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The name of my grandfather on my father’s side was Evzer Khatset. I guess my grandfather Evzer was born in 1850s. I don’t know where he was born. Perhaps, he came from Kiev. The thing is when we were young it was not a custom in our family to share the memories or ask questions about the past. My grandfather was a merchant of guild 2 1. He was a leather dealer. I remember how my grandfather looked: he wore a black yarmulka, had a small beard with streaks of gray and a moustache, and he was a slender man. My grandmother Haya Rukhlia Khatset – I don’t know her maiden name – was born in 1860s. I don’t know where she was born. My grandmother and grandfather lived near the synagogue named after Brodski 2 in the center of Kiev. My grandfather told me that this synagogue was built at the end of 19th century. I know that at that time almost half of all merchants were Jews and there were many flour grinding and sugar production enterprises in the town owned by Jews.
My grandmother and grandfather were deeply religious: my grandfather had a Torah and there was a mezuzah over their door: a box with a scroll with a prayer written on it. My grandfather had a black and cream striped tallit and a leather tefillin: two small boxes with long leather straps to be worn on the forehead and hands. My grandfather strictly observed Jewish traditions and went to the synagogue as long as his condition allowed. I remember that my mother and I went to my grandmother and grandfather when they were old and ill. I felt bored when she was taking care of them. Their apartment seemed very big to me: a big hallway, a dining room with high windows and several other rooms. My mother spoke Yiddish to my grandmother and grandfather and my grandfather spoke Russian with me since I didn’t know Yiddish. I can hardly remember my grandmother. Her condition was very poor and I wasn’t allowed to enter her room. I remember a big table covered with a long tablecloth in the dining room. I used to hide under the table shouting ‘Now seek me!’ There was a lamp in a beautiful shade with fringe over the table, a clock in the wooden casing with intricate carving, and the door panels were also decorated with carving. We have photos of my grandmother: she looks fat and kind, round-faced, with splendidly done hair wearing a magnificent hat with ostrich feathers.
My grandmother and grandfather had five children: the oldest girl Dunia was born in the end of 1870s. She married a Jew, I don’t remember her last name after she got married, but I know that she and her husband had a small house in Irpen near Kiev. Dunia was a housewife. I saw them several times when I was small. They visited us several times. I don’t think they had children. In 1941 when the Great Patriotic War 3 began my father was trying to convince them to evacuate, but they said ‘No, we shall stay in Irpen; nobody will do us any harm’. When we returned from evacuation in 1944 my father went to Irpen looking for Dunia. Her neighbors told him that in autumn 1941 Germans took Dunia and her husband to Babi Yar 4 where they perished.
My grandmother and grandfather were deeply religious: my grandfather had a Torah and there was a mezuzah over their door: a box with a scroll with a prayer written on it. My grandfather had a black and cream striped tallit and a leather tefillin: two small boxes with long leather straps to be worn on the forehead and hands. My grandfather strictly observed Jewish traditions and went to the synagogue as long as his condition allowed. I remember that my mother and I went to my grandmother and grandfather when they were old and ill. I felt bored when she was taking care of them. Their apartment seemed very big to me: a big hallway, a dining room with high windows and several other rooms. My mother spoke Yiddish to my grandmother and grandfather and my grandfather spoke Russian with me since I didn’t know Yiddish. I can hardly remember my grandmother. Her condition was very poor and I wasn’t allowed to enter her room. I remember a big table covered with a long tablecloth in the dining room. I used to hide under the table shouting ‘Now seek me!’ There was a lamp in a beautiful shade with fringe over the table, a clock in the wooden casing with intricate carving, and the door panels were also decorated with carving. We have photos of my grandmother: she looks fat and kind, round-faced, with splendidly done hair wearing a magnificent hat with ostrich feathers.
My grandmother and grandfather had five children: the oldest girl Dunia was born in the end of 1870s. She married a Jew, I don’t remember her last name after she got married, but I know that she and her husband had a small house in Irpen near Kiev. Dunia was a housewife. I saw them several times when I was small. They visited us several times. I don’t think they had children. In 1941 when the Great Patriotic War 3 began my father was trying to convince them to evacuate, but they said ‘No, we shall stay in Irpen; nobody will do us any harm’. When we returned from evacuation in 1944 my father went to Irpen looking for Dunia. Her neighbors told him that in autumn 1941 Germans took Dunia and her husband to Babi Yar 4 where they perished.
Location
Ukraine
Interview
Frida Khatset