Tag #152794 - Interview #101503 (Vladimir Khalfin)

Mother heard that there were many vacant apartments in Chernovtsy and we moved to the town in 1946. However, so many other Jews came to town before us that we couldn’t find a vacant apartment and we rented a room in a one-storied building in an old Jewish neighborhood. Our landlady, an old Jew, also was in the ghetto that was actually in the neighborhood during the war. There was no running water in the house, but there was a stove. This was the first time we were in a big town and we liked it. We liked the big old buildings with stucco moldings on the facades, big stores and wide streets. Almost 70% of the population was Jewish and one could hear people speaking Yiddish in the streets. We met new Jewish friends. There was a synagogue, a Jewish school and a Jewish theater in the town. My mother was very happy to live in a town with the majority of Jewish population. She was glad to speak Yiddish and go to the synagogue on Sabbath.