We always lived in rented lodgings and never owned a house. During the crises at the end of the 1920s, the financial situation of the family wasn't so good. Later, when my father began working as a bank clerk, it improved. He had to pay his debts, accumulated as a result of his unsuccessful trade though, so we never succeeded in obtaining our own house. When he paid back all his debts in 1942, the anti-Jewish laws came into force, and we were compelled to leave Sofia and start from scratch.
- Traditions 11756
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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
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- 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
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- Anschluss (1938) 71
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- Dollfuß Regime 3
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- Kolkhoz 131
- KuK - Königlich und Kaiserlich 40
- Mineriade 1
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- Waldheim affair 5
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- NEP 56
- Russian Revolution 351
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- 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
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- 1989 change of regime 174
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Holocaust
9685
- Holocaust (in general) 2789
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- Ghetto 1183
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Communism
4468
- Life in the Soviet Union/under Communism (in general) 2592
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- Life after the change of the regime (1989) 493
- Israel / Palestine 2190
- Zionism 847
- Jewish Organizations 1200
Displaying 6661 - 6690 of 50826 results
Linka Isaeva
My mother always lived in her husband's shadow. When she came to Bulgaria, she didn't know a word of Bulgarian. She started learning the language, but my father used to speak both in Ladino and in Bulgarian with her. He didn't let her speak with me in Romanian, to make sure that I would learn Bulgarian well. Now I feel sorry that I don't know Romanian. As to my mother, she never learned Bulgarian well and regretted that she had no profession. Nevertheless, she was a good housewife and raised my children while I was working, for which I'm very grateful.
He was a brave man - he got two medals for bravery when he served as a military officer in World War I. There are some very interesting letters and memories from his superiors telling about his military service. I remember a letter to my mother describing how once he led off his company to a safe place under constant enemy fire. Later, when the persecutions against Jews began, he showed great courage and didn't allow any despondency to overwhelm us. The atmosphere at home was always calm and nice. My father was extremely communicative and active in terms of social life. He used to collaborate with Jewish magazines as a lawyer. After 9th September 1944 [4], he put a lot of efforts into the cooperative movement, as he worked in a bank that financed it, and moreover he was convinced of its future.
Bulgaria
My father was an extraordinary person. He had a great impact on me when I grew up. He dressed in secular clothes. He was very open to people, extremely witty and the heart of each company. He was very cultured and had various interests. He took me to my first opera, my first exhibition and my first lecture. Even when I was already a grown-up, we still continued to accompany each other on such occasions. I inherited his taste for literature and writing. He strongly hoped that I would take a philology degree and was rather disappointed when I took up medicine.
He was quite musical, had a nice voice and sang wonderfully. When he was young, he was even invited to join the Stephan Makedonski company [3]. Yet my grandfather, Shabbat Natan, said that he didn't want his son to be a chalgadjia. [Editor's note: chalgadjia is a word of Turkish origin and means 'performer of popular songs'; it has an ironical connotation in Bulgaria.] Therefore my father chose another career.
He was quite musical, had a nice voice and sang wonderfully. When he was young, he was even invited to join the Stephan Makedonski company [3]. Yet my grandfather, Shabbat Natan, said that he didn't want his son to be a chalgadjia. [Editor's note: chalgadjia is a word of Turkish origin and means 'performer of popular songs'; it has an ironical connotation in Bulgaria.] Therefore my father chose another career.
My father had two older brothers. Bohor Natan, the eldest, was an extremely intelligent person. Although he didn't have a degree, he spoke German very well, and his French was also fluent. He was a very close friend of Georgi Kirkov [2]. Bohor was among the first non-Bulgarians who had a mixed marriage with a Bulgarian woman. As there wasn't a civil marriage service in the country at that time, the couple went to Germany in order to contract their marriage. Bohor got married in the 1910s and died in 1936. His daughter Malvina died in 1967 without having any children, which actually ended that branch of the family. Our grandmother, Sol Natan, didn't even acknowledge her as a rightful granddaughter because her parents didn't have a religious wedlock.
Bulgaria
My father, Jack Natan, was born in Nova Zagora in 1889. He graduated from the University of Law. After World War I his family moved to Sofia, as the male family members had started some trade there. My mother was born in Constanta, Romania. She met my future father at the wedding of her older sister Sharlota, who married a Bulgarian Jew from Ruse. He liked the bride's younger sister. They married in 1923 in Sofia. They had a religious wedding. I was born three years later.
Evgenia Ershova
Our sons insisted that our family obtain all the necessary documents for emigration to Israel. We did that. But we have delayed our departure for that country, which is actually in a state of war. However, our children do not give up their hope to move to Israel one day. They study Hebrew and attend classes in the Sochnut. We hope that we shall be able to go to Israel soon.
In 1953 Stalin died and people wept at the news. The director of our school came to our class with a mourning band on her arm. Classes were cancelled and all the children went outside wearing black armbands. Veniamin's sister Fania did not cry. She always believed Stalin to be guilty for the arrest and death of her brother.
In the early 1950s during the outburst of anti-Semitic campaigns and during the period of the Doctors' Plot [9] my Uncle Veniamin was arrested and sent into exile. At this time, my history teacher's attitude towards me became abusive. He gave me lower marks and asked me questions that were beyond our school program to give me a '2'[this is almost the lowest grade]. I guess he knew that my uncle had been arrested and this explains his attitude towards me.
I remember Victory Day, May 9, 1945. My mother came to the kindergarten. She was kissing me, crying and laughing. I didn't understand why she was crying when she ought to have been merry and happy. We returned home with the plant in December 1945.
I have memories of the evacuation. We were in a long railroad car where there was no room to move. We evacuated in the summer of 1941 with the Krasny Rezinschik plant where my father worked. It was very hot. We were thirsty all the time. My mother and father took turns getting off the train at the stations to fetch us water. I fell ill with measles on the way. My mother was afraid that we would be ordered to get off the train due to this infectious disease, and she hid me behind the suitcases.
they respected my grandmother Buzia and her faith. She tried to keep traditions at home: she lit Sabbath candles in her room, celebrated Pesach and the main Jewish holidays and fasted at Yom Kippur. She didn't try to teach us Jewish traditions against our parents' will. We were young and didn't understand what she was doing; we even laughed at her sometimes.
, Ukraine
My parents met in Sobolevka around 1925 while my father was there on a business trip. There were quite a few sugar factories in Vinnitsa. Almost every town or village had one, and my father often visited there on business. There was also a sugar factory in Sobolevka. I don't know any details of my parents' meeting each other, but I know that they married in 1928. They had written letters to each other for three years and saw each other quite often.
, Ukraine
My mother and her sisters often hid in fields, sheds or haystacks waiting for the bandits to leave the town. My grandmother Genia wept and worried while hiding in town. She didn't know whether she would ever see her daughters again. She died in 1919.
Ladyzhin was a real Jewish town. Its inhabitants were shoemakers, tailors, hat makers, roofers and merchants who owned several stores. There was a synagogue in the town. My grandfather went there on Saturdays. They followed the laws of kashrut, honored the Sabbath and celebrated Jewish holidays. But they were not very religious. They paid tribute to the cultural traditions rather than to religion. They raised their children as Jews.
, Ukraine
My grandfather attended cheder, like all the other Jewish boys, and this was all the education he received.
, Ukraine
Jacob Mikhailov
Adolescent Jacob was drafted into the army during World War I. He was captured by the Austrians. His captivity probably wasn't so bad since he even managed to send his picture from there. When he came back from captivity, Jacob became a revolutionary. He took part in the revolution, then in the Civil War [5]. Before being drafted Jacob was in love with a girl from Chernigov. Jacob exerted his every effort for the revolution. In 1918 the Soviet regime assigned Jacob Nitsberg the first party secretary in Chernigov. He perished accidentally in 1919. It was found out that White Guards [6] were planning to blast the bridge across the Dnepr. Jacob was to divulge that plot. One of the plotters - Jacob's lyceum comrade, a White Guard - shot at Jacob and killed him. When he was arrested he said, 'I couldn't have acted otherwise. Even if I hadn't killed Jacob, I would have been killed as a White Guard.
I knew the youngest siblings, Mikhail and Revekka very well. Mikhail worked with the NKVD [8] for many years. He left the organization before the war and began working for a construction company.
,
Before WW2
See text in interview
My mother didn't tell me whether there were Jewish pogroms in Chernigov before the revolution [see Pogroms in Ukraine] [10]. Their family house was located on the street where Chernigov's vice-governor lived, so it was serene and quiet there. With the outbreak of the Civil War, the whole family was to move to Sarapul [today Udmurtia, Russia, about 1,800 km from Chernigov]. At that time Chernigov was plundered by Gangs [11], Denikin [12] troops, sometimes Jews were killed.
Mother finished the lyceum with distinction, and wanted to go on with her education. She left for Kharkov and entered the Medical Institute. Father studied at the Institute of State Economy; he graduated from it in 1924.
My parents met in Kharkov. I don't know the details of how they met. They got married in 1921. Of course, it wasn't a traditional Jewish wedding as they were convinced communists. I think they didn't have any wedding, just a mere registration.
Even though our family stayed in Kharkov only until 1930, I remember our house very well. It was a U-shaped five-storied brick house with a front yard. It seemed huge to me at that time. The house is still there. There was the Kharkov Opera Theater next to our house. We could hear the opera performances as if we were in the hall. Then, the opera theatre was moved to another building, and was taken over by the Russian drama theater. We lived on the fifth floor of the communal apartment [13]. There was a common kitchen, toilet and bathroom. There was centralized gas, sewage and running water. We had two rooms. There were five more families in our apartment. I don't remember all of them. I recall a woman, who lived next door. Her name was Marusya, she was Russian. Her daughter was my coeval. There was also a Jew, Hanna, who worked with the NKVD.
One room was taken by my parents, the other room was mine. I don't remember how the rooms were furnished. I can only recall my father's oaken desk, which has been kept until now, and the bookshelves with the books. There weren't a lot of books.
One room was taken by my parents, the other room was mine. I don't remember how the rooms were furnished. I can only recall my father's oaken desk, which has been kept until now, and the bookshelves with the books. There weren't a lot of books.
My parents spoke only Russian at home. If they wanted to conceal something from me, they would exchange a couple of Yiddish phrases at times. I wasn't very good at Yiddish. Father also spoke good Polish. Our neighbor was a Pole, and my father was always happy to communicate with her in her mother tongue.
,
Before WW2
See text in interview
I spent the whole summer in Chernigov with my grandmother. All grandchildren were brought together. Mother's sister Revekka also used to come there with her husband and daughter to spend the summer. They were happy times. Grandmother cooked. Pavel and Revekka played with the children. We went for strolls to the forest, the beach, and performed puppet shows. The elder read fairy-tales to the younger ones. Sometimes my uncle took all boys angling. We left at dawn, and came back for breakfast.
In 1929 my father was transferred to the Ministry of Chemical Industry in Moscow. My father left by himself. My mother and I followed him after he had been given the apartment in Moscow. The apartment was located on Krasnoprudnaya Street. We had a two-room apartment with all modern conveniences. It was a separate apartment, which was a rare thing back in those times. Most of the people continued living in communal apartments. My father's apartment was on the 3rd floor, but we changed it for the 5th floor as one of the residents asked for it because it was hard for him to climb the stairs. My father wasn't against it. He thought he wasn't entitled for a better living than others. Later, in 1935 my father was offered a four-room apartment in the center of Moscow, on Ananyevskiy Lane. Father tried to persuade mother's brother Mikhail to move to Moscow. Mikhail didn't want to move, so Father turned down the apartment saying that there was no use in such a big apartment for us.
When we moved to Moscow, my mother started working. She worked for some company for a while, and then she was offered the position of an economist in the planning department of the Ministry of Foreign Trade. Mother worked there until her retirement. She was loved and respected. No matter that my mother was offered to join the party for a number of occasions, she refused it saying that she was apolitical. We were well- off.
From the time I left for Moscow in 1939 I had a nanny. Her name was Vera. She came from a village in either Poltava or Chernigov oblast. She wasn't just a nanny, she was also a housekeeper. She was a very close person to us, a member of our family. She went to see her kin, caught a cold and died. My parents went to her funeral. It was hard for us to get over Vera's death. We commemorated her for a long time. My parents were never arrogant towards people inferior to them. My father had a car with a personal driver, and there wasn't a single time that the driver wouldn't eat with us if we were having a meal. We knew everything about our family, and he knew about our things in the house. My parents taught me to treat people this way.
In 1935 my grandmother was afflicted with pneumonia and passed away. She was about 75. Then my brother Solomon died after her. Grandmother and Solomon were buried in the Jewish cemetery in Chernigov. After Grandmother's death, my grandfather stayed with Solomon's family. Basya, Solomon's wife took care of him. In 1939, my grandfather had a cervical hip fracture. He was quite senile, aged about 90. The fracture was very complicated, and there was no hope that the bones would knit together. Grandfather was bedridden for a year. Basya and three of her daughters looked after him. In 1940 my grandfather passed away. He was buried next to Grandmother. I cannot tell for sure, but I think the funeral wasn't in accordance with the Jewish rites, as my grandparents were atheists.
I was in the first grade when I was accepted to the Octiabriata [Young Octobrist] [14], then I became a pioneer [see All-Union pioneer organization] [15]. I wasn't a Komsomol [16] member in school, though.
There were a few Jewish children in my class. We didn't feel any difference between Jews and non-Jews. Both teachers and classmates had the same attitude towards different nationalities. Anyway, I never came across any collisions.