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We were not very wealthy. My parents didn't pamper us. I was the fourth daughter in the family, and I had to wear hand-me-downs after my sisters. I wasn't given new dresses and I felt very offended with that. My brother was the only boy in the family and they always bought him new clothes of course. They didn't buy any new pieces for me. I got new clothes only after the Great Patriotic War [2], when I started working.
My parents were very religious, especially Father. Mother was not as pious. Still, she strictly observed all Jewish traditions. Maybe she did so because of our father. Father said that one of his relatives in Poland was a rabbi. It seems that Father's whole family was religious. He was raised in a religious spirit since childhood. Kashrut was strictly observed at home. Mother had two sets of dishes: separate dishes for dairy products and for meat. Mother strictly followed that. Once, one of her children confused the dishes and Mother took the cinder from the stove and koshered the dishes with that. There was a shochet in Tallinn. Chicken purchased on the market was taken to the shochet. Once mother took me to the shochet. I still remember how frightened I was. When I saw blood, I was screaming so bad that I could hardly be cooled down.
There was a very beautiful synagogue in Tallinn [3]. The Germans destroyed it during the war. Men were downstairs and women were on the balcony. Every year father paid for his seat in the synagogue as well as Mother's and Grandmother's seat. Seats were not to be bought for children as they sat next to the parents. My parents didn't always take us to the synagogue on Sabbath. The whole family went there during Jewish holidays. They even took my younger brother with them. There were a lot of Jews in Tallinn. The synagogue was very large and it was always full of people. There was a very good rabbi in Tallinn, Doctor Aba Gomer [4], and a wonderful chazzan, Gourevich.
My parents were very religious, especially Father. Mother was not as pious. Still, she strictly observed all Jewish traditions. Maybe she did so because of our father. Father said that one of his relatives in Poland was a rabbi. It seems that Father's whole family was religious. He was raised in a religious spirit since childhood. Kashrut was strictly observed at home. Mother had two sets of dishes: separate dishes for dairy products and for meat. Mother strictly followed that. Once, one of her children confused the dishes and Mother took the cinder from the stove and koshered the dishes with that. There was a shochet in Tallinn. Chicken purchased on the market was taken to the shochet. Once mother took me to the shochet. I still remember how frightened I was. When I saw blood, I was screaming so bad that I could hardly be cooled down.
There was a very beautiful synagogue in Tallinn [3]. The Germans destroyed it during the war. Men were downstairs and women were on the balcony. Every year father paid for his seat in the synagogue as well as Mother's and Grandmother's seat. Seats were not to be bought for children as they sat next to the parents. My parents didn't always take us to the synagogue on Sabbath. The whole family went there during Jewish holidays. They even took my younger brother with them. There were a lot of Jews in Tallinn. The synagogue was very large and it was always full of people. There was a very good rabbi in Tallinn, Doctor Aba Gomer [4], and a wonderful chazzan, Gourevich.
Period
Location
Talinn
Estonia
Interview
Dina Kuremaa