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My parents met each other in a traditional manner: through matchmakers, shadkhanim. It was not necessary for a couple to see each other before their wedding. Shadkhanim got information about families with young maids and young men of marrying age. Only rich boys matched rich girls. Wealthy young men never married beautiful, but poor girls. A shadkhan would have never made any arrangements for of this kind. Shadkhanim informed families when they had a match for their children. If both families came to an agreement, a shadkhan introduced the parents and they negotiated and arranged a wedding. As a rule, a bridegroom saw his bride only after the wedding ceremony. After a rabbi conducted a wedding ceremony under the chuppah, the newly weds were to sip wine from one glass. The young husband sipped the wine and then gave the glass to his wife. She lifted her veil to sip her wine and it was only then that the man saw his wife’s face. It was forbidden to see her face before this moment. Perhaps, this rule was not always followed, but that’s how it was in my childhood. Jewish traditions were observed more strictly in villages than in towns. In towns young people could meet and walk hand in hand before their wedding, but this was unimaginable in villages. If people didn’t have a traditional wedding, but registered their marriage in the mayor’s office, the public didn’t recognize this marriage. They believed those young people to be living in sin.
My parents got married in 1919. Of course, I don’t know what kind of wedding my parents had, but I presume it was a traditional Jewish wedding. Though my mother was the youngest daughter and the last one to get married in the family, she received a good dowry. My grandfather gave her a house where we lived before World War II and 8 hectares of land. My grandfather provided dwelling to all of his daughters. My mother’s 2 sisters and 2 brothers lived in Kamyanske besides my mother. Two other sisters and a brother lived in Shalanki village [66 km from Uzhgorod, 650 km from Kiev], near Kamyanske. One of my mother’s sisters moved to live with her husband in Michalovce not far from Uzhgorod but already in Czechoslovakia [today Slovakia]. The rest of my mother’s sisters emigrated to America in the 1910s. They stayed in touch with the family and sent money and parcels to their parents.
The house my grandfather gave to my mother as dowry was made from air bricks. There were 2 rooms, a fore room and a big kitchen in this spacious house. There was a big yard with a shed, a chicken house and a cowshed. We had cows, bulls and horses. My mother kept chicken and geese. There was an orchard and a small vegetable garden where we grew greeneries. My father built an annex to the house where he opened a small store selling goods from salt to kerosene, everything people needed in their everyday life. Our customers lived in our and neighboring streets. This store didn’t bring much money, but still it added to the family budget. My father worked in the store alone and my mother helped him every now and then.
My parents got married in 1919. Of course, I don’t know what kind of wedding my parents had, but I presume it was a traditional Jewish wedding. Though my mother was the youngest daughter and the last one to get married in the family, she received a good dowry. My grandfather gave her a house where we lived before World War II and 8 hectares of land. My grandfather provided dwelling to all of his daughters. My mother’s 2 sisters and 2 brothers lived in Kamyanske besides my mother. Two other sisters and a brother lived in Shalanki village [66 km from Uzhgorod, 650 km from Kiev], near Kamyanske. One of my mother’s sisters moved to live with her husband in Michalovce not far from Uzhgorod but already in Czechoslovakia [today Slovakia]. The rest of my mother’s sisters emigrated to America in the 1910s. They stayed in touch with the family and sent money and parcels to their parents.
The house my grandfather gave to my mother as dowry was made from air bricks. There were 2 rooms, a fore room and a big kitchen in this spacious house. There was a big yard with a shed, a chicken house and a cowshed. We had cows, bulls and horses. My mother kept chicken and geese. There was an orchard and a small vegetable garden where we grew greeneries. My father built an annex to the house where he opened a small store selling goods from salt to kerosene, everything people needed in their everyday life. Our customers lived in our and neighboring streets. This store didn’t bring much money, but still it added to the family budget. My father worked in the store alone and my mother helped him every now and then.
Period
Year
1919
Location
Ukraine
Interview
Yacob Hollander