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In 1937 the parents of my schoolmate Mila Medvedeva were arrested too. Then we understood that there was something wrong about what was happening around us. Later, in 1940 the leadership called this period the period of Yezhov [17].
Shulim Grutskiy and his wife Katia were good friends of our family. Shulim was the son of those people my mother had lived with in Rotmistrovka. Shulim’s family was wealthier than ours. Shulim and Katia visited us every Saturday. The adults were discussing political subjects. Shulim criticized the Soviet power, but my mother said, ‘I couldn’t study and Leib couldn’t either. We’ve lived a hard life. So when my daughter and son study at the institute and I don’t hear the word ‘zhyd’ [abusive word for a Jew] I would agree to eat waste and pray for the Soviet power.’ Shulim could raise no objection to this statement. I’ve always remembered what my mother said.
We didn’t face any anti-Semitism then. Only our parents knew what it was like. [Editor’s note: In tsarist Russia Jews suffered from national discrimination: they were allowed to live and do business only within the Pale of Settlement [18], there was a limit of 5% of Jews [19] to be admitted to secondary and higher educational institutions, Jews were not allowed to hold any official positions, and there were also other restrictions.] We didn’t care about the issues of nationality in our time.
In May 1941 we had our graduation exams at the institute. We were photographed for our graduation albums and had an arrangement at a restaurant for our prom when the war began, on 22nd June. My parents were in despair: in 1941 Munia went to Belostok with a construction team to build fortifications. Belostok was in Western Belarus. The radio said there were Germans there already. I ran to the post office to send a cable to my brother. Fortunately my brother and some others escaped from there. He returned to Moscow.
Shulim Grutskiy and his wife Katia were good friends of our family. Shulim was the son of those people my mother had lived with in Rotmistrovka. Shulim’s family was wealthier than ours. Shulim and Katia visited us every Saturday. The adults were discussing political subjects. Shulim criticized the Soviet power, but my mother said, ‘I couldn’t study and Leib couldn’t either. We’ve lived a hard life. So when my daughter and son study at the institute and I don’t hear the word ‘zhyd’ [abusive word for a Jew] I would agree to eat waste and pray for the Soviet power.’ Shulim could raise no objection to this statement. I’ve always remembered what my mother said.
We didn’t face any anti-Semitism then. Only our parents knew what it was like. [Editor’s note: In tsarist Russia Jews suffered from national discrimination: they were allowed to live and do business only within the Pale of Settlement [18], there was a limit of 5% of Jews [19] to be admitted to secondary and higher educational institutions, Jews were not allowed to hold any official positions, and there were also other restrictions.] We didn’t care about the issues of nationality in our time.
In May 1941 we had our graduation exams at the institute. We were photographed for our graduation albums and had an arrangement at a restaurant for our prom when the war began, on 22nd June. My parents were in despair: in 1941 Munia went to Belostok with a construction team to build fortifications. Belostok was in Western Belarus. The radio said there were Germans there already. I ran to the post office to send a cable to my brother. Fortunately my brother and some others escaped from there. He returned to Moscow.
Location
Ukraine
Interview
Mirrah Kogan