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Our family had the status of refugees who had suffered under the bandits. In 1924 the US government and the Joint [10] provided assistance to such families. My family returned to the Novozlatopol colony and began to restore our life there. The Soviet authorities closed the synagogue. This was the period of the struggle against religion [11], but my father continued praying at home. They got together in a minyan at somebody's home. My father used to say, 'So the Soviet power isn't bad, but how come they closed the synagogue then? They turned it into a storehouse. What the hell?!'.
My sister, Sonia, bred pigs. We didn't eat pork, but we sold it at the market. My brother, Iosif, went to study in Odessa. He finished a Rabfak [12] trade school) and wanted to continue his education. Later he entered and graduated from a technical institute in Moscow. He became a good engineer. He was the only member of our family with a higher education.
A Jewish school was opened in the colony at that time. It was a new school, specifically built for Jewish children by the Soviet authorties. The curriculum was similar to what children studied in other schools, only that we studied in Yiddish. My younger sister, Vera, studied at this school, too.
I wanted to stay in Zaporozhiye and went to work at the foundry of the Kommunar Plant in 1924. To cast an item with an opening there had to be a kernel installed in a mould. Kernels were made from sand, clay, flour and additives that were compacted in tins and dried in the stove. I was a laborer making kernels. It was hot and noisy in the foundry, and every now and then a mould with cast iron fell on our feet, but I earned well and liked the work. There were many older Jewish workers at the foundry and only a few young Jewish men. Jews were highly skilled workers. I don't think they were religious. Iron casting was a continuous process and we had to work on Saturdays. But at least all Jews celebrated Jewish holidays at that time. Young people didn't go to the synagogue because holidays were workdays, but all families remembered old traditions and tried to celebrate nonetheless. Older people prayed, and younger people respected their religiosity and tried to join their parents for a celebration.
I had an opportunity to rent an apartment and pay for it. I didn't cook for myself. I had meals at the canteen in the plant. It was a good canteen. Of course, following the kashrut was out of the question considering the circumstances. I was a Komsomol activist. I spoke and recited poems about Lenin and other leaders of the Revolution at meetings. I became a candidate for the Communist Party at the foundry in 1927, and a party member in 1928. I believed that communists were the vanguard of the people and wanted to be one of them. I also attended evening school classes. For my industriousness and willingness I was sent to a Rabfak in Kiev in 1928.
My sister, Sonia, bred pigs. We didn't eat pork, but we sold it at the market. My brother, Iosif, went to study in Odessa. He finished a Rabfak [12] trade school) and wanted to continue his education. Later he entered and graduated from a technical institute in Moscow. He became a good engineer. He was the only member of our family with a higher education.
A Jewish school was opened in the colony at that time. It was a new school, specifically built for Jewish children by the Soviet authorties. The curriculum was similar to what children studied in other schools, only that we studied in Yiddish. My younger sister, Vera, studied at this school, too.
I wanted to stay in Zaporozhiye and went to work at the foundry of the Kommunar Plant in 1924. To cast an item with an opening there had to be a kernel installed in a mould. Kernels were made from sand, clay, flour and additives that were compacted in tins and dried in the stove. I was a laborer making kernels. It was hot and noisy in the foundry, and every now and then a mould with cast iron fell on our feet, but I earned well and liked the work. There were many older Jewish workers at the foundry and only a few young Jewish men. Jews were highly skilled workers. I don't think they were religious. Iron casting was a continuous process and we had to work on Saturdays. But at least all Jews celebrated Jewish holidays at that time. Young people didn't go to the synagogue because holidays were workdays, but all families remembered old traditions and tried to celebrate nonetheless. Older people prayed, and younger people respected their religiosity and tried to join their parents for a celebration.
I had an opportunity to rent an apartment and pay for it. I didn't cook for myself. I had meals at the canteen in the plant. It was a good canteen. Of course, following the kashrut was out of the question considering the circumstances. I was a Komsomol activist. I spoke and recited poems about Lenin and other leaders of the Revolution at meetings. I became a candidate for the Communist Party at the foundry in 1927, and a party member in 1928. I believed that communists were the vanguard of the people and wanted to be one of them. I also attended evening school classes. For my industriousness and willingness I was sent to a Rabfak in Kiev in 1928.
Location
Ukraine
Interview
sima medved
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