Tag #152271 - Interview #78238 (maya kaganskaya)

In due time my mother and grandfather moved to Kiev. They sold their house and received a two-bedroom apartment not far from where we lived. My mother was a pensioner and helped me to look after my children when I went to work. My mother lived with my grandfather, and my husband's mother, Beshyva, lived with us. In the last years of his life my grandfather was less religious. He didn't pray at home and went to the synagogue only on big holidays. We didn't celebrate Jewish holidays. My grandfather died in 1966 and my mother died in 1977. Beshyva died in 1977 at the age of 102. They were buried in the town cemetery. No Jewish traditions were observed at the funerals.

I met with my father several times: I visited him in 1944 and 1946. When I wrote him that I got married he stopped writing for some reason, although he knew my husband and knew that he was a decent man, but he probably didn't approve of our marriage due to the difference in age. I wrote to him several times and even sent letters with someone going to Yoshkar-Ola, but he never replied. My husband was rather upset about it. A few years later I received a telegram saying that my father was traveling from the Caucasus via Kiev. He asked me to meet him. My husband said that if he were in my shoes he wouldn't go to meet him. I kept thinking about what I should do. I went to the station, but changed my mind and returned home. It turned out that my father came to our home. When he rang the doorbell Israel said, 'Maya is not at home and I don't want to see you'. My father left and I never saw him again. I was very upset, but I didn't want to hold against my husband. I know that my father had three sons, but I never saw them and don't even remember their names. My father died in 1985. His wife notified me by sending me a telegram.