Tag #153624 - Interview #103503 (SIMA-LIBA NERUBENKO )

My parents didn’t allow me to become a pioneer. For the most part children of workers and peasants were admitted to pioneer league. Actually my father was a private craftsman and I wasn’t pushed to become a pioneer, but since it wasn’t obligatory to be a pioneer at that time this had no impact on the attitude of teachers or children on me. My parents believed it was better to stay aside from such public organizations, although my father was very positive about the Soviet power. He was hoping that life of Jews would improve. The majority of officials in the town were Jewish men. This was a very positive sign since during the tsarist regime Jews couldn’t even dream of being officials. We all grieved for Lenin when he died in January 1924 – we believed that Lenin liberated people from slavery. He gave land to farmers and industrial enterprises – to workers. But pioneers were taught to be atheists and, therefore, my father thought it wasn’t necessary for me to become a pioneer.