Tag #114424 - Interview #92211 (Boris Girshov)

There I started working as a phthisiatrician in the hospital at T.B. prophylactic center. There I met Rotenfeld, a radiologist. He became my teacher both in medicine and in life. He was born in tsarist Russia. He told me about establishment of Soviet power, about soviet leaders. Rotenfeld used to listen to western broadcasting stations, and I read our newspapers. He demonstrated me barefaced lie in soviet newspapers, he engrafted dissident ideas in my mind. So long before the Doctors’ Plot [9] I was filled with anti-Soviet ideas. You see, our talks were a weight on my mind, but did not surprise me.

He used to say ‘It’ll be even worse. This country is alien to us, our country is Israel, we have to go there.’ At that time I was still a young doctor. I always felt like a Jew, though I lived in the family of veteran Bolsheviks. In the USSR when everyone was afraid of everything, I used to visit synagogue on holidays. Only my wife Tamara knew about it, and her parents didn’t. My wife didn’t accompany me to the synagogue. As for me, I understood religious essence of Jewish holidays.