Tag #153436 - Interview #78479 (Irina Lidskaya)

In Kiev we lived in 15/17, Institutskaya street Apt. 4, until the beginning of the war. (Institutskaya street is in the prestigious part of Kiev, called Lipki. This neighborhood takes its name from the name of the Lipa tree - the lime tree.  In the 1850s the mayor ordered  lime trees planted around the Mariinskiy Palace. After the Revolution the main Soviet governmental bodies were located in the Lipki neighborhood. The street gets its name from the old Institute of Noble Ladies, which was located on this street, at the corner of Kreschatik street. After the Revolution the building of this Institute housed the Political Headquarters (GPU). Now this building is a cultural center and is called the October palace of culture. – Editor's note.) We lived in a separate two-room apartment. It was very comfortable, with central heating, running water, and there was a gas stove in the kitchen. Yura and I had our own room. Mamma thought that her children needed the biggest and brightest room in the house. We had some furniture and a piano -- a luxury at that time. We had a unique library of fiction, medical books and Russian classical literature.  The books were used to prepare lectures, and they never got dusted. Of the Jewish authors I remember Sholom Aleichem. He was the favorite author in our family. We also had the Russian translation of Perets Markish's poems. We had a radio, and Yura had a bicycle.