Tag #129086 - Interview #100036 (Pesse Speranskaya)

When Israel was established in 1948, I didn’t pay much attention to it. I was growing up a Soviet child, and there was nobody to influence me. I was only interested in Israel as much, as my mother’s sister Fanny living there was concerned. My attitude changed in 1964, when Fanny visited Tallinn after many years. My mother and her sister Sonja remembered her, but Sonja’s daughter Tamara and I had never seen Fanny before. We were very happy to finally reunite. We spent a lot of time together. There was never enough time for us to talk.  My aunt told us about her life, her children and about life in Israel. She told such amazing things. Since then Israel became a dream country for me. I wish I could visit this country at least once to see what it is like. In 1967 my aunt sent me a letter of invitation, but Soviet authorities did not allow me to visit her.  I was not married yet, and their concern was probably that I might not come back. Besides, this was when the 6-Day War [17] was on in Israel. Late, when I got married, I did not want to start thinking about the trip again.  I did not consider moving to Israel. As for me, Estonia is the best country in the world, and Tallinn is the best town to live in. I just cannot imagine living elsewhere, but in Estonia. Mama was the same. She did not like leaving home for long. She became homesick. I love Tallinn. I’ve never faced any anti-Semitism. I’ve never heard a single indecent word in my regard or about Jews. This even adds to my love of the country. However, I would love to visit my historical Motherland. This is how we referred to Israel during the Soviet time. Unfortunately, this dream is never to come true, considering my health condition. I used to correspond with Aunt Fanny. Her husband died in 1992, and my aunt lived 10 years longer. Fanny died in 2002. I don’t correspond with her children. I don’t know English or Ivrit, and they speak no Russian or Estonian. My cousin Tamara, living in New York, sees them every now and then. She told me they are very nice people. She visited them in Israel and was very happy about how they received her. Tamara also told them about me.