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I went to the 9th form at school. I didn’t have one textbook or notebook. I borrowed textbooks from my classmates during intervals. I went to offices asking them for waste paper. I wrote on the backside of this paper. I had excellent marks in all subjects at school. Only in the tenth form I had a good mark in military science. I couldn’t crawl, because I had one pair of socks and I refused to crawl. The teacher put me a lower mark.
In the 9th form I became a member of the Komsomol League. I had dreamed about it since I was at school in Starokonstantinov. My father didn’t approve of my wish to become a Komsomol member. He was afraid that I would be recruited to the front at the Komsomol call. He didn’t know that I had been to the military recruitment office once in Gorky. I was given a task to be the leader of a pioneer unit from the 3rd form. I helped them to do their homework and played with them at their free time.
There were local children and children that were in evacuation. The father of one of my classmates – Valia Kleniaeva was chief warden of a prison for political prisoners in Verkhneuralsk. It was a horrific prison where inmates were tortured. There was a basement with a descent of metal sheet with studs on it. Prisoners were thrown onto this descent and if they survived this torture they were left to die from wounds. Even fascists wouldn’t have done this to their enemies. In everyday life Valia’s father was a nice man and a devoted father at home… Valia and I were sharing a desk in our class.
At weekends my classmates and I were on duty in hospital. It was not a Komsomol duty. We were not forced to go there, but we felt that we were needed and wanted to help people that struggled for our Motherland at the front. We believed it was our contribution to the victory over fascism. We wrote letters for severely wounded patients, sang songs and recited poems. We also gave them water and food and they were grateful for our help.
After finishing school I entered the Medical Institute that was in evacuation in Cheliabinsk. I was fond of chemistry at school, but I couldn’t find an Institute where I could study it.
In the 9th form I became a member of the Komsomol League. I had dreamed about it since I was at school in Starokonstantinov. My father didn’t approve of my wish to become a Komsomol member. He was afraid that I would be recruited to the front at the Komsomol call. He didn’t know that I had been to the military recruitment office once in Gorky. I was given a task to be the leader of a pioneer unit from the 3rd form. I helped them to do their homework and played with them at their free time.
There were local children and children that were in evacuation. The father of one of my classmates – Valia Kleniaeva was chief warden of a prison for political prisoners in Verkhneuralsk. It was a horrific prison where inmates were tortured. There was a basement with a descent of metal sheet with studs on it. Prisoners were thrown onto this descent and if they survived this torture they were left to die from wounds. Even fascists wouldn’t have done this to their enemies. In everyday life Valia’s father was a nice man and a devoted father at home… Valia and I were sharing a desk in our class.
At weekends my classmates and I were on duty in hospital. It was not a Komsomol duty. We were not forced to go there, but we felt that we were needed and wanted to help people that struggled for our Motherland at the front. We believed it was our contribution to the victory over fascism. We wrote letters for severely wounded patients, sang songs and recited poems. We also gave them water and food and they were grateful for our help.
After finishing school I entered the Medical Institute that was in evacuation in Cheliabinsk. I was fond of chemistry at school, but I couldn’t find an Institute where I could study it.
Location
Ukraine
Interview
Faina Volper Biography