Tag #153601 - Interview #78097 (matvey loshak)

Berdichev was a small town. Most of the population was Jewish. There were
some small enterprises, mostly forestry and the wood industry. I remember
the city was neat, green. I went to a kindergarten there. In general, the
city was very interesting. There was an Orthodox Church, a Catholic Church,
and a Carmelite monastery, if I'm not mistaken, but it was not functioning.
There was an old fortress. There was certainly a synagogue in Berdichev,
but I never went there, I don't even remember what it looked like. I only
know that my grandparents went there on holidays, but in secret. They never
took me with them, because I was very young. My parents never went there;
it was not common for their generation, and authorities would not like it
either. All of this I remember vaguely. I remember that a circus came and
was located across from our house, next to the market. I remember the
market with wagons from different villages selling poultry, fruits and
vegetables. I remember all these wagons and their noise. I could not tell
who was Jewish and who was not, and I was not thinking about who I was. But
as far as I remember from my parents, relations between the Ukrainians and
Jews were good.