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I went to my mother, who lived with my aunt and grandfather in the village of Plesetskoye, Vasilkov district, 40 kilometers from Kiev. Aunt Ania was the director of a school and leader of the party unit of the village. They lived in a nice house and had a kitchen garden. By the time I arrived in November 1944 they had a good harvest of potatoes and vegetables. Ania didn't remarry. Her son finished Pedagogical College in Uman, where his father worked, after the war and then he finished Pedagogical College in Kiev. He became the director of a boarding school in Vasilkov. Ania died in 1985 and her son, Stalia, died in 1993. He was single.
When we returned we learned about what had happened to our relatives. When the Great Patriotic War began my grandmother Chava's niece Bronia, her husband and children failed to evacuate. She 'followed the order' - Kiev residents used this phrase when speaking about Jews that went to Babi Yar 31 - on 29th September 1941 and perished there. When she was leaving her husband took away their older child, Valentina. Bronia had their still breastfeeding baby with her when she left. Valentina's father was hiding the girl throughout the war. Bronia and her baby perished in Babi Yar. Her sisters were in evacuation: Raya, who was the director of a children's home in Leningrad during the blockade 32 escorted the evacuation of the children via the 'Road of Life' 33 to Omsk where she stayed during the war. Her sister, Basheva, was with her. Fira was in Middle Asia. Their husbands perished at the front. Fira's child died in evacuation. Raya didn't have children. When she returned to Leningrad from evacuation she adopted her niece, Valentina, Bronia's daughter. Fira also moved to her sister in Leningrad. Basheva lived with them. They raised Valentina. Raya became an honored teacher, deputy of the Town Council of Leningrad and a member of the Communist Party. Fira worked as an accountant. Basheva died in the early 1950s, Fira in the 1970s and Raya in the 1980s. Valentina finished a college and became an engineer. She was married, but divorced her husband. She had a son that she raised on her own. Valentina moved to Israel in the 1990s. She has a difficult life there. She cannot prove that she suffered from the Holocaust and stayed on occupied territory since her father, Nikolai Ermolovich, has died long ago and she has no proof of what happened to her.
My mother's youngest brother Moshe was in evacuation in Fergana, Middle Asia, where he worked as mining engineer during the war. After the war he returned to Kiev and worked in design institutes. Moshe died in 1987. His children, Chava and Vladik, live in Israel and his other daughter, Maya, lives in Kiev.
When we returned we learned about what had happened to our relatives. When the Great Patriotic War began my grandmother Chava's niece Bronia, her husband and children failed to evacuate. She 'followed the order' - Kiev residents used this phrase when speaking about Jews that went to Babi Yar 31 - on 29th September 1941 and perished there. When she was leaving her husband took away their older child, Valentina. Bronia had their still breastfeeding baby with her when she left. Valentina's father was hiding the girl throughout the war. Bronia and her baby perished in Babi Yar. Her sisters were in evacuation: Raya, who was the director of a children's home in Leningrad during the blockade 32 escorted the evacuation of the children via the 'Road of Life' 33 to Omsk where she stayed during the war. Her sister, Basheva, was with her. Fira was in Middle Asia. Their husbands perished at the front. Fira's child died in evacuation. Raya didn't have children. When she returned to Leningrad from evacuation she adopted her niece, Valentina, Bronia's daughter. Fira also moved to her sister in Leningrad. Basheva lived with them. They raised Valentina. Raya became an honored teacher, deputy of the Town Council of Leningrad and a member of the Communist Party. Fira worked as an accountant. Basheva died in the early 1950s, Fira in the 1970s and Raya in the 1980s. Valentina finished a college and became an engineer. She was married, but divorced her husband. She had a son that she raised on her own. Valentina moved to Israel in the 1990s. She has a difficult life there. She cannot prove that she suffered from the Holocaust and stayed on occupied territory since her father, Nikolai Ermolovich, has died long ago and she has no proof of what happened to her.
My mother's youngest brother Moshe was in evacuation in Fergana, Middle Asia, where he worked as mining engineer during the war. After the war he returned to Kiev and worked in design institutes. Moshe died in 1987. His children, Chava and Vladik, live in Israel and his other daughter, Maya, lives in Kiev.
Location
Ukraine
Interview
maya kaganskaya
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