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After the wedding they began to live with my mother’s parents in Mukachevo. We had three rooms and a kitchen in this house. There were no comforts. We fetched water from a pump tank in the yard. There was a big stove in the kitchen where my mother cooked. There were smaller stoves to heat the rooms. The stoves were stoked with wood. We didn’t have a garden. We bought food at the market.
We had heavy old oak furniture in the house. There was a mezuzah on each door post. In the morning and in the evening men wearing traditional Jewish clothing – a black jacket and a hat – went past our house to pray at the synagogue. I don’t think there were non-religious Jews in Mukachevo when I was a child or in my teens. All the Jews in our street celebrated Sabbath and the women lit candles on Friday and everybody followed the kashrut. They celebrated all Jewish holidays in accordance with Jewish traditions.
We had heavy old oak furniture in the house. There was a mezuzah on each door post. In the morning and in the evening men wearing traditional Jewish clothing – a black jacket and a hat – went past our house to pray at the synagogue. I don’t think there were non-religious Jews in Mukachevo when I was a child or in my teens. All the Jews in our street celebrated Sabbath and the women lit candles on Friday and everybody followed the kashrut. They celebrated all Jewish holidays in accordance with Jewish traditions.
Period
Location
Mukachevo
Ukraine
Interview
Tilda Galpert