Tag #152765 - Interview #101503 (Vladimir Khalfin)

There were about 150 families in the town and over 50 were Jewish families. There was also a Ukrainian and Russian population in Luchenets. They were all good neighbors and helped each other. Ukrainian neighbors of Jewish families knew Yiddish and Jews spoke also Yiddish, Russian and Ukrainian. There were no national conflicts, Luchenets was a distant town and gangs 1 did not usually get there. There was a wooden synagogue in the town. Women prayed in a separate room with a little window for them to hear the rabbi’s sermon. Jews from surrounding village also came to this synagogue on Jewish holidays. There was a cheder in the synagogue before the revolution of 1917 2. Jews bought chickens and geese to have them slaughtered by a shochet. There was a market in Luchenets on Mondays and Fridays. Local farmers sold their fruit, vegetables, dairy products and poultry. There were no scales at the market. Products were measured by containers: bowls or buckets. On other days of the week there was a big market in Kopaygorod in about 15 km from Luchenets. Farmers from the outskirts of the town supplied all food products. Jews were mainly craftsmen and tradesmen. Jewish families resided in the central part of the town. Land was more expensive there and they couldn’t afford to have big gardens or orchards. Jewish families lived in small wooden houses with thatched roofs and richer families had tiled roofs.