Orlikova Elena’s husband Boris Vilanskiy and their son Alyosha

My husband Boris Vilanskiy and our son Alyosha. Photo made in Saratov in 1958.

His family lived in the town of Malin, Zhytomir region before the war.

My Boris was an excellent student. We graduated from the University in 1948. It was the period of anti-Semitism and it was spreading promptly. Boris passed all exams and expected to receive a red diploma, issued to A-grade students. But he got a "3" in the history of the Party. But he had excellent knowledge of history and became a Party member on the front.

He was eager to continue his studies. However, my husband Boris Vilenskiy managed to finish his post-graduate studies within two years and defend his thesis. The subject of his thesis was history of state and law. He dealt with pre-revolutionary history and the legal reform of 1861 in Russia. He worked on this subject further on and was successful in his work as this subject was not widely explored.
We got married in 1948 upon our graduation. We had a wedding party at home. We had many guests: our relatives and friends. It was a nice party, very nice. It was not a Jewish wedding, but still, the main dish on the table was stuffed fish. My mother was great at making it. My father loved Jewish sweet-&-sour stew and it was often served in our family.

Our son Alyosha was born in 1958. I never gave it a thought whether I give my children Jewish or non-Jewish names. This name was popular at the time. I came to my parents in Kiev to give birth to my child. I stayed in Kiev for half a year and then I went back to Saratov. The conditions in this hostel were uncomfortable. There was one common toilet and no bathroom or shower rooms. On weekends we went to a nearby hotel, where we had to stay in line for hours and hours to get washed.