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In 1960s Alfred and I got very fond of periodical publications. We subscribed to a number of magazines: ‘Novi Mir’ [popular monthly magazine], ‘Inostrannaya Literature’ [‘Foreign Literature’] from the time they began to be issued after the war. They published books by Soviet and foreign writers. There were shelves full of these magazines in the hallway of our apartment. But most important for us were Samizdat books 30 – the ones that were retyped. We read Solzhenitsyn 31 when it was retyped on thin cigarette tissue. We read books by forbidden authors when it was handed to one another. Our friends gave us copies and we gave them to our friends. Of course, this made a great impression on us since Solzhenitsyn was the first one to tell the truth about camps and innocent victims of the Stalin regime.
In January 1960 my mother died after being severely ill for a long time. She was 71. She was buried at the Jewish corner of a town cemetery, no traditions were observed. After my mother died I took the responsibility to keep family traditions. One of them was to have a family gathering on 9 January, on my father’s birthday. Previously my father’s close friends used to attend these gathering, but gradually it was just the family.
In 1960 I defended my thesis and became a Candidate of Sciences. I liked my work. We had a great team at work. We met at leisure time to go to a theater, Theater of Russian Drama that staged plays by Russian and Soviet classical writers and we also shared opinions about what we had read or seen. At weekends Alfred, Georgi and I went to a theater or concert.
In 1960s Khrushchev 32 promised that ‘In 1980 this generation of the Soviet people shall live under communism’, but we felt ironic about such things. To my mind planning economy was good for nothing. I took no interest in economic issues. I was busy at work, at home and with my son.
We liked traveling on vacations and went to a beach on the Dnieper River. Our laboratory was located in Darnitsa on the left bank of the Dnieper and I managed to go for a swim in the river before taking metro to commute to work.
Our son followed into his father’s steps. He graduated from the Faculty of Industrial Construction at the Construction Engineering Institute in Kiev. He is construction design engineer. Georgi has a Russian wife whose name is Svetlana. I had no objections to his marrying a Russian girl. In 1970 their daughter Elena was born. Georgi works a lot and has no free time. They do not observe any traditions: we didn’t and Svetlana also grew up in a non-religious family.
In 1976 my father died. We buried him near my mother’s grave at the Jewish corner of a town cemetery no traditions were observed. My father was involved in public activities consulting young lawyers at the Collegium of Attorneys and Town Executive Committee when he was a pensioner.
In January 1960 my mother died after being severely ill for a long time. She was 71. She was buried at the Jewish corner of a town cemetery, no traditions were observed. After my mother died I took the responsibility to keep family traditions. One of them was to have a family gathering on 9 January, on my father’s birthday. Previously my father’s close friends used to attend these gathering, but gradually it was just the family.
In 1960 I defended my thesis and became a Candidate of Sciences. I liked my work. We had a great team at work. We met at leisure time to go to a theater, Theater of Russian Drama that staged plays by Russian and Soviet classical writers and we also shared opinions about what we had read or seen. At weekends Alfred, Georgi and I went to a theater or concert.
In 1960s Khrushchev 32 promised that ‘In 1980 this generation of the Soviet people shall live under communism’, but we felt ironic about such things. To my mind planning economy was good for nothing. I took no interest in economic issues. I was busy at work, at home and with my son.
We liked traveling on vacations and went to a beach on the Dnieper River. Our laboratory was located in Darnitsa on the left bank of the Dnieper and I managed to go for a swim in the river before taking metro to commute to work.
Our son followed into his father’s steps. He graduated from the Faculty of Industrial Construction at the Construction Engineering Institute in Kiev. He is construction design engineer. Georgi has a Russian wife whose name is Svetlana. I had no objections to his marrying a Russian girl. In 1970 their daughter Elena was born. Georgi works a lot and has no free time. They do not observe any traditions: we didn’t and Svetlana also grew up in a non-religious family.
In 1976 my father died. We buried him near my mother’s grave at the Jewish corner of a town cemetery no traditions were observed. My father was involved in public activities consulting young lawyers at the Collegium of Attorneys and Town Executive Committee when he was a pensioner.
Location
Ukraine
Interview
Frida Khatset