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I lived with Shtern and he treated me like his family. He shared his food and helped me to get me clothes. I lived like this for a month. I had to start looking for a job. I met my childhood friend, my fellow student from the academy in Mukachevo. I used to help him with his studies when we were students. He became the prosecutor of Mukachevo. He asked me where I wanted to work and I said that I would agree to any work I could get. My friend had a good relationship with general Andrashko, the prosecutor of Uzhgorod region, and knew that the prosecution office needed a logistics supervisor. My friend phoned Andrashko and asked him to employ his friend Zoltan Shtern.
I went to the prosecution office in Uzhgorod. The general asked what I wanted to do and I said I wanted to be logistics supervisor. Andrashko considered my response and then said 'No, you shall not work as logistics supervisor'. I thought it had something to do with my sentence in the camp, and was about to leave, when he continued, 'You shall not be logistics supervisor, you shall be investigation officer'. I began to refuse: firstly, I was a convict, and my sentence hadn't been canceled, secondly, I was no lawyer. The general said he didn't believe my sentence and made me investigation officer in the prosecutor's office of Irshava district.
My colleagues were very nice and friendly. They helped me to get into the essence of this job. It took me a couple of months to learn everything about this job. From Irshava prosecutor's office I was transferred to the prosecutor's office of Uzhgorod district. I entered the extramural department of the Faculty of Law of Lvov University. The regional prosecutor signed a request to admit me to university and I became a student without any problems. I took a holiday to go to Lvov to pass my exams. I was an excellent student and my lecturers treated me well. I never faced any anti-Semitism in Subcarpathia. Anti-Semitism developed only when the new arrivals from the USSR began to prevail. These people became the source of manifestations of anti-Semitism, as far as I'm aware of it.
In 1952 the Ukrainian prosecution office got to know that I had brothers in the USA. It was dangerous to have relatives abroad [16], particularly, if it was a capitalist country, even though we had no contacts. One could be fired or even be subject to more severe punishment. The General Prosecution Office issued the order of my dismissal. This is what was written in my employment record book: 'Fired per order of the general prosecutor of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic'. Even though I was shocked at the loss of my job I was happy to get to know that my brother Vili and Miki were alive. The KGB officers informed me about it. Of course, they spilled no details and I couldn't correspond with them, especially because I was a former convict.
I went to the prosecution office in Uzhgorod. The general asked what I wanted to do and I said I wanted to be logistics supervisor. Andrashko considered my response and then said 'No, you shall not work as logistics supervisor'. I thought it had something to do with my sentence in the camp, and was about to leave, when he continued, 'You shall not be logistics supervisor, you shall be investigation officer'. I began to refuse: firstly, I was a convict, and my sentence hadn't been canceled, secondly, I was no lawyer. The general said he didn't believe my sentence and made me investigation officer in the prosecutor's office of Irshava district.
My colleagues were very nice and friendly. They helped me to get into the essence of this job. It took me a couple of months to learn everything about this job. From Irshava prosecutor's office I was transferred to the prosecutor's office of Uzhgorod district. I entered the extramural department of the Faculty of Law of Lvov University. The regional prosecutor signed a request to admit me to university and I became a student without any problems. I took a holiday to go to Lvov to pass my exams. I was an excellent student and my lecturers treated me well. I never faced any anti-Semitism in Subcarpathia. Anti-Semitism developed only when the new arrivals from the USSR began to prevail. These people became the source of manifestations of anti-Semitism, as far as I'm aware of it.
In 1952 the Ukrainian prosecution office got to know that I had brothers in the USA. It was dangerous to have relatives abroad [16], particularly, if it was a capitalist country, even though we had no contacts. One could be fired or even be subject to more severe punishment. The General Prosecution Office issued the order of my dismissal. This is what was written in my employment record book: 'Fired per order of the general prosecutor of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic'. Even though I was shocked at the loss of my job I was happy to get to know that my brother Vili and Miki were alive. The KGB officers informed me about it. Of course, they spilled no details and I couldn't correspond with them, especially because I was a former convict.
Location
Ukraine
Interview
zoltan shtern