This is me (on the right) with my sister's older daughter, Rita Solomon, nee Sharkhina. This photo was taken in Chernevtsy in 1963.
My husband, Isaac Brisman, and I grew up in a religious family. After the war Jews didn’t observe Jewish traditions so strictly. My husband and I didn’t go to the synagogue. After the war the synagogues in Chernevtsy and Mogilyov-Podolskiy were closed, but there were prayer houses operating instead. Isaac and I didn’t go to prayer houses either, but we celebrated Jewish holidays at home and tried to follow all rules.
On Pesach I bought matzah, and later I bought it. I cooked traditional food that Mama used to make: chicken broth with dumplings from matzah, gefilte fish and puddings. Isaac had a prayer book and he prayed at home. On Yom Kippur we fasted 24 hours. Even now I fast on Yom Kippur despite my age.
My husband and I celebrated Soviet holidays at work. At home we only celebrated the Victory Day, 9 May.
My brother and his family and my sister and her husband moved to Israel in the 1980s. My sister’s daughters and their families stayed here. We occasionally wrote each other, but not often. This correspondence could do no harm to us – we were pensioners, and were not members of the party. However, there wasn’t much to write about. We still correspond.
My brother’s wife has passed away. My brother lives in an elderly people’s home in Tel Aviv. My sister also moved to the elderly people’s home after her husband died. They can see each other often. They are in good care and are both happy. My brother’s children also live in Israel. They have their own families. My sister’s older daughter and her family lives in Moldova, and the younger one – in Germany. We have no contacts.
