Selected text
In June 1941 I finished the 8th grade. On Sunday, 22nd June 1941, we were expecting guests; my father's colleagues. My mother had been cooking the day before, and on that morning she went to the Jewish cemetery. She went to the graves of her sister and parents. On the way back she noticed people listening to the radio in the streets. She stopped and listened to the speech of Molotov
[12]
. He announced that Germany had attacked the USSR without declaring a war. My mother came home in tears. That was how we first heard about the war. Kiev was bombed on the same day. Mohilev wasn't bombed then. Refugees from Bessarabia
[13]
were coming to Mohilev. People were crossing the Dnestr in their effort to escape. My mother took refugees home to give them some food. They stayed to wash themselves and relax before they moved on. My mother said that we might need to leave our home in the same way as those people did.
[12]
. He announced that Germany had attacked the USSR without declaring a war. My mother came home in tears. That was how we first heard about the war. Kiev was bombed on the same day. Mohilev wasn't bombed then. Refugees from Bessarabia
[13]
were coming to Mohilev. People were crossing the Dnestr in their effort to escape. My mother took refugees home to give them some food. They stayed to wash themselves and relax before they moved on. My mother said that we might need to leave our home in the same way as those people did.
Period
Year
1941
Location
Mohilev-Podolsk
Vinnytska oblast
Ukraine
Interview
faina shlemovich