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I remember the famine in 1932-33. My mother had food coupons and received food in a store for workers. A nephew of my grandfather sent some money from America. It was only enough to buy some flour and a piece of very delicious herring at the Torgsin 27 store. Basically, our family didn't suffer much during the famine, but it may be just my impression since I got the best pieces of food in the family.
A doctor lived with us in our apartment When Uncle Nochim was arrested this doctor spoke about it at school, but the reaction of my mother's colleagues was different from what she had expected. They didn't blame my mother as his relative, but discussed what my mother should do to avoid any after-effects of this event. They decided that my mother should disappear from Kiev for the time being. My mother went to see my father. She realized that she was wrong having terminated relationships with him and wanted to make it up. They met in Kazan, but nothing worked out the way she expected. I stayed in Kiev. In some time my mother returned and went to work in a Russian school.
In 1938 our school merged with Jewish school #17, and in 1939 it became a Russian school. The only change incorporated was switching to Russian as the language of teaching. In 1941 my classmates joined the Komsomol; I had to wait until I reached the age of 16. After I finished the 9th grade the war began. By that time my mother and I lived in another apartment in a house in Malopodvalnaya Street that the cooperative company of my mother's brother Moshe had built.
A doctor lived with us in our apartment When Uncle Nochim was arrested this doctor spoke about it at school, but the reaction of my mother's colleagues was different from what she had expected. They didn't blame my mother as his relative, but discussed what my mother should do to avoid any after-effects of this event. They decided that my mother should disappear from Kiev for the time being. My mother went to see my father. She realized that she was wrong having terminated relationships with him and wanted to make it up. They met in Kazan, but nothing worked out the way she expected. I stayed in Kiev. In some time my mother returned and went to work in a Russian school.
In 1938 our school merged with Jewish school #17, and in 1939 it became a Russian school. The only change incorporated was switching to Russian as the language of teaching. In 1941 my classmates joined the Komsomol; I had to wait until I reached the age of 16. After I finished the 9th grade the war began. By that time my mother and I lived in another apartment in a house in Malopodvalnaya Street that the cooperative company of my mother's brother Moshe had built.
Location
Ukraine
Interview
maya kaganskaya