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My maternal great grandfather Chaim Duvid Litinski was born in Novomirgorod [a town in Kherson province, according to 1897 census its population was 9,364 residents and 1,622 among them were Jews] in 1831. My father remembered him well: he was stocky, wide-shouldered and gray bearded. He owned a hardware store in Novomirgorod. In 1858 my great grandfather married Chasia-Ethil, a Jewish girl, born in Novomirgorod in 1838. My father could vaguely remember my great grandmother. He said she was beautiful, but wicked. My great grandfather died from lung fever in 1906. My great grandmother died from cheek cancer in Novomirgorod in 1909. My great grandfather and great grandmother were religious. They spoke Yiddish and Russian in the family. They had six sons: Moishe-Aron, Ghershon, Zelman, Sender, Nisel and Yitzhok-Leib, and four daughters: Chaya-Leya, Surah, Vera and Esther. All children were born in Novomirgorod.
My grandmother Chaya-Leya Kogan was born 1864. According to my father she was an extraordinary lady. Her brother Yitzhok-Leib finished the university and helped her to learn French and German. She knew Latin, history, geography and literature. She was taller than average, had dark wavy hair, a big forehead, shortsighted eyes, straight nose, and tightly closed lips. My grandmother loved her children, but she was strict with them. Grandmother Chaya read a lot and taught her children to love Russian authors, among them Leo Tolstoy, Turgenev [1], Dostoyevsky, Chekhov, Korolenko [2], Kuprin [3], Gorky [4]. Young people sharing revolutionary ideas often got together in their house reading, arguing and singing revolutionary songs until late at night. My grandmother Chaya didn’t care about religion, but they always celebrated Purim, Pesach and Rosh Hashanah in the family. They spoke Russian and Yiddish in the family. Grandmother wanted her children to receive higher education and did everything she could to reach this goal.
My father’s father Mordko Kogan was born in Boguslav, Kanev district, Kiev province [according to census of 1897 - 11,372 residents, among them 7,445 were Jews] in 1865. He lost his mother when he was small and was raised by his stepmother. He studied in cheder. Grandfather Mordko was a distant relative of Sholem Aleichem [5]. He liked him and often read his works in Yiddish aloud. My grandmother Chaya and grandfather Mordko got married in 1882 and settled down in the house of grandmother parents’ home in Novomirgorod. There were three rooms in the house. There was a kitchen and a toilet in the yard. My father told me that grandfather was small and thin, had brown hair, red beard and blue eyes. The Jewish community respected my grandfather Mordko and he was a permanent member of arbitrary court [the court is elected by conflicting parties, senior rabbi in the town usually was head of arbitration: ab-bet-din] that resolved the majority of conflicts between Jews. My grandfather went to the synagogue on holidays. He wore yarmulka at home. He was a religious man. Several times his wealthier relatives loaned money to him to start some business of his own, but he failed every time he started something. My grandfather was a shop assistant in a fabric store. He got up before dawn in the morning, boiled water in the samovar and sat down to have tea biting on a lump of sugar. He usually had 5-6 glasses of tea, wrapped his breakfast in a newspaper sheet and went to work. He had dinner after he returned from work in the evening. Grandfather Mordko didn’t earn much. The family lived modest life, but grandfather Mordko didn’t care much as long as his good name was preserved. After the February revolution [6] that grandfather welcomed he began to work in a cooperative. My grandmother Chaya and grandfather Mordko had seven children: six sons and one daughter. They were born in Novomirgorod. The boys studied in cheder and then in Russian elementary school.
My grandmother Chaya-Leya Kogan was born 1864. According to my father she was an extraordinary lady. Her brother Yitzhok-Leib finished the university and helped her to learn French and German. She knew Latin, history, geography and literature. She was taller than average, had dark wavy hair, a big forehead, shortsighted eyes, straight nose, and tightly closed lips. My grandmother loved her children, but she was strict with them. Grandmother Chaya read a lot and taught her children to love Russian authors, among them Leo Tolstoy, Turgenev [1], Dostoyevsky, Chekhov, Korolenko [2], Kuprin [3], Gorky [4]. Young people sharing revolutionary ideas often got together in their house reading, arguing and singing revolutionary songs until late at night. My grandmother Chaya didn’t care about religion, but they always celebrated Purim, Pesach and Rosh Hashanah in the family. They spoke Russian and Yiddish in the family. Grandmother wanted her children to receive higher education and did everything she could to reach this goal.
My father’s father Mordko Kogan was born in Boguslav, Kanev district, Kiev province [according to census of 1897 - 11,372 residents, among them 7,445 were Jews] in 1865. He lost his mother when he was small and was raised by his stepmother. He studied in cheder. Grandfather Mordko was a distant relative of Sholem Aleichem [5]. He liked him and often read his works in Yiddish aloud. My grandmother Chaya and grandfather Mordko got married in 1882 and settled down in the house of grandmother parents’ home in Novomirgorod. There were three rooms in the house. There was a kitchen and a toilet in the yard. My father told me that grandfather was small and thin, had brown hair, red beard and blue eyes. The Jewish community respected my grandfather Mordko and he was a permanent member of arbitrary court [the court is elected by conflicting parties, senior rabbi in the town usually was head of arbitration: ab-bet-din] that resolved the majority of conflicts between Jews. My grandfather went to the synagogue on holidays. He wore yarmulka at home. He was a religious man. Several times his wealthier relatives loaned money to him to start some business of his own, but he failed every time he started something. My grandfather was a shop assistant in a fabric store. He got up before dawn in the morning, boiled water in the samovar and sat down to have tea biting on a lump of sugar. He usually had 5-6 glasses of tea, wrapped his breakfast in a newspaper sheet and went to work. He had dinner after he returned from work in the evening. Grandfather Mordko didn’t earn much. The family lived modest life, but grandfather Mordko didn’t care much as long as his good name was preserved. After the February revolution [6] that grandfather welcomed he began to work in a cooperative. My grandmother Chaya and grandfather Mordko had seven children: six sons and one daughter. They were born in Novomirgorod. The boys studied in cheder and then in Russian elementary school.
Location
Ukraine
Interview
Remma Kogan
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