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Avrum Pisarenko, my grandfather on my father's side, was born in the 1850s and lived in the village of Rechitsa near Gomel. Several generations of his ancestors had lived there, too. Jews constituted about half of the population of Rechitsa. The main business of the inhabitants of Rechitsa, both Jewish and Belarus, was farming and crafts. They didn't have a lot of land, and it wasn't possible to buy someextra land because there was none left. Therefore those who couldn't provide for their families by farming took to crafts. All tailors and shoemakers in Rechitsa were Jews. There were also tinsmiths and carpenters. They were mostly paid with food products. My grandfather liked farming and breeding cattle. He couldn't afford to buy cows, so he borrowed eight cows from a farmer to run his dairy business. The whole family was involved in work somehow, even the youngest children. My grandmother's name was Broha-Shyma. I know very little about her life before she got married. I know that she came from Belarus. She was born in 1855. After they got married my grandfather and grandmother lived in Rechitsa for the rest of their lives. They had a big family - 12 or 13 children. I knew some of them. Their children helped them with their dairy work. They milked the cows early in the morning, and then they took them to the shepherd. The girls helped my grandmother to make cottage cheese, sour cream and butter. The boys took these products to Gomel to sell them there. The family had its own customers, and the boys delivered their orders to their homes. By the way, my father delivered the products to the family of a carpenter called Shulkin. This carpenter had a beautiful daughter, Basia, my future mother. The family had a lot of work to do. In the evening they made products for the following morning. They made preparations to make cottage cheese and sour cream in the morning. This was hard work, but it gave them the opportunity to provide for themselves. They weren't rich, but they weren't poor either. My grandmother tenderly called her cows 'food providers'. My grandparents only bought clothes for the older children. The younger ones wore what the older ones had grown out of. However, once a year, on Pesach, all the children got new clothes.
My father's parents had a wooden house with three rooms. There weren't many furnishings in the house, but they had everything they needed. One room was for the parents, another one for the sons and the third one for the daughters. They also had an annex with a cellar where they stored dairy products. There was a small orchard with a few fruit trees and a shed where they kept cows. My grandfather had inherited this house from his parents.
People in Rechitsa got along well with each other. Belarus and Jews were good neighbors. There were no nationality conflicts between them. There was a synagogue and a Christian church in the main square of the town. My father told me that their Belarus neighbors treated them to Easter bread and painted eggs, and when my grandmother made most delicious strudels with raisins, jam and nuts and stuffed fish, she used to take some to their neighbors. My grandparents' family was religious. They strictly observed all Jewish traditions. On Fridays my grandmother lit candles and the family got together at the table, which was covered with a white table clothtablecloth. In the afternoon she made chicken broth in ceramic pots and cholent. Cholent was a dish made from beans, potatoes and meat. The pots were left in the oven so that the food stayed warm until Saturday, when it wasn't allowed to work to do. Our Belarus neighbor came to light the candles on Saturday. The family strictly observed the kashrut. My grandmother had different dishes for milk and meat products, and the children learned about this tradition from an early age.
My father's parents had a wooden house with three rooms. There weren't many furnishings in the house, but they had everything they needed. One room was for the parents, another one for the sons and the third one for the daughters. They also had an annex with a cellar where they stored dairy products. There was a small orchard with a few fruit trees and a shed where they kept cows. My grandfather had inherited this house from his parents.
People in Rechitsa got along well with each other. Belarus and Jews were good neighbors. There were no nationality conflicts between them. There was a synagogue and a Christian church in the main square of the town. My father told me that their Belarus neighbors treated them to Easter bread and painted eggs, and when my grandmother made most delicious strudels with raisins, jam and nuts and stuffed fish, she used to take some to their neighbors. My grandparents' family was religious. They strictly observed all Jewish traditions. On Fridays my grandmother lit candles and the family got together at the table, which was covered with a white table clothtablecloth. In the afternoon she made chicken broth in ceramic pots and cholent. Cholent was a dish made from beans, potatoes and meat. The pots were left in the oven so that the food stayed warm until Saturday, when it wasn't allowed to work to do. Our Belarus neighbor came to light the candles on Saturday. The family strictly observed the kashrut. My grandmother had different dishes for milk and meat products, and the children learned about this tradition from an early age.
Location
Ukraine
Interview
efim pisarenko