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My mother went to work as a seamstress at the factory and worked there till she retired in 1955. Again I had to take care of my brother: watch his studies, attend parents’ meetings at school, and orientate him at some vocation. My brother loved me dearly and introduced me to his friends. We were hard up in those years, and besides, it was hard to buy anything in shops. I bought my first dress at the ‘flea’ market where people were selling things that they received in parcels from abroad at fabulous prices. I paid my moth’s salary for this dress. Later my mother made my clothes and I always dressed nicely.
I had many friends. We got together on holidays and went to the cinema. There were also guys among them, but somehow I never tried to develop closer relations with any of them and they called me a ‘good pal’. I even decided I was not made for a family life and dedicated myself to my mother, brother and work.
In 1961, when I was over 30, a colleague of mine introduced me to an interesting young man. He had divorced his wife few years before. We saw each other for some time before he proposed to me. We got married in 1962. My husband Vladimir Karanchuk, Russian, was born in 1934 in Kiev. His parents were workers. They received me well in their family. We never discussed any nationality-related issues. Vladimir finished a technical school. He was a talented engineer and a very handy man. He worked in a laboratory of Kiev Automobile Road College and developed many experimental applications that were successfully implemented. We had a small wedding party in his parents’ home. After the wedding Vladimir moved in with us into our communal apartment. We could not stay at Vladimir’s home since his younger sister was growing up there. My brother was in the army at this time. When he returned, we lived together for a long time. Vladimir and I slept behind a screen in the room. In the middle 1960s I received a one-room apartment from my work in Darnitsa, a new district in Kiev then. We moved into this apartment with one suitcase: this was all we owned. Then we gradually renovated the apartment, polished the floors and bought furniture on installments. This apartment seemed paradise to me. I remember opening the door coming from work and standing in the threshold admiring my room. We earned sufficient for the two of us and could afford to buy crockery and clothes, but of course, we couldn’t even dream about a car, for example. In 1968 our son was born and we named him Victor – the ‘winner’. In 1969 we received a two-bedroom apartment. We were very happy together: we went out of town, in summer we rented a dacha near Kiev, and often went to the cinema or theater. My mother looked after our son and we went to work. In the 1970s my mother began to feel ill and we exchanged our apartment and her room for a three-bedroom apartment, but regretfully, my mother didn’t move in it. In 1981 she died. My husband Vladimir, a nice and kind man, died suddenly from cancer in 1982. Since then I’ve been alone. Sopha and Zhanna moved to Australia and I have cousin sisters and brothers in USA and Germany.
I had many friends. We got together on holidays and went to the cinema. There were also guys among them, but somehow I never tried to develop closer relations with any of them and they called me a ‘good pal’. I even decided I was not made for a family life and dedicated myself to my mother, brother and work.
In 1961, when I was over 30, a colleague of mine introduced me to an interesting young man. He had divorced his wife few years before. We saw each other for some time before he proposed to me. We got married in 1962. My husband Vladimir Karanchuk, Russian, was born in 1934 in Kiev. His parents were workers. They received me well in their family. We never discussed any nationality-related issues. Vladimir finished a technical school. He was a talented engineer and a very handy man. He worked in a laboratory of Kiev Automobile Road College and developed many experimental applications that were successfully implemented. We had a small wedding party in his parents’ home. After the wedding Vladimir moved in with us into our communal apartment. We could not stay at Vladimir’s home since his younger sister was growing up there. My brother was in the army at this time. When he returned, we lived together for a long time. Vladimir and I slept behind a screen in the room. In the middle 1960s I received a one-room apartment from my work in Darnitsa, a new district in Kiev then. We moved into this apartment with one suitcase: this was all we owned. Then we gradually renovated the apartment, polished the floors and bought furniture on installments. This apartment seemed paradise to me. I remember opening the door coming from work and standing in the threshold admiring my room. We earned sufficient for the two of us and could afford to buy crockery and clothes, but of course, we couldn’t even dream about a car, for example. In 1968 our son was born and we named him Victor – the ‘winner’. In 1969 we received a two-bedroom apartment. We were very happy together: we went out of town, in summer we rented a dacha near Kiev, and often went to the cinema or theater. My mother looked after our son and we went to work. In the 1970s my mother began to feel ill and we exchanged our apartment and her room for a three-bedroom apartment, but regretfully, my mother didn’t move in it. In 1981 she died. My husband Vladimir, a nice and kind man, died suddenly from cancer in 1982. Since then I’ve been alone. Sopha and Zhanna moved to Australia and I have cousin sisters and brothers in USA and Germany.
Location
Ukraine
Interview
Isabella Karanchuk