We were convoyed to work at the collective farm. We didn't get any food. People were shot for the slightest violations. If a person stole something to eat, he would be whipped to death. We couldn't cross the boundaries of the village. One could get shot for leaving the village. There were no mass shootings in the ghetto, but people were starving to death, and dying of diseases, hard work and tortures. There was a swamp near the river. Romanians did not take horses to the river. They didn't want them to get their hooves dirty. They harnessed strong Jewish men to the carts to bring water from the river for their horses. They whipped those that lagged behind the others.
- Traditions 11756
- Language spoken 3019
- Identity 7808
- Description of town 2440
- Education, school 8506
- Economics 8772
- Work 11672
- Love & romance 4929
- Leisure/Social life 4159
- Antisemitism 4822
-
Major events (political and historical)
4256
- Armenian genocide 2
- Doctor's Plot (1953) 178
- Soviet invasion of Poland 31
- Siege of Leningrad 86
- The Six Day War 4
- Yom Kippur War 2
- Ataturk's death 5
- Balkan Wars (1912-1913) 35
- First Soviet-Finnish War 37
- Occupation of Czechoslovakia 1938 83
- Invasion of France 9
- Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact 65
- Varlik Vergisi (Wealth Tax) 36
- First World War (1914-1918) 216
- Spanish flu (1918-1920) 14
- Latvian War of Independence (1918-1920) 4
- The Great Depression (1929-1933) 20
- Hitler comes to power (1933) 127
- 151 Hospital 1
- Fire of Thessaloniki (1917) 9
- Greek Civil War (1946-49) 12
- Thessaloniki International Trade Fair 5
- Annexation of Bukovina to Romania (1918) 7
- Annexation of Northern Bukovina to the Soviet Union (1940) 19
- The German invasion of Poland (1939) 94
- Kishinev Pogrom (1903) 7
- Romanian Annexation of Bessarabia (1918) 25
- Returning of the Hungarian rule in Transylvania (1940-1944) 43
- Soviet Occupation of Bessarabia (1940) 59
- Second Vienna Dictate 27
- Estonian war of independence 3
- Warsaw Uprising 2
- Soviet occupation of the Balitc states (1940) 147
- Austrian Civil War (1934) 9
- Anschluss (1938) 71
- Collapse of Habsburg empire 3
- Dollfuß Regime 3
- Emigration to Vienna before WWII 36
- Kolkhoz 131
- KuK - Königlich und Kaiserlich 40
- Mineriade 1
- Post War Allied occupation 7
- Waldheim affair 5
- Trianon Peace Treaty 12
- NEP 56
- Russian Revolution 351
- Ukrainian Famine 199
- The Great Terror 283
- Perestroika 233
- 22nd June 1941 468
- Molotov's radio speech 115
- Victory Day 147
- Stalin's death 365
- Khrushchev's speech at 20th Congress 148
- KGB 62
- NKVD 153
- German occupation of Hungary (18-19 March 1944) 45
- Józef Pilsudski (until 1935) 33
- 1956 revolution 84
- Prague Spring (1968) 73
- 1989 change of regime 174
- Gomulka campaign (1968) 81
-
Holocaust
9685
- Holocaust (in general) 2789
- Concentration camp / Work camp 1235
- Mass shooting operations 337
- Ghetto 1183
- Death / extermination camp 647
- Deportation 1063
- Forced labor 791
- Flight 1410
- Hiding 594
- Resistance 121
- 1941 evacuations 866
- Novemberpogrom / Kristallnacht 34
- Eleftherias Square 10
- Kasztner group 1
- Pogrom in Iasi and the Death Train 21
- Sammelwohnungen 9
- Strohmann system 11
- Struma ship 17
- Life under occupation 803
- Yellow star house 72
- Protected house 15
- Arrow Cross ("nyilasok") 42
- Danube bank shots 6
- Kindertransport 26
- Schutzpass / false papers 95
- Warsaw Ghetto Uprising (1943) 24
- Warsaw Uprising (1944) 23
- Helpers 521
- Righteous Gentiles 269
- Returning home 1090
- Holocaust compensation 112
- Restitution 109
- Property (loss of property) 595
- Loss of loved ones 1724
- Trauma 1029
- Talking about what happened 1807
- Liberation 558
- Military 3322
- Politics 2640
-
Communism
4468
- Life in the Soviet Union/under Communism (in general) 2592
- Anti-communist resistance in general 63
- Nationalization under Communism 221
- Illegal communist movements 98
- Systematic demolitions under communism 45
- Communist holidays 311
- Sentiments about the communist rule 930
- Collectivization 94
- Experiences with state police 349
- Prison/Forced labor under communist/socialist rule 449
- Lack or violation of human and citizen rights 483
- Life after the change of the regime (1989) 493
- Israel / Palestine 2190
- Zionism 847
- Jewish Organizations 1200
Displaying 13861 - 13890 of 50826 results
Ruvin Gitman
Regardless of all the hardships of the ghetto, we tried to keep our Jewish traditions. We got together every Friday and on holidays to pray. We couldn't celebrate the Sabbath or other holidays, but traditional fasting came very naturally. We starved most of the time, anyway.
The Soviet army liberated us from the ghetto in March 1944. I was 20 years old. I remember the first Soviet tanks bursting into the ghetto. Romanians had left the night before. The hatch of the first tank was open. A soldier was standing there repeating one word 'Free!' We were afraid to believe it. Many people had tears in their eyes. I volunteered to go to the military registry office and was sent to the front with the units of the Soviet army that liberated us. My family stayed in Koryshkov. I was at the front for about a year and a half. I entered the Communist Party and became a communist. It wasn't like I needed it. I grew older and could analyze things. I remembered collectivization and the arrests in the 1930s. I understood that it was the intentional extermination of the people under the slogans of the Communist Party. But I understood that it was necessary to join the Communist Party to make a career.
When the war was over I was sent to serve in the reserve regiment. This regiment was sent to the Far East to fight in the war with Japan [11]. Our military unit was based in Khabarovsk. After the war with Japan was over, I was sent to study at the Aviation School in Khabarovsk. I studied there for a year and then the school was disbanded a month and a half before our graduation. We were given qualifications as aircraft mechanics. Upon graduation I served at the air units in North Korea and China. We were fighting to liberate China, Korea and Manchuria from Japanese occupation. We lived in a military neighborhood that was a confined area with its own supplies and health services. We were not allowed to go into town. We were told that the situation in town was complicated and that provocations were possible. We worked at the aerodrome and lived in the barracks. We received newspapers and letters. I never went outside our military neighborhood. I was given the rank of sergeant during my service.
In March 1950 I demobilized from the army. I returned to Koryshkov and got a job at the district industrial association in Kopaygorod. At that time I faced anti-Semitism in my daily life and on the state level as well. I couldn't obtain employment in Koryshkov for a long time, for doubtful reasons. They told me that their management was away and they were not authorized to hire personnel, or they didn't know whether this or that vacancy was still open. I was insistent. Besides, I was a party member and a war veteran, so I was employed. As for anti- Semitism in my daily life, I often heard the word 'zhyd' [kike] applied to me.
After I returned home I got married. My wife was the same age as I and came from Kopaygorod. Her name was Raissa Perelman.
Alla Kolton
The family was proud of my father. Aunt Guta and Daddy had advanced views, in contrast with those of their religious parents. They left home early, both Guta and daddy, because they disagreed with their parents and their religious conviction. Their parents believed that Jews could only marry Jews, and aunt Guta married a Russian. Guta finished the Gertsen Pedagogical Institute in Leningrad and married a muscovite Grigory Kozlov. I don't know how she met her husband. She left for Moscow to live with him. Grandmother and grandfather didn't communicate with Aunt Guta for a long time after she married Grigory. Grandfather Mordukh didn't even want to meet Grigory at all, and wouldn't permit him to come to his home.
Father was born in Bobruisk in 1902. I know little about his childhood. He studied in a cheder from 1909 to 1913, and that's where he mastered Hebrew. Daddy, according to Guta, his sister, with whom we were always on good terms, was a talented man. In imperial Russia only a very restricted number of Jews were admitted to state grammar schools and institutes, no more than 3% of the total number of students. That percentage, adopted by Alexander III, only changed after the Revolution of 1917. Daddy was, probably the only one in their district who was admitted to the Russian grammar school in 1913. Jewish grammar schools didn't exist. That was the reason why the Jews rushed into the Revolution: they were deprived of many rights in imperial Russia. In general Jews were very naive in their enthusiasm towards socialism. Even in Palestine they arranged kibbutzim, socialist communities.
Bella drowned in 1929 at the age of 19 in St Petersburg. I heard that they suspected suicide therefore she was buried near the fencing of the Jewish cemetery, rather than in the cemetery.
During the war grandmother was with us in evacuation in Kazakhstan.
I don't know how my grandparents got acquainted, or whether they got married under a chuppah.
,
Before WW2
See text in interview
After 1917 [the Russian Revolution of 1917] [4] when Jews were given the right to live outside the Pale of Settlement, the family gradually started to move to Leningrad and by 1919 they had all moved there. All father's relatives lived in Leningrad then, and they always maintained good relations with each other.
My grandfather on father's side, Mordukh Sasonko was born in 1879. He was a craftsman, he soldered, brazed utensils and saucepans. Unfortunately, I know nothing about his ancestors and about the family name of Sasonko in general. Neither do I know about grandfather's brothers or sisters. His family lived in Bobruisk in the Jewish Pale of Settlement [3]. Bobruisk was considered a poor town and my father's parents were needy people. Grandfather Mordukh and his wife Grandmother Golda, were certainly religious in thier youth. Grandfather knew Hebrew well. In Bobruisk all Jewish religious traditions were strictly observed. They celebrated all the holidays. On Saturday it was prohibited even to light a match. A Russian woman would come and light a fire. But I can't tell you about the details.
My grandfather on father's side, Mordukh Sasonko was born in 1879. He was a craftsman, he soldered, brazed utensils and saucepans.
My parents met and fell in love with each other in 1932 in France.
Right after graduation from the grammar school in 1928 mother went to Belgium and entered the University of Liege. She studied chemistry there. We have a certificate of the Ministry of Science of Belgium, stating that mother passed entrance examinations to the university. In spite of the fact that mother was from a well-to-do family and her parents could pay for her studies, my mother earned additional means as a governess, an occupation that was quite common among students. That was the time when she acquired her skills in cooking, sewing and housekeeping for her future life. Mother could do almost any work, and wasn't afraid of any challenges in her life. She studied well, but the emigrants had no right to participate in revolutionary activity. She studied in Belgium for two years, from 1928 to 1930, and then was expelled for participation in students' disturbances. In France the regulations were similar at that time, but she still decided to go to France. Mother entered the Chemistry Faculty of the University of Lyon and finished it in 1934. We have her diploma as well. My parents met and fell in love with each other in 1932 in France.
,
1930
See text in interview
I know about mother's childhood thanks to her certificate from the grammar school. The certificate was given to mother as a pupil of a private Jewish grammar school in Beltsy. She entered the grammar school in August 1918 and completed her studies in July 1928. In this certificate we can find her grades - they are mostly 'good' and 'very good' - and the subjects that she studied: Tannakh, Hebrew, Romanian language, Latin, French, German, Jewish history, mathematics, physics, chemistry, cosmography, natural science, history of Romania, general history, geography of Romania, general geography. For all foreign languages mother received a 'very good, except for Romanian and Hebrew, for which she only got a 'good.' Probably, she knew Romanian worse than Romanians. She also studied philosophy, law, hygiene, economy (national economy), accounting, singing, drawing, needlework, and physical culture. You can see when the diploma was issued, and there is a signature in Hebrew. We have a copy of the same certificate in Romanian. The director of the grammar school and all the undersigned were Jews. The document is certified by the notary.
,
Before WW2
See text in interview
Pavel, Sonya's husband, was a Jew from a noble family, a very erudite man. He worked as a safety insurance engineer at a factory. He was a well-known person in Chernovtsy because he had higher education and was a professional in his field. Both of them worked and lived well financially. I don't know whether Sonya and Pavel had a Jewish wedding, probably not because everyone was atheist then and was brought up according to the ideas of Marx and Lenin. During World War II they found themselves in Romania, spent the war there and survived. They had a unique collection of books on art, which they took to Israel in 1967 when they emigrated right after the Six-Day-War [2]. Sonya liked me a lot and always considered me her heir. She and Pavel didn't have children, and Sonya wrote me into her will in Israel. We 'missed' that will then, because daddy was afraid that correspondence with relatives abroad could do us harm.
,
Before WW2
See text in interview
I don't know whether Sonya and Pavel had a Jewish wedding, probably not because everyone was atheist then and was brought up according to the ideas of Marx and Lenin.
,
Before WW2
See text in interview
Mother's parents were well-off people and could afford to send their daughter, my mother, to study abroad.
,
Before WW2
See text in interview
Sheiva and her husband Aizik Peisakh first lived in the town of Beltsy in Bessarabia [1]. I never met my grandfather Aizik; neither did I see any photo about him. Mother told me that he was bald, very short-sighted and always wore glasses. He was a respected person. All their lives Aizik and Sheiva were engaged in charity, spending a lot of money on helping the poor. How they managed to come into such fortune, I don't know.
I am not indifferent to Israel: I have been there, but I don't emigrate only because my husband and son don't. I would go with them if they went. We went for excursions in Jerusalem, were even in an Orthodox Christian church. We don't have any objections to Jewish traditions in our apartment. There was a mezuzah at the door earlier, but I presented it to Leonid. There is an 'eye' - a souvenir from Jerusalem. It is always pleasant to have something to remind you about your connection to Jewish culture.
I believe that Orthodox Judaism is already a thing of the past, not only in Russia, but also in America. For example, quite recently a cantor performed on tour, a woman singer from Los Angeles. Her singing, in my opinion, is already a blend of Jewish, Moldavian and Russian music, which sound in many ways similar to each other.
Democratization and perestroika [10] have influenced me as much as other people: it became much easier in this country to obtain Jewish literature and discuss Jewish problems. It became possible to celebrate Jewish holidays. Leonid and Eugenia went to the synagogue to dance on holidays, and I was there too. It was an interesting experience for me. It was in the synagogue on Chanukkah. I just watched, because we hadn't see anything like that before. At home we never observed Sabbath. I would not object if my grandchildren celebrated Sabbath. But Pesach, for example, I do celebrate. My friends come along, but we don't have any special ceremonies. But I would like it if somebody invited me to a religious celebration. However, I am not a frequent visitor of the synagogue.
Leonid married his friend Mary Schwarz, a Jew, in 1985. There were many friends and relatives at his wedding, and we had a party at home after their registration in ZAGS [state bureau for registration of marriages, births, etc.]. They didn't have a chuppah at their wedding.
The following year [1977] the person responsible for the reception of Jews into university told us: 'All right, if he gives us his word of honor that he is not going to leave for Israel, let him enter the Department of Mechanics. We will not interfere.' My son passed all his examinations.
Leonid's cousin Eugenia Landman was admitted to university that year: she was a 'half-blood', her mother was Jewish. At school Eugenia and Leonid studied in one class and were always on good terms. Leonid won the city mathematics contest and even the All-Russia Olympiad, and Eugenia was the winner of the All-Union Olympiad, and received a gold medal at school: there was not a single year throughout her 10-year studies when she didn't receive an honorary diploma. [School children were awarded honorary diplomas for excellent results at Soviet schools during that period.
Leonid completed secondary school, majoring in mathematics in 1976, and we knew beforehand that he would not be admitted to university, and we couldn't do anything about that. Leonid's school teacher spoke of his abilities: 'Who else should study at university if not Leonid?' Even in spite of the fact that my husband Garry had acquaintances at the university, nobody could help. The custom was to make special lists in advance, with the names of Jewish applicants who should be admitted. Leonid's school teacher had contacts with a man who regulated the number of Jews to be taken to the Faculty of Mathematics and Mechanics: he decided who would be accepted from 'half-bloods' [children from mixed marriages] and who from 'pure blood' [children with two Jewish parents], and the 'pure' were almost never admitted. And Leonid didn't want to enter any other institution except for university. He worked for one year and achieved good results in computer programming.
In 1964 Lyusya arrived in Leningrad from Krasnoyarsk with Misha. Later they were joined by Grigory. The Soviet passport system was designed in such a way that a man could only live where he was registered, which was shown by a stamp in his passport. Lyusya was registered in Krasnoyarsk. She pretended to have lost her passport, and when they interrogated her in the militia she said that it had accidentally fallen into a river. So she received a new passport with registration in Leningrad. All through the winter we lived together, and by the summer of 1965 Grigory's apartment was completed.
Daddy was a specialist very much in demand. He worked days and nights and earned well. It was the time of rapid development in telecommunications. Everybody needed automatic telephone stations. He worked so much that he hardly appeared at home. Father died in 1979. He lived alone for 14 years after the death of my mother and didn't marry again because he couldn't find anybody as good as mother, although there were always women around, and candidates were in abundance.