Susanna Sirota with her mother Anna Sirota and aunts Esther Sirota and Polia Kostyl

My father's sisters Esther (on the left) and Polia (on the right). I am in the center with my mother Anna Sirota. My mother and my father's sisters were friends. This photo was taken in Priluki in 1928.

My father’s sister Esther, born in 1903, was single. She had a harelip from birth. She lived with her younger sister Polia. They were in evacuation in Omsk in Russia during the Great Patriotic War. They stayed there after the war. Esther worked as a shop assistant, laborer and clerk. In 1958 Esther came to visit us for the first time after the war and died of a stroke before our eyes. We buried her in the Jewish sector of the town cemetery. 

My father’s sister Polia was born in 1914. She was the most beautiful and my favorite aunt. Polia worked as a secretary in prison. Later she went to work at the stocking factory where she met a nice Jewish guy. He was a worker. His surname was Kostyl. They got married in 1937. They didn’t have a wedding party and it was customary at that time to have just a plain civil ceremony. Their older son Arik was born in 1936Their daughter Lena was born in 1938. Grandmother Nechama lived with Polia until she died. 

When the Great Patriotic war began Polia’s husband was recruited to the army. He perished on the first days of the war. Polia, with her sister Esther and her children, evacuated to Omsk where they stayed after the war. Polia died in Omsk at the age of 78 in 1992. Her son also passed away, regretfully, and her daughter lives in Omsk.