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In Makeevka I went to a Russian secondary school. There were mostly Jewish families in the building where we lived. My brother Srul and I had many friends. I also had Ukrainian and Russian school friends since there were children of various nationalities in our school. Our teachers treated us nicely and there was no segregation at school. The children were different though. There was a group of pupils that called Jews ‘zhydy’ [kike]. Once they even caught my brother and me after classes and applied pork fat on our lips teasing us that we didn’t eat pork. I can say that I have identified myself as a Jew since my childhood.
I became a Young Octobrist [13] and then a pioneer and Komsomol [14] member at school. I took an active part in all activities: sang in the choir and attended dance and drama clubs. I also played checkers and chess. I liked studying at school, even though I wasn’t the best pupil. I was good at German and my teacher often asked me to help other children with the German language. We celebrated all Soviet holidays at school and attended parades on 1st May and 7th November, October Revolution Day [15]. On holidays my friends and I went for walks in the park and to the cinema or cultural center in the evening. We didn’t celebrate Soviet holidays at home. My parents went to the synagogue and celebrated Jewish holidays. They understood that my brother and I had other interests and didn’t impose their outlooks on us. I regret that I didn’t learn my mother tongue and Jewish traditions and customs, but when I was young I thought these to be a vestige of the past. I didn’t care about nationality and just differentiated between good and evil people. I still do.
Craftsmen and workers lived in our house. Fortunately, none of us suffered from the arrests in 1937-38 [during the so-called Great Terror] [16]. However, I remember that some of my schoolmates’ fathers were arrested. They were charged of sabotage and subversive activities at the mines where they worked. I remember a Komsomol meeting in 1939 when one of my schoolmates publicly repudiated his father. He would have been expelled from the Komsomol if he hadn’t done it and that would have been a horrible punishment. Our teachers were decent people and the atmosphere in school didn’t change. We believed everything our teachers told us and didn’t even question the correctness of the state policy or any happenings in the country.
I became a Young Octobrist [13] and then a pioneer and Komsomol [14] member at school. I took an active part in all activities: sang in the choir and attended dance and drama clubs. I also played checkers and chess. I liked studying at school, even though I wasn’t the best pupil. I was good at German and my teacher often asked me to help other children with the German language. We celebrated all Soviet holidays at school and attended parades on 1st May and 7th November, October Revolution Day [15]. On holidays my friends and I went for walks in the park and to the cinema or cultural center in the evening. We didn’t celebrate Soviet holidays at home. My parents went to the synagogue and celebrated Jewish holidays. They understood that my brother and I had other interests and didn’t impose their outlooks on us. I regret that I didn’t learn my mother tongue and Jewish traditions and customs, but when I was young I thought these to be a vestige of the past. I didn’t care about nationality and just differentiated between good and evil people. I still do.
Craftsmen and workers lived in our house. Fortunately, none of us suffered from the arrests in 1937-38 [during the so-called Great Terror] [16]. However, I remember that some of my schoolmates’ fathers were arrested. They were charged of sabotage and subversive activities at the mines where they worked. I remember a Komsomol meeting in 1939 when one of my schoolmates publicly repudiated his father. He would have been expelled from the Komsomol if he hadn’t done it and that would have been a horrible punishment. Our teachers were decent people and the atmosphere in school didn’t change. We believed everything our teachers told us and didn’t even question the correctness of the state policy or any happenings in the country.
Location
Ukraine
Interview
Fira Usatinskaya Biography