Tag #150483 - Interview #78242 (Ruvin Gitman)

I don't know what my parents and grandparents thought about the Revolution of 1917, but I know what they thought about collectivization [3]. When the decree on collectivization was issued, my grandfather called all his sons and told them to submit their applications to the collective farm [4] on the following day. They tried to tell him that they wanted to work on their own land. But my grandfather explained to them that if they wanted to live with their families peacefully in their houses they had to join the collective farm. My father and his brothers obeyed their father and were the first to submit their applications. All the rest of the Jews decided to go along with the collectivization. The youngest brother, Moshe, was appointed chairman of the village council. Berl became a foreman of the collective farm. Shmil-Leib became director of the store, and my father became chief of logistics.