Selected text
My grandfather Isroel and my grandmother Riva got married after a four- year engagement at the beginning of 1900. They had a traditional Jewish wedding with a chuppah at the synagogue. The guardian of my great-grandmother, Reizl Gorenshtein, paid all wedding expenses, bought a gown and wedding gifts. She also employed Isroel at her fabric factory. First he worked as a spinner and then, after some training, he became a supervisor at the factory. He received an apartment from the factory. My grandparents had six children. Although my grandfather had a stable job and a house they weren't very wealthy and couldn't afford to give education to all children. Therefore, only my mother, Basia Vilenskaya, the oldest, got education before the Revolution of 1917. My mother's parents were religious: they observed all traditions and celebrated holidays and Sabbath. They went to the synagogue. I don't remember these details; it's what my mother told me.
My mother had two sisters and three brothers: Ania, her Jewish name was Hana, was born in 1902, Feigl, followed in 1906 and Nochim in 1908. Odl, born in 1910, died from a brain disease in infancy. Moshe, the youngest, was born in 1912. The boys studied at cheder and then at a Jewish primary school. The girls also studied at the Jewish primary school.
My mother's sister Ania got fond of revolutionary ideas and joined the Red Army in 1919. At that time she also joined the Communist Party of the Bolsheviks. In Kiev she entered a Party school and became a history teacher. She met Leonid Paliy, a Ukrainian man, at this school. They fell in love with each other and decided to get married. Knowing that her parents would be against their marriage Ania decided to tell them that Leonid was a Jew, especially since he had dark hair and dark eyes. She taught him several questions that are usually asked in Jewish families during introductions and he learned the answers in Yiddish. Finally they came to meet Ania's parents. Leonid answered the first questions in Yiddish with dignity, but he couldn't go on talking Yiddish. My great-grandmother said, 'Weizmir! [My God!], young people cannot speak Yiddish any more!'. She believed her daughter's tale and gave her consent to their marriage. They had a civil ceremony at a registry office.
My mother had two sisters and three brothers: Ania, her Jewish name was Hana, was born in 1902, Feigl, followed in 1906 and Nochim in 1908. Odl, born in 1910, died from a brain disease in infancy. Moshe, the youngest, was born in 1912. The boys studied at cheder and then at a Jewish primary school. The girls also studied at the Jewish primary school.
My mother's sister Ania got fond of revolutionary ideas and joined the Red Army in 1919. At that time she also joined the Communist Party of the Bolsheviks. In Kiev she entered a Party school and became a history teacher. She met Leonid Paliy, a Ukrainian man, at this school. They fell in love with each other and decided to get married. Knowing that her parents would be against their marriage Ania decided to tell them that Leonid was a Jew, especially since he had dark hair and dark eyes. She taught him several questions that are usually asked in Jewish families during introductions and he learned the answers in Yiddish. Finally they came to meet Ania's parents. Leonid answered the first questions in Yiddish with dignity, but he couldn't go on talking Yiddish. My great-grandmother said, 'Weizmir! [My God!], young people cannot speak Yiddish any more!'. She believed her daughter's tale and gave her consent to their marriage. They had a civil ceremony at a registry office.
Location
Ukraine
Interview
maya kaganskaya