Tag #150428 - Interview #97031 (Efim Geifman)

I went to school in Kiev. I went to a Ukrainian school (there were no Jewish schools at that time). My Ukrainian was so fluent that I even wrote poems in Ukrainian. I wrote a big poem dedicated to the anniversary of Taras Shevchenko (a famous Ukrainian poet) and recited it at a contest. I was awarded with an album and paints, although I couldn’t paint at all. There were about 30 pupils in our class. All boys (except 2 boys) were Jews, and only two of the girls were Jews: Ronia Lipshits and Olia Olgar. But we were all friends. We celebrated holidays together. Our school was located in the pre-revolution high school building. And our teachers were all former teachers in this school, all professionals, we learned a lot from them. There were no Jewish teachers among them. I was reading a lot at school. My mother and I shared one room. To be able to read at night I made a special lamp with a cap. I was also fond of photography. I also learned to play a piano for a year. She hired a teacher, but she couldn’t afford to buy a piano. I had classes at her kindergarten when the children were asleep, but it wasn’t very convenient and I gave up.