We spent only two or three days there, then bombing raids on Dnepropetrovsk began. Etl's husband put us on a ship and sent us further on. He remained in Dnepropetrovsk because he was deputy director of a major plant. We went eastward together with aunts Etl and Chaika. I can't remember all the details of our evacuation now, but I remember that it took us more than two weeks, first by ship, then by different trains with long stops. We were often bombed. It was horrible, but I was young and I felt responsible for my mother and my daughter. That's why I did my best to keep myself under control. Finally we arrived in the town of Kokand in Central Asia.
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Major events (political and historical)
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Holocaust
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Displaying 7531 - 7560 of 50826 results
sima shvarts
When we arrived in Kokand [Uzbekistan] we were received nicely. We were immediately settled in different flats. We didn't have any jobs yet, but our living conditions were quite satisfactory.
When I learned that Kiev was occupied by the Germans, it caused me great sorrow. My husband was still alive, I was still receiving letters from him, but this news brought me a lot of sorrow. There was a loudspeaker at the central square of Kokand, which looked like a big black plate, and all the people ran there to listen to the latest news. I would often run there too. That's where I heard that Kiev was occupied. I didn't listen to it any more, but ran home crying, 'Mother, Lyalechka, Kiev has been surrendered, Lyonya is no longer alive', even though my husband was still alive. I think I had that terrible feeling that he would die soon. And my little daughter told me, 'Mom, don't worry. You will become my mother and father together'.
My husband was killed somewhere in Sumy, Ukraine. There were a lot of units of the Soviet army there, and they were all bombed, even without fighting. I received a paper that said that my husband 'is reported missing'. I realized that he was killed because otherwise he would have found us after the war.
We were in Kokand in evacuation during the whole war. The attitude of the locals towards us was very warm. I was working at the office of the canteen because they needed literate people. We ate at the same canteen. We didn't starve, but I had a feeling of insecurity, when there was no husband behind my back, when everything was bad.
As soon as Kiev was liberated, we received an invitation for the three of us that we could go to Kiev. At that time it was impossible to go home from evacuation without a special invitation. We came to Kiev but had no place to live. The very next day after the Germans entered Kiev, bombs left by our soldiers began to explode all over the city. Kreschatik, the main street of Kiev, was blown up, and our house was blown up - one of the first because a German office was located next to it.
Before the war Boris (who danced very well) had been taken into a famous dancing band and spent the whole war in it. They went to every front and performed there. After the war the band stayed in Moscow.
,
During WW2
See text in interview
As soon as Kiev was liberated, all the Kiev residents in that band went to their native town for a few days. That's when we saw Boris. He came to our house, wearing his uniform and looking very important in it. Other people were living in the flat and all our furniture was missing. They got so scared when they saw him! Boris asked them, 'Tell me, who took our furniture. I need to get it back before my parents come back to Kiev'. And he was able to collect a wardrobe, a bed, chairs and a table - a lot of furniture. He took it back to his flat. We settled there and lived there until his parents came back.
Then the department that I was working in gave me a room. We settled there, but the very next day there was a knock on the door - its former residents came. I didn't let them in for several days; we didn't go out for several days so that they would not occupy it in our absence. Then we were given a room in Pechersk, but the same story was repeated there.
Our department was given a plot of land in Gorky Street for construction, and I was given a room there. But until the construction of that building was finished, I lived with the secretary of our party organization, Viktor Korshenko. He was an extremely kind man, who had pity on my daughter and me.
In the autumn of 1947 we finally moved into our own flat.
In the autumn of 1947 we finally moved into our own flat.
By that time, almost all of our relatives who had lived in Kiev before the war returned to Kiev: my mother-in-law, mother's sisters Rakhil and Chaika.
At that time we lived in another place. The husband of my mother's sister Rakhil was a high-ranking party worker. At that time there were many private houses. So, this man told us that there were several flats owned by somebody called Parkhomovsky in Zhilyanskaya Street. And Rakhil and her husband had no flat in Kiev. So, he went to Parkhomovsky, intimidated him with something and said that if he didn't give him the flats, they would be confiscated from him. So, Parkhomovsky gave him two flats - their family stayed in one, and my mother and I, in the other one. They had two sons, Boris and Mark Kamenkovich.
When I went to college, there was a military unit right across the street from our college. We went to dance at each other's clubs: we girls went to dance at theirs, and they came to dance at ours. This is how I met my future husband. I was 19 years old then, and he was 26. He was from a Jewish family.
At that time they were living in Kiev, and my husband served in the army.
They were born into a very poor Jewish family, in a some small shtetl called Gomel in Belarus.
My husband's parents were religious, kept all traditions, and went to the synagogue.
When I finished college he went to my mother to ask for permission to marry me. It was very solemn. He brought flowers - he knew that both my mother and I loved flowers very much. To have at least two small flowers in a vase was like a law for us. Even though we were poor, having flowers at home was our hobby. So, after that we got married. It was in 1933. There was no wedding ceremony or anything like that. He came from work, told me to wait for him. Then we went to the registration office, from there we went to his parents, who cooked a regular lunch. We had no wedding rings, no special dresses. Everything was very simple. I think we did it in such a way because we were very poor.
My husband was still serving, but very soon, in the autumn, he was demobilized. He was given a room in a communal apartment [5]. We had a big room in a communal flat. We had three neighbors, a common kitchen and a toilet, but we got used to living with neighbors.
My husband only had secondary education, but he was a highly educated man.
He worked at a woodwork factory as the chief of the shift. Then he was transferred to work for the city executive committee as chief of some department. We continued to live in our room, even though my husband would have been able to get a flat adequate to his office. But he was very modest and considered it indecent for a party member to ask for the improvement of his living conditions. His mother told him, 'Litmanke (she called him Litmanke), why don't you take care of getting a new flat?' And he answered her, 'Mom, I shouldn't do that now. The time will come when I'll get one, but not now.' That's how it was.
My husband wasn't paid much. He received the 'party maximum' - the sum that was the maximum limit for him to earn as a party member. The sum was not very large, but we didn't demand much, so it was enough for us.
He had been a member of the Communist Party since the 1920s, so he was a man who believed in communism. Throughout his whole life he believed in the ideals of communism. He didn't know, and didn't want to know, what really happened in our country, and thought that everything happened because it was meant to.
I entered the Kiev Construction Institute. When I finished the 1st year I gave birth to our daughter Mira, whom we called Lyalechka, in 1935. But I didn't quit my studies because my mother and mother-in-law helped me and this way I could continue my studies.
At this time political repression and arrests [the so-called Great Terror] [6] started. I knew all about it. There was one situation. My husband's friend, Iosif Kaplunov, a Jew, occupied a high military office. Then he was accused of doing something illegal. My husband's friends told my husband, 'Stop talking to Iosif because you will suffer too'. But we were friends with the Kaplunov family. So, my husband was warned that he shouldn't visit him any more. But he still continued to meet Iosif's wife in some deserted streets in order to learn something new about Iosif's fate after his arrest. Iosif was released soon; he didn't spend too much time in prison.
In general, we certainly knew that people around us were arrested, but my husband never discussed such questions with me. He said I was too young and I had other things to take care of. I think he simply wanted to spare me.
In general, we certainly knew that people around us were arrested, but my husband never discussed such questions with me. He said I was too young and I had other things to take care of. I think he simply wanted to spare me.
I was a Komsomol [7] member and trusted everything I heard, absolutely everything.
We celebrated all Soviet holidays. Our favorite holidays were 1st of May and October Revolution Day. My husband's friends and colleagues would come with their spouses, and we would throw a party, sing songs, listen to the gramophone, and dance.
emma nikonova
"The Doctors' Affair" had directly touched Mum. In 1952 she worked in
Drogobych as the head of a bacteriological laboratory. They threatened to
fire her, but they didn't; they only lowered her in rank because she worked
very well. Still, conditions for her and her Jewish colleagues in this
hospital greatly deteriorated. Then the chief physician of another
hospital, who respected Mum, asked her if she would become the head of a
similar bacteriological laboratory. She started working there immediately.
Drogobych as the head of a bacteriological laboratory. They threatened to
fire her, but they didn't; they only lowered her in rank because she worked
very well. Still, conditions for her and her Jewish colleagues in this
hospital greatly deteriorated. Then the chief physician of another
hospital, who respected Mum, asked her if she would become the head of a
similar bacteriological laboratory. She started working there immediately.
Certainly, I, as any other citizen of the USSR, perfectly knew that
Jews could get jobs only by acquaintance or due to very outstanding
abilities. In the design institute of shipbuilding, where I had worked most
part of my life, a colleague had confidentially told me that there was a
secret instruction not to hire Jews at all, with an exception of relatives
or if by recommendation. For me it was like a thunder among the clear
skies! In the Institute of Construction Engineering, where I studied in
Leningrad, 50% of those enrolled must have been Jewish as were many of the
teachers.
Jews could get jobs only by acquaintance or due to very outstanding
abilities. In the design institute of shipbuilding, where I had worked most
part of my life, a colleague had confidentially told me that there was a
secret instruction not to hire Jews at all, with an exception of relatives
or if by recommendation. For me it was like a thunder among the clear
skies! In the Institute of Construction Engineering, where I studied in
Leningrad, 50% of those enrolled must have been Jewish as were many of the
teachers.
,
After WW2
See text in interview
To tell you the truth, when I was a student, there was a particular
case connected with anti-Semitism. We were very good friends with a Russian
girl, Katya Ruchkina, we shared the hostel room, cooked meals and did
everything together, being what they call "bosom friends." And suddenly
Katya started avoiding me and grew so cold. I couldn't understand what
happened, and only years after graduation did I run into a friend who told
me what the story was: she told me that someone had told Katya that I was
Jewish on maternal side. And Katya's family was infected with anti-
Semitism: "I can't beleive it, I have never thought that Emma was Jewish!"
she was to have said. Back then and now I can not understand why we were
considered people of lowest grade. In Bashkiria I also couldn't comprehend
the reason - why they where throwing stones at us and offending us only
because we were Jews.
case connected with anti-Semitism. We were very good friends with a Russian
girl, Katya Ruchkina, we shared the hostel room, cooked meals and did
everything together, being what they call "bosom friends." And suddenly
Katya started avoiding me and grew so cold. I couldn't understand what
happened, and only years after graduation did I run into a friend who told
me what the story was: she told me that someone had told Katya that I was
Jewish on maternal side. And Katya's family was infected with anti-
Semitism: "I can't beleive it, I have never thought that Emma was Jewish!"
she was to have said. Back then and now I can not understand why we were
considered people of lowest grade. In Bashkiria I also couldn't comprehend
the reason - why they where throwing stones at us and offending us only
because we were Jews.
We got
married in 1956 and have not separated since. He's got no anti-Semitic
feelings to anybody at all. He is very kind, soft, sympathetic man, devoted
to his family. He has been building and repairing bridges in Leningrad all
his life.
married in 1956 and have not separated since. He's got no anti-Semitic
feelings to anybody at all. He is very kind, soft, sympathetic man, devoted
to his family. He has been building and repairing bridges in Leningrad all
his life.