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From what my parents told me there was no anti-Semitism then. No one took any interest in other people's nationality. I can't remember these happy days because I was too young. In 1933 Hitler came to power in Germany. My father saw Germans during World War I and thought they were civilized people. My mother was afraid of Germans nonetheless. She was sure that if there was a war they would castrate Jewish boys. My father laughed at her. Nobody considered the possibility of a war with Germany, even after Germans occupied Poland. Nobody had any premonition of the war. Life was beginning to improve. In 1941 Misha and Broha finished the 10th grade at a Jewish school and were thinking of continuing their studies. My father had only studied at cheder and was very happy that his children would get a higher education. Everybody had great expectations of the future.
I was a very vivid boy and interfered with Misha and Broha when they prepared for their exams. In May 1941 Mama sent me and my older sister Lisa to Aunt Musia Musia in Moldavia. Aunt Musia. Her husband and daughter lived in the town of Bershad. This was a Jewish town. There wasA at least 80% of the Jewish population was Jewish. I was three and a half years old, Lisa was 16. She was a very beautiful girl.
On 22nd June 1941 the war began. I didn't understand what it meant. Aunt Rosa's husband was summoned to the army. Soon Bershad was occupied by Germans. They sent all Jews of the town to a the camp. Adults went on foot and children on carts. I had never seen horses before and was impressed. The camp was a part of the town fenced with barbed wire. It was guarded by Romanian gendarmes. There was one gate and the guards standing there were armed with automatic guns. Police dogs were running along the fence. My sister, me, Aunt Rosa and her daughter shared a room with a few other families. We slept on the floor cuddling each other.
I was a very vivid boy and interfered with Misha and Broha when they prepared for their exams. In May 1941 Mama sent me and my older sister Lisa to Aunt Musia Musia in Moldavia. Aunt Musia. Her husband and daughter lived in the town of Bershad. This was a Jewish town. There wasA at least 80% of the Jewish population was Jewish. I was three and a half years old, Lisa was 16. She was a very beautiful girl.
On 22nd June 1941 the war began. I didn't understand what it meant. Aunt Rosa's husband was summoned to the army. Soon Bershad was occupied by Germans. They sent all Jews of the town to a the camp. Adults went on foot and children on carts. I had never seen horses before and was impressed. The camp was a part of the town fenced with barbed wire. It was guarded by Romanian gendarmes. There was one gate and the guards standing there were armed with automatic guns. Police dogs were running along the fence. My sister, me, Aunt Rosa and her daughter shared a room with a few other families. We slept on the floor cuddling each other.
Location
Ukraine
Interview
efim pisarenko