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In 1944 I went to a school in Motovilovka since there was no higher secondary school in the village and I needed to complete my secondary education. I went to school after New Year's, but I finished it with a gold medal [highest award for school graduates in the USSR]. It was a surprise for us since this was already during the time of anti- Semitism on the state level and some teachers told my mother that the school wouldn't award a medal to me due to my Jewish nationality. We didn't know whether I would get it until the last minute when I was awarded the medal at the prom. In those years medal awardees were admitted to higher educational institutions without exams. I liked humanitarian subjects and chemistry.
My aunt Ania and I went to Kiev to submit my documents. We went to see the dean of the Faculty of Chemistry of Kiev State University and he told us that he would be happy to admit me, but I submitted my documents to the Philological Faculty. I went back to the village to wait for the confirmation of my admission.
At that time David, my former co-student from the Mining College, found me in the village. He entered Dnepropetrovsk Mining College. David was ten years older than I. Before the war he lived in Western Ukraine. His family perished during the Holocaust. David was in love with me and came to propose to me. He was a good friend to me but there was nothing else. I refused to marry him. David convinced me that I should study some technical disciplines rather than philology. I went to Kiev and picked up my documents at the Philology Faculty. Although they were already stamped with the 'admitted' stamp, I submitted them to the Faculty of Chemistry at the Polytechnic College. During the first semester I understood that I had made the wrong decision. I mean, I studied well, but I took no interest in technical subjects.
My aunt Ania and I went to Kiev to submit my documents. We went to see the dean of the Faculty of Chemistry of Kiev State University and he told us that he would be happy to admit me, but I submitted my documents to the Philological Faculty. I went back to the village to wait for the confirmation of my admission.
At that time David, my former co-student from the Mining College, found me in the village. He entered Dnepropetrovsk Mining College. David was ten years older than I. Before the war he lived in Western Ukraine. His family perished during the Holocaust. David was in love with me and came to propose to me. He was a good friend to me but there was nothing else. I refused to marry him. David convinced me that I should study some technical disciplines rather than philology. I went to Kiev and picked up my documents at the Philology Faculty. Although they were already stamped with the 'admitted' stamp, I submitted them to the Faculty of Chemistry at the Polytechnic College. During the first semester I understood that I had made the wrong decision. I mean, I studied well, but I took no interest in technical subjects.
Period
Location
Ukraine
Interview
maya kaganskaya