that village. It was already very cold when I finally decided to go. I came to Astrakhan, but I couldn't move on since the Volga was frozen and there was no boat transportation. I had to go back to the kolkhoz. On the way I got my feet frost-bitten. When I arrived Uncle Nochim, who loved me dearly, massaged my feet for hours in the evenings and wrapped me in a blanket. Nochim was a very sociable man. He was always among people. I stayed in the kolkhoz throughout the winter. I drove an ox-drawn cart and sorted out potatoes and vegetables. In spring I worked at the crew of Komsomol members that constructed storage facilities for rice. It was hard work. We had to carry a lot of soil to and fro. Our meals weren't very nutritious. We mostly had fish that we even hated the sight of. Sometimes we got transportation on ox-drawn carts and sometimes we had to walk ten kilometers to and from work. I worked in this crew through spring 1942.
My mother was very nervous about my being away from her. She always had nervous breakdowns: she was afraid that we would never see each other again. In early summer she managed to get to Stalingrad and from there to the kolkhoz. She walked some distance and got a ride on a cart where she left her bag with her belongings and all documents. She was probably very nervous and overstressed thinking about me.
When the Great Patriotic War was began my mother's sister Ania evacuated to Poltava region. Then she came to Stalingrad region at the beginning of fall 1941. Ania became the director of a school and invited my mother to work as a teacher there. We didn't know anything about the living conditions in the village where Ania was working and the family council decided that I would stay to finish school and receive my certificate of secondary education and my mother would go there. In October or November my mother wrote me a letter telling me to come to that village. It was already very cold when I finally decided to go. I came to Astrakhan, but I couldn't move on since the Volga was frozen and there was no boat transportation. I had to go back to the kolkhoz. On the way I got my feet frost-bitten. When I arrived Uncle Nochim, who loved me dearly, massaged my feet for hours in the evenings and wrapped me in a blanket. Nochim was a very sociable man. He was always among people. I stayed in the kolkhoz throughout the winter. I drove an ox-drawn cart and sorted out potatoes and vegetables. In spring I worked at the crew of Komsomol members that constructed storage facilities for rice. It was hard work. We had to carry a lot of soil to and fro. Our meals weren't very nutritious. We mostly had fish that we even hated the sight of. Sometimes we got transportation on ox-drawn carts and sometimes we had to walk ten kilometers to and from work. I worked in this crew through spring 1942.
My mother was very nervous about my being away from her. She always had nervous breakdowns: she was afraid that we would never see each other again. In early summer she managed to get to Stalingrad and from there to the kolkhoz. She walked some distance and got a ride on a cart where she left her bag with her belongings and all documents. She was probably very nervous and overstressed thinking about me.
Period
Location
Ukraine
Interview
maya kaganskaya