Faina Minkova's mother Tzyva Shyfrinson, her sister Elizabeth Minkova and her daughter Nina Goncharuk

This photo was taken in Chernovtsy in 1980. From left to right are my sister Elizabeth Minkova, my daughter Nina Goncharuk and my mother Tzyva Shyfrinson. I was living in Kaluga at the time and the photo was taken to be sent to me. I got married in 1975. I don't feel like talking about my former husband. He was a wicked man, and I don't even want to say his name. He wasn't a Jew, but nationality didn't matter to me. My father raised us as internationalists. In the same year I got married, Nina was born. We rented various apartments. When I got a residential stamp in my passport I got enrolled on the list of people wishing to buy apartments. But then I began to feel unwell and my doctor recommended to move to another climatic zone. We got the opportunity to move to the ancient town of Kaluga in Central Russia. I felt better, but I had problems getting a job. As soon as supervisors saw that I was Jewish they rushed to tell me that there was no vacancy available. We took our daughter to my parents' place in Chernovtsy. She went to school there. We didn't know where we were going to live and believed she would be better off with her grandmother rather than share our problems. My father retired in the late 1970s. In 1980 I divorced my husband for quite a few reasons, but I don't feel like talking about it. In 1984, after my father died, I moved to Chernovtsy and lived in my parents' house. I got a job at the Electronmach plant where my father had worked and my brother was working. My mother was a pensioner helping me to raise my daughter. She grew vegetables and did the housework. She died in 1992. My daughter studied at a Ukrainian secondary school close to our house in Chernovtsy. When Nina was in the 8th grade, this school became a mathematical lyceum. Nina did very well at school and spent all her time studying. She didn't care about public activities. She felt ironic about them. In her senior classes she took part in many mathematical contests and received many awards and diplomas, including international awards. After school Nina entered the Faculty of Applied Mathematics at the University in Chernovtsy. She didn't have to pass entrance exams; she was admitted on the results of her interview. Nina is a teacher of mathematics at the Polytechnic College now. When it was time for Nina to obtain her passport she stated firmly that she wanted to have her Jewish nationality written in it. I didn't talk her out of it, although I understood how complicated her life was going to be. I'm so happy that this kind of thing belongs to the past now.