Tag #129244 - Interview #100063 (Edith Umova)

I’ve faced anti-Semitism since my childhood. When I was in my first school, it often happened that I was called zhidovka or I was just abused. I got very upset and cried. It hurt so much, but I was never embarrassed to admit my Jewish identity. When I came to my new school, I made friends with a boy from my class. I liked him a lot, but once he mentioned he strongly disliked Jews, and I discontinued keeping in touch with him for good.

I remember the day, when Stalin died, which happened on 5th March 1953, very well. Stalin’s death was announced at school. There was a memorial meeting in the conference room at school. I remember that we were all sobbing and didn’t make an effort to conceal our tears. Our teachers were also crying. I had a feeling that everything had collapsed and it was unknown what was going to happen to the country and to me, personally. I’ve never been interested in politics, and now, when I look back, I can’t understand why everything seemed so tragic at the time. All of us, adults and children, believed Stalin to be our idol, chief and number one person in the country. It was impossible to imagine what was going to happen, if Stalin wasn’t guiding the country. In due time this grief faded away, of course. Life was going on.