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When I was working at the sanitary-engineering company, the chief engineer there was a Jew. He once whispered to me, 'If I could, I would walk to Israel on foot.' And he had a Russian wife.
I had very good bosses at the sanitary-engineering company. At that time I met Lev Susovich. In the beginning I didn't think anything. I was 40 years old and I thought my life was over. Suddenly he invited me to the stadium. I said I was not interested in such things. He said, 'But what if I'm trying to court you!' I asked, 'Why would you?' and he said, 'What if I want to live my life with you?' He was very handsome, highly educated; I could talk with him about everything. But I told him that I wasn't interested in married men. He asked, 'Who told you I'm married?' (Before that he had told me something about his daughter). I asked, 'How come you're single and have a daughter?' And he said, 'Different things happen in this life.'
Lev came from Volnovakha. When he was a boy he ran to the front to fight in World War I. By the way, this saved his family. His father, a Jew, was a merchant of Guild I [15]. And only because Lev had fought at the front were they allowed to sell their house and his father was not arrested. They moved to Donetsk. Lev studied there, but he didn't finish university because the authorities suddenly remembered that he was 'socially inappropriate'. He worked with Bulganin [16] in Moscow, then he was arrested with all of them, then he fought at the front during World War II. He worked at a company next to ours, and that's how we met.
Lev courted me for 2 years. We got married and lived together for 25 years until his death. He was always very caring and nice. He had a daughter, Natasha. Her daughter Katya is like a granddaughter to me. Katya is now married to Dima Shekhtman, who is a professor, physicist and mathematician. They live in France. But they come here twice a year. Katya's children, Masha and Sholom, are my great-grandchildren. They call me Luba.
I'm retired. I worked until 1989. I was 80 when I retired. And I retired only because our institute was closed down, otherwise, I would have kept working. I always want to learn new things. Right now I would gladly start learning about computers.
Regrettably, I have never been to Israel. I always wanted to visit it, but it didn't happen. At the time it wasn't possible. When I was young I wanted to leave for Israel forever, but even to think about this was dangerous before the 1980s. Afterwards, when they all started to leave, I was already over 70. But at such an age it's much more difficult to change from an accustomed lifestyle.
I had very good bosses at the sanitary-engineering company. At that time I met Lev Susovich. In the beginning I didn't think anything. I was 40 years old and I thought my life was over. Suddenly he invited me to the stadium. I said I was not interested in such things. He said, 'But what if I'm trying to court you!' I asked, 'Why would you?' and he said, 'What if I want to live my life with you?' He was very handsome, highly educated; I could talk with him about everything. But I told him that I wasn't interested in married men. He asked, 'Who told you I'm married?' (Before that he had told me something about his daughter). I asked, 'How come you're single and have a daughter?' And he said, 'Different things happen in this life.'
Lev came from Volnovakha. When he was a boy he ran to the front to fight in World War I. By the way, this saved his family. His father, a Jew, was a merchant of Guild I [15]. And only because Lev had fought at the front were they allowed to sell their house and his father was not arrested. They moved to Donetsk. Lev studied there, but he didn't finish university because the authorities suddenly remembered that he was 'socially inappropriate'. He worked with Bulganin [16] in Moscow, then he was arrested with all of them, then he fought at the front during World War II. He worked at a company next to ours, and that's how we met.
Lev courted me for 2 years. We got married and lived together for 25 years until his death. He was always very caring and nice. He had a daughter, Natasha. Her daughter Katya is like a granddaughter to me. Katya is now married to Dima Shekhtman, who is a professor, physicist and mathematician. They live in France. But they come here twice a year. Katya's children, Masha and Sholom, are my great-grandchildren. They call me Luba.
I'm retired. I worked until 1989. I was 80 when I retired. And I retired only because our institute was closed down, otherwise, I would have kept working. I always want to learn new things. Right now I would gladly start learning about computers.
Regrettably, I have never been to Israel. I always wanted to visit it, but it didn't happen. At the time it wasn't possible. When I was young I wanted to leave for Israel forever, but even to think about this was dangerous before the 1980s. Afterwards, when they all started to leave, I was already over 70. But at such an age it's much more difficult to change from an accustomed lifestyle.
Location
Ukraine
Interview
lubov ratmanskaya