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My parents got married in 1917. They had a Jewish wedding with a chuppah. Their parents insisted on having a religious ceremony. In 1917 this was still a tradition. I don't think my parents could have imagined at that time that it could ever be different. That only happened later when religious traditions were persecuted [during the struggle against religion] [10]. My father joined a Red revolutionary unit during the Civil War almost immediately after he got married. He returned in 1919. My older sister, Broha, was born on 31st December 1921. She got her name after our grandmother. Misha was born at the beginning of 1924, Lisa in 1926, Abram in 1928 and I in 1937. My younger sister, Zhenia, followed in 1939.
My father got a job of as a plumber, and later, as a locksmith at the Gomel Plant of Agricultural Equipment. There were four children in the family at that time, but they didn't have a place to live. There were other families without homes, too. They got together, contributed the money that they had, the plant added some, too, and they built a spacious house for four families. Our family got one of the four apartments in this house. My mother was a housewife. She got a cow and chickens and worked in her small vegetable garden. This vegetable garden and the cow rescued our family from starving to death in 1932-33 [during the famine in Ukraine] [11]. Mama took her younger sister, Haya, to live with us during those terrible years. We survived, but Grandfatherny Moishe starved to death in 1933. He gave everything he earned in those years to his grandchildren. Grandmother Hena died in March 1941.
Our family suffered at the beginning of 1932. My father was a member of the Communist Party. One day somebody whispered to him to stay away from home, because the militia might come to arrest him. He came home in the afternoon to tell Mama that he might not be home that night. He also told her to ask no questions. He left, presumably for Moscow. A day or two later some people came to our house asking about my father. Mama told them she didn't know where he was. In Moscow my father didn't mention anything to anybody. He went to work as a plumber. He made roofs. He sent Mama money via one of his relatives. Four years went by and the situation calmed down. My father returned home. He was no longer a member of the Party. He found a job. He didn't suffer during the arrests of 1937 or in the following years [during the so-called Great Terror]. I, Haim-Gedalie, was born in 1937 and my sister Gelda, Zhenia, was born in 1939.
My father got a job of as a plumber, and later, as a locksmith at the Gomel Plant of Agricultural Equipment. There were four children in the family at that time, but they didn't have a place to live. There were other families without homes, too. They got together, contributed the money that they had, the plant added some, too, and they built a spacious house for four families. Our family got one of the four apartments in this house. My mother was a housewife. She got a cow and chickens and worked in her small vegetable garden. This vegetable garden and the cow rescued our family from starving to death in 1932-33 [during the famine in Ukraine] [11]. Mama took her younger sister, Haya, to live with us during those terrible years. We survived, but Grandfatherny Moishe starved to death in 1933. He gave everything he earned in those years to his grandchildren. Grandmother Hena died in March 1941.
Our family suffered at the beginning of 1932. My father was a member of the Communist Party. One day somebody whispered to him to stay away from home, because the militia might come to arrest him. He came home in the afternoon to tell Mama that he might not be home that night. He also told her to ask no questions. He left, presumably for Moscow. A day or two later some people came to our house asking about my father. Mama told them she didn't know where he was. In Moscow my father didn't mention anything to anybody. He went to work as a plumber. He made roofs. He sent Mama money via one of his relatives. Four years went by and the situation calmed down. My father returned home. He was no longer a member of the Party. He found a job. He didn't suffer during the arrests of 1937 or in the following years [during the so-called Great Terror]. I, Haim-Gedalie, was born in 1937 and my sister Gelda, Zhenia, was born in 1939.
Location
Ukraine
Interview
efim pisarenko
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