Birth certificate (copy), issued to my mother Nehama Rabin by Korsun rabbi. Korsun, 1907.
My mother's father Borukh Rabin was presumably born in Boguslav [a small town in 100 kms from Kiev] in 1850s and lived there his whole life. He was a craftsman, but I don't know what exactly he was doing for a living. My mother said he was a gabe [senior man in Yiddish] at the synagogue and this was an elective position. My maternal grandmother Fruma Rabin (her maiden name is unknown) was born in 1850s and came from Boguslav. My grandmother and grandfather had six children. I don't know their names since my mother's brothers and sisters were 12-15 years older than my mother and my mother was the youngest in the family.
My mother Nehama Khatset (nee Rabin) was born in Boguslav on 8 October 1888. I have a copy of her Birth Certificate signed by the Korsun State Rabbi. At the age of 11 she lost her both parents. Her brothers and sisters had left their home long before. Therefore, my mother didn't remember much about her family. She only told me that they spoke Yiddish in the family and she spoke fluent Yiddish, too. Her parents were religious and observed all Jewish traditions. She lived with one or another sister and felt herself a burden. None of my mother's brothers or sisters ever visited us. They didn't keep in touch with my mother, and she was sad about it. My mother remembered that the majority of population in Boguslav was Jewish and Yiddish was commonly spoken everywhere. My mother finished a public secondary school in Boguslav.
At 16 she moved to Kiev having heard about a 3-year Frebel school [8]. There were no residential restrictions to admission to this school. My mother went to study and rented a room in Shuliavka in the outskirts of Kiev. So my mother became independent at 16 and earned her own living. She went to work as a cashier at a vegetarian canteen in the center of the town. She was paid 3 rubles per month. The customers were students for the most part since this was an inexpensive canteen where they could get a sufficient meal for reasonable money.
