Selected text
These were abstract things for me. I was a Kosomol activist at school and secretary of the Kosomol unit and finished school with a gold medal.
I finished school in 1955. I was fond of radio engineering and wanted to enter the Polytechnic Institute. But people explained to me that its doors were closed for me as a Jew. A column "beginning" was In the Soviet passport. To deliver the documents for the arrival needed was bring a passport. If in this earl was written "Jew", such person nowhere took – this was state policy in 1960s. So I decided to enter the Institute of Light Industry. I submitted my documents and passed the interview successfully. (Students with a gold medal didn’t have to take any exams, only an interview to higher educational institutions). So, I was sure that I was admitted. But in two months’ time they made me take an exam in Mathematics. I was good at Mathematics and when I got a “2” (the lowest grade) I couldn’t understand what happened. They did not want to take I learn therefore that I - a Jew, and so have putted me an evaluation “2”, though I correctly has answered all questions. For a whole year I couldn’t find a job. Finally, I got a job at the shop of ready radio units. My responsibility was gluing things. The following year I submitted my documents to the extramural department at the Polytechnic Institute. And again I was refused. Only interfernce of Koval, Minister of Education, that was a relative of our neighbors helped me to be admitted to the extramural radio engineering department. I was the only Jew at this department. I graduated this Institute with the so-called “red” diploma (issued to the most distinguished students.
My hardships were similar to my sister’s. Upon finishing technical school she managed to enter the Financial Institute. She was sent to work in Kishynyov. But my mother wanted my sister to be in Kiev. My mother demanded her to come to Kiev. My sister returned but she never found herself either in the financial circles or in her personal life. Her Jewish identity was an obstacle everywhere. My sister was not sociable. She got married when she was about 30 but got divorced soon. In the early 1990s Maria moved to Israel, hoping that we would follow her. She lives in Hadera with no relatives or close people around. She does not work, lives on the pension, which gets from the state.
In 1962 I finished the Polytechnic Institute. At that time I was working at the tape recorder development laboratory. I was one of the authors of the “Dnepr-12” tape recorder, a famous tape recorder in the Soviet Union in the 1960s. In 1963 the radio factory became a military enterprise. This meant that all employees had to obtain the KGB (State Security Committee) permit. In KGB they told me that I could be proud of my father and that he died as a hero. During my studies and afterwards I was offered to join the Communist Party. But I became a different person then. I realized that people were joining the Communist Party for easier promotions and privileges. I was against the Communist Party and so was my sister. We didn’t want to hurt our mother and never argued with her, but we had a firm opinion, chosen by us once and forever.
I finished school in 1955. I was fond of radio engineering and wanted to enter the Polytechnic Institute. But people explained to me that its doors were closed for me as a Jew. A column "beginning" was In the Soviet passport. To deliver the documents for the arrival needed was bring a passport. If in this earl was written "Jew", such person nowhere took – this was state policy in 1960s. So I decided to enter the Institute of Light Industry. I submitted my documents and passed the interview successfully. (Students with a gold medal didn’t have to take any exams, only an interview to higher educational institutions). So, I was sure that I was admitted. But in two months’ time they made me take an exam in Mathematics. I was good at Mathematics and when I got a “2” (the lowest grade) I couldn’t understand what happened. They did not want to take I learn therefore that I - a Jew, and so have putted me an evaluation “2”, though I correctly has answered all questions. For a whole year I couldn’t find a job. Finally, I got a job at the shop of ready radio units. My responsibility was gluing things. The following year I submitted my documents to the extramural department at the Polytechnic Institute. And again I was refused. Only interfernce of Koval, Minister of Education, that was a relative of our neighbors helped me to be admitted to the extramural radio engineering department. I was the only Jew at this department. I graduated this Institute with the so-called “red” diploma (issued to the most distinguished students.
My hardships were similar to my sister’s. Upon finishing technical school she managed to enter the Financial Institute. She was sent to work in Kishynyov. But my mother wanted my sister to be in Kiev. My mother demanded her to come to Kiev. My sister returned but she never found herself either in the financial circles or in her personal life. Her Jewish identity was an obstacle everywhere. My sister was not sociable. She got married when she was about 30 but got divorced soon. In the early 1990s Maria moved to Israel, hoping that we would follow her. She lives in Hadera with no relatives or close people around. She does not work, lives on the pension, which gets from the state.
In 1962 I finished the Polytechnic Institute. At that time I was working at the tape recorder development laboratory. I was one of the authors of the “Dnepr-12” tape recorder, a famous tape recorder in the Soviet Union in the 1960s. In 1963 the radio factory became a military enterprise. This meant that all employees had to obtain the KGB (State Security Committee) permit. In KGB they told me that I could be proud of my father and that he died as a hero. During my studies and afterwards I was offered to join the Communist Party. But I became a different person then. I realized that people were joining the Communist Party for easier promotions and privileges. I was against the Communist Party and so was my sister. We didn’t want to hurt our mother and never argued with her, but we had a firm opinion, chosen by us once and forever.
Location
Ukraine
Interview
Ella Lukatskaya