Selected text
My father's older brother Aron, born in 1901, studied in cheder and
then went to grammar school. He was a very talented musically, and could
play the violin. Aron was 16 when the Revolution took place and he went to
study at the rabfak. Later, he enrolled in the Medical Institute in
Leningrad. During the Second World War, he was director of the evacuation
hospital. During the war with Japan, he was in Tomsk, and after the war
ended, he returned to Leningrad. Aron was married. His wife Bertha and his
son Volodia were with us in Ashgabad during the war. Aron was very sociable
and easy-going before the war. After the war he became a different person.
He was withdrawn, led a secluded way of life, and divorced his wife. He
lived alone in a small room for many years, and worked as a physician. Aron
died in 1959.
His son Volodia was a very talented man. He wrote a science fiction
novel when he was just a boy. As his profession he chose the military. He
studied in several different institutes, but didn't graduate. In his last
years Volodia was unemployed, but earned some money writing satirical
articles. He lives in St. Petersburg.
My father's younger sister Margola married a Russian named Golubev.
He was a high official at the Ministry of Agriculture. They lived in the
building specifically designed for state officials in Kiev. They didn't
have any children of their own and after Hina died, Margola and her husband
adopted Hina's son, Tolik. Margola died in 2000.
My father, Meyer Karlinsky, was born in 1904, and studied in cheder
like any other Jewish boy, then completed three years of primary school.
Sometime in 1921-22 my father enrolled in the shoe manufacture school in
Rostov. He graduated and got a job assignment in Kharkov at the shoe
factory. He was an active Komsomol member, and was very enthusiastic about
the Revolution of 1917. He believed that it would improve the lives of many
people and give them the opportunity to study. He wanted to build a fair
society and participated in meetings at factories and plants, speaking on
behalf of Soviet power and fighting against those who did not cotton to
turning over the government to the proletariat. At one of the meetings, he
met my mother, Bertha Tomchinskaya.
then went to grammar school. He was a very talented musically, and could
play the violin. Aron was 16 when the Revolution took place and he went to
study at the rabfak. Later, he enrolled in the Medical Institute in
Leningrad. During the Second World War, he was director of the evacuation
hospital. During the war with Japan, he was in Tomsk, and after the war
ended, he returned to Leningrad. Aron was married. His wife Bertha and his
son Volodia were with us in Ashgabad during the war. Aron was very sociable
and easy-going before the war. After the war he became a different person.
He was withdrawn, led a secluded way of life, and divorced his wife. He
lived alone in a small room for many years, and worked as a physician. Aron
died in 1959.
His son Volodia was a very talented man. He wrote a science fiction
novel when he was just a boy. As his profession he chose the military. He
studied in several different institutes, but didn't graduate. In his last
years Volodia was unemployed, but earned some money writing satirical
articles. He lives in St. Petersburg.
My father's younger sister Margola married a Russian named Golubev.
He was a high official at the Ministry of Agriculture. They lived in the
building specifically designed for state officials in Kiev. They didn't
have any children of their own and after Hina died, Margola and her husband
adopted Hina's son, Tolik. Margola died in 2000.
My father, Meyer Karlinsky, was born in 1904, and studied in cheder
like any other Jewish boy, then completed three years of primary school.
Sometime in 1921-22 my father enrolled in the shoe manufacture school in
Rostov. He graduated and got a job assignment in Kharkov at the shoe
factory. He was an active Komsomol member, and was very enthusiastic about
the Revolution of 1917. He believed that it would improve the lives of many
people and give them the opportunity to study. He wanted to build a fair
society and participated in meetings at factories and plants, speaking on
behalf of Soviet power and fighting against those who did not cotton to
turning over the government to the proletariat. At one of the meetings, he
met my mother, Bertha Tomchinskaya.
Period
Location
Ukraine
Interview
Leonid Karlinsky