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I remarried in 1978. My second wife, Olga Notkina, also worked at the university library. I moved into her apartment in a basement. I gave my apartment in Ekaterininskaya Street to my son. Shortly afterwards we received an apartment from the district executive committee, and Olga gave her apartment in the basement to Odessa Art School. We made some improvements in our apartment.
In the middle of the 1980s we and other historians of the town organized two clubs in the Odessa House of Scientists: 'The Book' and 'Odessika'. We, scientists, writers, teachers, gather once a month, listen to reports and discuss important problems. My wife Olga and I work together. I had many historical publications in Odessa newspapers. In 1993 Odesskiy Vestnik [Odessa Courier], one of the biggest newspapers in Odessa, published an article about myself with the title 'Patriarch of the History of Our Region'. I view it as a high evaluation of my work.
I had very hard feelings about the collapse of the Soviet Union. It was like a return to the Middle Ages for me. I believe that those who were involved in this process were so crazy about getting to power that they failed to look at a map to find out what belonged to whom. Roads and economy were torn and broken foolishly and absurdly.
I heard about the Jewish Charity Organization Gmilus Hesed in 1993, a year after I retired. My wife and I were invited there to lecture on the history of Odessa. Like in any other charity fund there is a group of sincere and honest idealists eager to help people and a large group of people willing to profit from working there. There is a Front Brotherhood group there - it unites Jewish veterans of the Great Patriotic War. They are various people: from the directors of a plant to workers. They organize many lectures for older people. My wife Olga works at the library of Gmilus Hesed twice a week. Her salary is 130 hryvna. This amount and our pensions make our living. We spend a lot on medications. Recently Gmilus Hesed financed an eye surgery for me. This organization does a lot: it's a brilliant system providing assistance to Jews.
I'm an atheist. The Russian culture is so close to me that I think that I understand Chekhov [33] much better than Sholem Aleichem. As for Israel, I think this state was formed by people sitting at a desk. It's just a reaction to a wild wave of German anti-Semitism. Isn't it amazing that a group of intellectuals formed a new nation in Israel: Israelites. They are not Jews, they are Israelites - it means the citizens of the definite independent state. I don't think this state is going to last long: they are surrounded by a hostile multimillion Arabic world. Israel shall exist as long as it is advantageous for the USA. As soon as it turns otherwise - it will be smashed. Many people study Hebrew, religious Jewish traditions and Jewish mentality. It is a kind of reaction to the widely spread routinely anti-Semitism. I think that Russian, Georgian and Lithuanian Jews are different people actually, and only common religion unites them. As a historian I have no evidence that the Jewish population in Ukraine is related to residents of Palestine, but it is a disputable issue.
In the middle of the 1980s we and other historians of the town organized two clubs in the Odessa House of Scientists: 'The Book' and 'Odessika'. We, scientists, writers, teachers, gather once a month, listen to reports and discuss important problems. My wife Olga and I work together. I had many historical publications in Odessa newspapers. In 1993 Odesskiy Vestnik [Odessa Courier], one of the biggest newspapers in Odessa, published an article about myself with the title 'Patriarch of the History of Our Region'. I view it as a high evaluation of my work.
I had very hard feelings about the collapse of the Soviet Union. It was like a return to the Middle Ages for me. I believe that those who were involved in this process were so crazy about getting to power that they failed to look at a map to find out what belonged to whom. Roads and economy were torn and broken foolishly and absurdly.
I heard about the Jewish Charity Organization Gmilus Hesed in 1993, a year after I retired. My wife and I were invited there to lecture on the history of Odessa. Like in any other charity fund there is a group of sincere and honest idealists eager to help people and a large group of people willing to profit from working there. There is a Front Brotherhood group there - it unites Jewish veterans of the Great Patriotic War. They are various people: from the directors of a plant to workers. They organize many lectures for older people. My wife Olga works at the library of Gmilus Hesed twice a week. Her salary is 130 hryvna. This amount and our pensions make our living. We spend a lot on medications. Recently Gmilus Hesed financed an eye surgery for me. This organization does a lot: it's a brilliant system providing assistance to Jews.
I'm an atheist. The Russian culture is so close to me that I think that I understand Chekhov [33] much better than Sholem Aleichem. As for Israel, I think this state was formed by people sitting at a desk. It's just a reaction to a wild wave of German anti-Semitism. Isn't it amazing that a group of intellectuals formed a new nation in Israel: Israelites. They are not Jews, they are Israelites - it means the citizens of the definite independent state. I don't think this state is going to last long: they are surrounded by a hostile multimillion Arabic world. Israel shall exist as long as it is advantageous for the USA. As soon as it turns otherwise - it will be smashed. Many people study Hebrew, religious Jewish traditions and Jewish mentality. It is a kind of reaction to the widely spread routinely anti-Semitism. I think that Russian, Georgian and Lithuanian Jews are different people actually, and only common religion unites them. As a historian I have no evidence that the Jewish population in Ukraine is related to residents of Palestine, but it is a disputable issue.
Location
Ukraine
Interview
Victor Feldman