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On the first floor we had 3 big rooms with high ceilings. Riva and I lived in one. We had carved wooden beds. There was also a desk and a wardrobe with carved doors. We also had a small corner where our dolls lived. Martha lived in another room. The biggest room was a living room with light flowered walls and goldish curtains on the windows. There was a light cupboard with fancy dishes in it and a long table with chairs around it upholstered with silk of the color of faded leaves. We had electricity. I also remember a big chandelier with three shades on the lamps. Samuel, Fira and Faina lived on the 2nd floor.
Our parents were religious: on Friday my mother lit a candle, my father said a prayer and the family sat down to a festive dinner. My mother made delicious kigeleh – “dumplings’ in Yiddish – from potatoes, flour or matsah. We also had chicken broth. On Saturday morning my parents went to the synagogue and when they returned the family had a rest: we read books – fiction on the most, had a festive dinner and sometimes my parents’ friends came to see us. On Saturday my father, my mother and Samuel went to the synagogue. We had an old Bible and Torah in Russian and in Hebrew with beautiful pictures. I enjoyed reading the Torah in Russian. I don’t remember going to the synagogue. There were few synagogues in Iziaslav - one of them was near my grandmother’s house in the old town where many Jewish families resided.
We celebrated all Jewish holidays at this table. I especially remember Pesach. One day before the holiday Martha took fancy dishes from the attic: plates with lovely patterns big plates with a blue pattern. I also remember a silver wine glass and other glasses. The house was thoroughly cleaned and any breadcrumbs were removed. On Seder my father put on his thales with wide black and yellow stripes and sat at the head of the table. My mother sat beside him and the children were sitting around the table. I enjoyed looking for matsah hid in the pillows to get it so that my father didn’t notice. We ate matsah, clear soup with kigeleh, Gefilte fish, forshmak [herring] and tsymes – stewed carrots or pumpkin with milk.
I joined Martha to go to the market in the center of the town. I remember women in white aprons selling dairy products. I was a small girl and didn’t ask which food was kosher and which was not, but I know for sure that at that time there were only kosher products at home. There was meat, fruit and berries sold at the market. On the bank of Goryn there was a Bernadine cathedral. It was a Polish neighborhood in Iziaslav.
Our parents were religious: on Friday my mother lit a candle, my father said a prayer and the family sat down to a festive dinner. My mother made delicious kigeleh – “dumplings’ in Yiddish – from potatoes, flour or matsah. We also had chicken broth. On Saturday morning my parents went to the synagogue and when they returned the family had a rest: we read books – fiction on the most, had a festive dinner and sometimes my parents’ friends came to see us. On Saturday my father, my mother and Samuel went to the synagogue. We had an old Bible and Torah in Russian and in Hebrew with beautiful pictures. I enjoyed reading the Torah in Russian. I don’t remember going to the synagogue. There were few synagogues in Iziaslav - one of them was near my grandmother’s house in the old town where many Jewish families resided.
We celebrated all Jewish holidays at this table. I especially remember Pesach. One day before the holiday Martha took fancy dishes from the attic: plates with lovely patterns big plates with a blue pattern. I also remember a silver wine glass and other glasses. The house was thoroughly cleaned and any breadcrumbs were removed. On Seder my father put on his thales with wide black and yellow stripes and sat at the head of the table. My mother sat beside him and the children were sitting around the table. I enjoyed looking for matsah hid in the pillows to get it so that my father didn’t notice. We ate matsah, clear soup with kigeleh, Gefilte fish, forshmak [herring] and tsymes – stewed carrots or pumpkin with milk.
I joined Martha to go to the market in the center of the town. I remember women in white aprons selling dairy products. I was a small girl and didn’t ask which food was kosher and which was not, but I know for sure that at that time there were only kosher products at home. There was meat, fruit and berries sold at the market. On the bank of Goryn there was a Bernadine cathedral. It was a Polish neighborhood in Iziaslav.
Location
Ukraine
Interview
Sheindlia Krishtal