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I don't remember 1937 when the arrests began. Many party officials and common citizens were arrested and executed or perished in Stalin's camps. My mother told me in the 1950s that my father, who was working in the scientific sector of the town party committee, was fired and expelled from the Party in 1937. Fortunately, they didn't go any further than expel him. My father went to work in a bookstore. He didn't even apply to have his party membership restored. I believe he got disappointed with the party ideals.
I went to kindergarten at the age of five. I didn't like kindergarten, especially because my grandmother was at home and I wanted to be with her. However, my mother insisted that I grew up with other children. Once I left the kindergarten and got lost. A militiaman stopped me and I told him my address and said that my last name was Oborvan [Russian for ragamuffin]. I was jokingly called so at home and must have associated this name with our last name, Braverman. The militiaman brought me home. My parents told me off and sent me to kindergarten again on the next day.
I had many friends that were all my neighbors. We all simply adored my father, who spent much time with us, children. He told us many interesting things about the Earth, the Moon, nature and its fauna. He also read books by children's authors to us. I remember a great party that my father arranged in our yard on New Year's Eve 1939. He put up a huge fur tree in the center of the yard and made a small playhouse for children underneath it. He also created ice slides. We celebrated New Year's in the yard, while the adults had a New Year's party in our apartment. They enjoyed themselves as much as usual.
My brother Edik was born in 1939. And, this was a kind of life we had before the war: we enjoyed ourselves and hoped for a better future. World War II put an end to our dreams.
I went to kindergarten at the age of five. I didn't like kindergarten, especially because my grandmother was at home and I wanted to be with her. However, my mother insisted that I grew up with other children. Once I left the kindergarten and got lost. A militiaman stopped me and I told him my address and said that my last name was Oborvan [Russian for ragamuffin]. I was jokingly called so at home and must have associated this name with our last name, Braverman. The militiaman brought me home. My parents told me off and sent me to kindergarten again on the next day.
I had many friends that were all my neighbors. We all simply adored my father, who spent much time with us, children. He told us many interesting things about the Earth, the Moon, nature and its fauna. He also read books by children's authors to us. I remember a great party that my father arranged in our yard on New Year's Eve 1939. He put up a huge fur tree in the center of the yard and made a small playhouse for children underneath it. He also created ice slides. We celebrated New Year's in the yard, while the adults had a New Year's party in our apartment. They enjoyed themselves as much as usual.
My brother Edik was born in 1939. And, this was a kind of life we had before the war: we enjoyed ourselves and hoped for a better future. World War II put an end to our dreams.
Location
Ukraine
Interview
lina mukhamedjanova