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Starokonstantinov was a patriarchal town. Men went to work and women stayed at home. There were no jobs for women in the town. Our neighbor Lvovskiy left his wife and she couldn’t find a job even though she was an accountant by education. She and her children didn’t have any income and lived on what wealthier families were giving them. Wealthier families felt it their duty to support poor people. Jews always understood that they needed to support each other. Brotherhood of blood is like brotherhood of faith. Everybody had to share what one had with others. My mother was helping our neighbor Libe Shluger bringing her hala bread and fish every Saturday. There was another woman – Rivke. She was very sickly and other Jews supported her.
My mother was a housewife. On 29 December 1920 my older sister Esther-Molke - she was called Fira all her life, was born. I was born on 10 January 1927. I was named Faina. There was another boy between me and Faina, but he died shortly after he was born.
Before I was born there was a big fire in my grandmother Tsyrl’s house. My grandmother had severe burns especially troublesome on one leg. The wounds didn’t heal and my parents took my grandmother to their house to look after her. When I was two years old gangrene developed on my grandmother’s leg. My father took her to hospital in Shepetovka – there were more skilled doctors there than in Starokonstantinov. The doctors told my father that my grandmother needed to have her leg amputated, but my grandmother refused from surgery. She died at our home in 1929.
My mother was a housewife. On 29 December 1920 my older sister Esther-Molke - she was called Fira all her life, was born. I was born on 10 January 1927. I was named Faina. There was another boy between me and Faina, but he died shortly after he was born.
Before I was born there was a big fire in my grandmother Tsyrl’s house. My grandmother had severe burns especially troublesome on one leg. The wounds didn’t heal and my parents took my grandmother to their house to look after her. When I was two years old gangrene developed on my grandmother’s leg. My father took her to hospital in Shepetovka – there were more skilled doctors there than in Starokonstantinov. The doctors told my father that my grandmother needed to have her leg amputated, but my grandmother refused from surgery. She died at our home in 1929.
Location
Ukraine
Interview
Faina Volper Biography