This is me, Grigoriy Fihtman with my wife Raisa Fihtman and our son Alexandr Fihtman. This photo was taken in Komargorod village of Vinnitsa region in 1952. This photograph was taken by a visiting photographer since we didn't have a photo shop in our village.
In 1946 I demobilized from the army. My father and I returned to Zhmerinka. My friend who invited me to visit his relatives in Komargorod village where he promised to introduce me to a nice Jewish girl. We met in 1946 and in 1947 we registered our marriage. My wife Raisa Shraiman was born in Komargorod village Toimashpol district Vinnitsa region in 1927. Her father Moisey Shraiman was a tinsmith and her mother Rosa Shraiman was a dressmaker. Raisa had an older brother, born in 1924. They were in the ghetto from the first days and were liberated when Tomashpol district was cleared in middle March 1944.
After we got married we lived in Raisa parents' house. I occasionally visited my father in Zhmerinka. My wife's family was more religious than mine. Although they didn't have anything after the war they began to save every kopeck to buy crockery. There were to be plates for Pesach and plates for everyday use. There were to be plates for meat and for dairy products. My wife still follows these rules. My sons were circumcised on the eighth day like we used to do it at home. I didn't get involved in those proceedings since following my Komsomol membership I became a Party member.
After we got married I went to work as senior pioneer tutor in the local school. I taught children singing, dancing, drawing and made pioneer fires for them. Everything that I was so fond of in my childhood. I was one of the best pioneer tutors in Vinnitsa region. I had awards for my accomplishments. I was a member of the teachers' team at school, but I had to study to work at school. I studied in a physical culture school for four years and then I became a teacher of physical culture. Then I entered extramural department of the Historical Faculty of Odessa University. I had two sons by the time I finished it. Our first baby Alexandr was born in 1948 and then Leonid was born in 1953.
