Tag #152930 - Interview #103525 (Sarra Nikiforenko)

There was a Jewish school named after Sholem Aleichem 11 opened in Smela. There were all subjects taught in Yiddish and there were Russian and Ukrainian classes in it. We read Sholem Aleichem’s stories about a hard life of Jewish children within restricted residential areas – the Pale of Settlement 12 We felt happy that nothing like that would ever happen in our country again. There were portraits of Lenin in each classroom. We were told that only thanks to him we got everything that we had. When in January 1924 it was announced that he died we cried a lot. We couldn’t imagine life without him. I remember it was freezing on that day and when I was running home tears from my eyes were turning into ice. I don’t think my mother or father cared about Lenin’s death. I studied well at school. I was praised for my successes. I didn’t become a pioneer at school since I was older than the age of 14 until when children could become pioneers. I didn’t join the Komsomol, either 13. I didn’t participate in any activities, besides, my origin was far from proletariat: I was an entrepreneur’s daughter. I wasn’t ‘politically educated’ or active and I didn’t care about Komsomol.