Tag #151938 - Interview #78238 (maya kaganskaya)

I don't think we followed the kashrut at home. We didn't eat pork, but every now and then we bought sausage. There were no stores selling kosher food. My grandparents didn't impose their religious convictions on me. They thought I had to find out by myself and live my own life. When I was eight or nine years old the persecution of religion [struggle against religion] 25 began. There was anti-religious propaganda everywhere. I became a pioneer and was supposed to be an atheist, apikoyres in Yiddish. Under the influence of the propaganda I began to develop doubts about religious principles. I thought for a long time about how I should demonstrate my atheism and finally I went to bed during the seder. By the time when I was supposed to ask questions I was no longer at the table. My grandmother didn't make any comments about it to me.

I was an active pioneer and took part in many activities. I attended all kinds of clubs: choir, drama club and played checkers. I also studied to play the piano at a state music school. We studied music, literature and solfeggio at school. I can't say I was fond of studying music. I preferred taking part in various events at school: I recited poems, sang songs at school concerts and took part in parades and subbotniks 26. I wrote poems and attended a literature club with the Jewish newspaper 'Zai Grei' - 'Be ready!' [the motto of pioneers]. I wrote poems in Russian and Yiddish.