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My father, Boris Braverman, came from Snovsk, a small Jewish town in Chernigov province. [Editor's note: Snovks was renamed to Schors in 1935. Soviet authorities named the town after Nikolai Schors [1], a Soviet commander during the Civil War [2], and the town still bears this name.] I've never been there, but my father told me that it was a picturesque town on the Snov River. The Jews lived in the center of the town, next to the railway station. They owned small stores and shops. There were shoemakers, tailors, glass- cutters and coppers in town.
My grandfather, Ghil Braverman was born in Snovsk in the 1870s. He owned a hardware store. I don't remember my grandmother's name. She died when she was still young, leaving my grandfather behind with five children. My father was the youngest. He didn't remember his mother very well. Grandfather Ghil was very religious. He was a handsome man with a big beard. He wore a kippah and prayed every day with his tallit and tefillin on. There were religious books at home, the Torah and the Talmud, which my grandfather read. On Saturdays my grandparents went to the synagogue in the center of town. They observed Jewish traditions, followed the kashrut and celebrated Sabbath and Jewish holidays. Around 1915 the family moved to Chernigov where my grandfather bought a house. In 1916 my grandmother died. My grandfather grieved over her a lot. He didn't work like he used to because the Civil War brought pogroms [3] and destitution, so, maybe the family moved to Chernigov for that reason. The older children went to work to support my grandfather and his younger children.
Although my grandfather's family was religious, his children - all five of them, including my father - grew up to become atheists. My father had four sisters: Basia, Fania, Sarra and Eva. They studied with a melamed and finished secondary school afterwards.
My grandfather, Ghil Braverman was born in Snovsk in the 1870s. He owned a hardware store. I don't remember my grandmother's name. She died when she was still young, leaving my grandfather behind with five children. My father was the youngest. He didn't remember his mother very well. Grandfather Ghil was very religious. He was a handsome man with a big beard. He wore a kippah and prayed every day with his tallit and tefillin on. There were religious books at home, the Torah and the Talmud, which my grandfather read. On Saturdays my grandparents went to the synagogue in the center of town. They observed Jewish traditions, followed the kashrut and celebrated Sabbath and Jewish holidays. Around 1915 the family moved to Chernigov where my grandfather bought a house. In 1916 my grandmother died. My grandfather grieved over her a lot. He didn't work like he used to because the Civil War brought pogroms [3] and destitution, so, maybe the family moved to Chernigov for that reason. The older children went to work to support my grandfather and his younger children.
Although my grandfather's family was religious, his children - all five of them, including my father - grew up to become atheists. My father had four sisters: Basia, Fania, Sarra and Eva. They studied with a melamed and finished secondary school afterwards.
Location
Ukraine
Interview
lina mukhamedjanova
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