By the way, after the war anti-Semitism didn’t emanate from Letts, but from newly arrived Russians. Letts treated Jews fairly. They didn’t like the Jews who arrived from the USSR. They still loathe them, but they respected local Jews. Anti-Semitism came and comes from Russians and even now in Independent Lithuanian [13].
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Displaying 44011 - 44040 of 50826 results
Feiga Kil
At the time, the Doctors’ Plot didn’t affect my attitude towards Stalin. I remember the day, when Stalin died. There was a town meeting on the main square of Riga. There were crowds of people. Everybody cried and I did so too. I took Stalin’s death as my personal grief. Those were sincere tears. I started composing verses, when I was in kindergarten. Maybe it was escapism. When I grew up, I also composed verses, especially when I felt bad. On the day of Stalin’s death, I composed a verse dedicated to him. Of course, I don’t remember it fully, just a few lines: ‘…the grand genius passed away, and his ardent speech has lost its way. But each of us will remember him…’
The whole poem was quite long. It was published in a main paper. I think it was in ‘Komsomolskaya Pravda.’ [‘Komsomol Truth’ - ‘Komsomolskaya Pravda’, an all-Union youth paper by the Central Komsomol Committee.
The whole poem was quite long. It was published in a main paper. I think it was in ‘Komsomolskaya Pravda.’ [‘Komsomol Truth’ - ‘Komsomolskaya Pravda’, an all-Union youth paper by the Central Komsomol Committee.
I remembered the Doctors’ Plot very well, when Beriya [15] was arrested thinking that the justice prevailed. After the Twentieth Party Congress [16] I couldn’t believe that all atrocity and injustice in the USSR came from Stalin. I felt hatred, but not towards Stalin, towards the epoch. I thought that Stalin must have been unaware of the things done in his name. Then I changed my opinion of Stalin. Since that time I’ve hated the Soviet regime as strongly as I love Israel. We followed the events in Israel and we acutely perceived everything what was happening there. I remember, we followed the events of the Six-Day-War [17], the Yom Kippur War [18] and rejoiced in the victories of the Israeli army. We are proud of this country.
In 1972 my husband was given an apartment. We all lived together. My kids were nice and loving. They did well at school. After school my son entered the light industry college, the refrigerator department. Having finished his studies, he became a refrigerator mechanic. Lev married a nice Jewish lady, Ludmila Shukhman. She is one year younger than him. They have two sons: Semion, born in 1984, and Yakov, born in 1988.
Both my son and daughter had traditional Jewish weddings. Both of them were willing to do that.
Unfortunately, I see my children and grandchildren rarely. My son and his family immigrated to Israel. They are living in Ashkelon. My daughter and her family are living in Stuttgart, Germany.
My mother passed away in 1979. She was buried in the Jewish cemetery. Of course, she had a traditional Jewish funeral. There was a rabbi, a minyan.
The Jewish community of Latvia was founded during perestroika [20], in 1988. Our community significantly grew and became stronger when the Soviet Union broke up and Latvia gained independence. They gave us the premises which had been occupied by the Jewish theater before the war. Now the Jewish community is based there. It became like a second home for me.
Due to her efforts in Rahamim, a Jewish choir was created. My coevals and people older than me are singing there. We have rehearsals, tour and give concerts in different towns.
I met many new friends at Rahamim. I said that I was a nationalist. Jews always appealed to me. Right or wrong, I am a nationalist, I love my people. I am shining when I hear nice things about my people, when I hear bad things, I grieve. I am happy to be among Jews. I have such a chance in Rahamim. We are like a family here.
There is big help provided by Rahamim. Medical service is very expensive in Latvia, but there is our doctor and a nurse in the center. We can get the medicine, prescribed by the doctor, here. It is very important in our age, when deceases are sneaking up. There is a canteen in Rahamim where people can have meals. Those who are willing to cook at home are given products. It is a big help. I get such rations, which are enough for me. I don’t have to buy many things due to that. I am very happy. I cook myself and follow kashrut.
I also try helping Rahamim the best way I can. The lonely, helpless old people received help from Rahamim. It is their job and they are paid money. I am a volunteer. I don’t get any money, I just want to help someone who feels worse than me. I look after a lonely woman, Dolgonos. She is completely alone. I take her for walks, do the cleaning, shopping, cooking. I want to do good to people. Maybe it is because I was in the orphanage. I am always there, where someone is in trouble. Where life is good, I am not needed. If you do good to people, God will reward you, and sooner or later people will be punished for bad things. Am I not right?
When on 22nd June Germany attacked the Soviet Union, Father was drafted into the army right away. He was a military doctor, but he was a surgeon, so he was subject to call up. When leaving, Father had my mother’s word to get evacuated. Mother was against evacuation, but Father said that the Germans would kill the Jews. At that time, very few Jews thought that the Germans would kill Jewish people.
In a about a week after Father’s departure, when the Germans were approaching Riga, Mother decided that it was time to leave.
We got on the train. The four of us were together. We reached Matai station. I will always remember the name of that station. I am not sure whether it was in Russia or Ukraine. That station was bombed by German planes. When the aviation raid started, we got out of the cars and stampeded in different directions. My family was out of sight. I was really scared; there was a clatter, explosion, fire. The sobbing and screams could not be muffled by the noise of the explosion. I hid in the crates behind the railroad groundwork.
After the bombing we were found by German soldiers. I only vaguely remember what was going on. My memory must have not let me keep it. The Germans had us stand in line and walk towards the forest belt. There were long trenches as if for piping. We were put in a line and soldiers with guns lined up in front of us. They started shooting at people, who fell in the trenches afterwards. I also fell on the corpses. I was not wounded. Maybe I fell out of fear, maybe I was confused. I was lying among the dead.
When it got dark, the Germans ordered local peasants to bury the corpses. One lady noticed that I was breathing. She picked me up and took me home. I lived in her basement until the liberation of Zolotonosha in 1944. Of course, that lady, Aunt Galya, was taking a risk. If the Germans had found out that she was hiding a Jewish kid, she would have been shot along with me.
Only when I grew up, I understood what a big risk it was, as someone could have seen us at night and inform the Germans. I dread to think what might have happened to us, but still we got away with it. At that time I was living in constant fear. Aunt Galya was as well, I could feel it.
,
During WW2
See text in interview
Only when I grew up, I understood what a big risk it was, as someone could have seen us at night and inform the Germans. I dread to think what might have happened to us, but still we got away with it. At that time I was living in constant fear. Aunt Galya was as well, I could feel it.
In early fall 1944 they started attacking Zolotonosha. There were fierce battles for several days. There was shooting from all directions. I was staying in the cellar all the time, I couldn’t even go out at night. It was scary. Then it calmed down. Aunt Galya came to me and said that Russian troops were now in Zolotonosha and the Germans were forced out of the town. There was no reason for me to fear anything any more.
,
1944
See text in interview
In early fall 1944 they started attacking Zolotonosha. There were fierce battles for several days. There was shooting from all directions. I was staying in the cellar all the time, I couldn’t even go out at night. It was scary. Then it calmed down. Aunt Galya came to me and said that Russian troops were now in Zolotonosha and the Germans were forced out of the town. There was no reason for me to fear anything any more.
I was taken to the orphanage in Zolotonosha. There were kids from every corner of the Soviet Union. I was surprised to see my younger sister Libe in the orphanage. I don’t remember how she was found and where. Maybe my sister doesn’t remember that, as she was only five years old then. Libe didn’t know anything about Golda, Moishe and Mother. I was happy that at least the two of us were together! We lived there for about a year.
Then in 1945 my sister was taken to the junior orphanage and I went to school. I was ten, but I went to the first grade only! I get the shivers when I recall that time! Life was hard.
We lived in the orphanage and we went to school, which was several kilometers away from the orphanage.
We lived in the orphanage and we went to school, which was several kilometers away from the orphanage.
We got very cold in winter. We had only one poky stove which was stoked with firewood and fagot, collected by us. It wasn’t enough to heat the room. The blankets were thin and torn. They didn’t keep us warm. There were no toilets on the premises. We had to walk for a kilometer to get to a toilet. In the evening we went there with groups consisting of several people. We cleaned everything ourselves – both the premises and the toilet, we washed and scrubbed the wooden floors, trying to make them clean even without soap. Those orphans who were punished were told to wash the toilets. At that time soap was a luxury and we were given tiny bars of it. We washed our faces with freezing cold water. Very rarely were we taken to the bathhouse.
We were cold and famished. We got only scarce food, so as not to die from hunger. In 1946 there was a terrible drought in Ukraine. There was such starvation!
At times we got together there and our teacher played the piano and taught us how to sing. Those were happy hours, when I forgot all bad things. I had a pretty good voice and an ear for music. After music classes I stayed in the hall and tried playing the melodies I knew. My teacher noticed that and she started teaching music to me independently. Those classes were not regular, but still I learned how to play the piano a little bit.
Ester Vee
I identify myself as a Jew, but also, as an Estonian. On Estonian holidays I feel as excited, as I do when listening to Jewish music and Jewish songs. They sang the same songs, when I was a child. We stood shoulder-to-shoulder singing together. There were Estonian flags flapping in the wind, and there was a feeling that the nation was integral, and I was one of the nation. We became one integral unity. There were singing holidays during the Soviet time, but they were rather politicized. There was no feeling of a true people’s holiday.
I still sing in the choir. I attend choir singing. This is an assignment and this means discipline. You cannot miss rehearsal and need to be committed. We perform in Tallinn. In May we will visit a song festival in Latvia and in June we will go to one in Lithuania. We always participate in song festivals in Estonia. Karine sings in the choir of her music school and we participate in song festivals together. This makes me particularly happy.
My heart consists of two halves: one Jewish and one Estonian. The name Ester is both biblical and Estonian. Many girls in Estonia have the name of Eesti. I believe my parents gave me a good name.
I still sing in the choir. I attend choir singing. This is an assignment and this means discipline. You cannot miss rehearsal and need to be committed. We perform in Tallinn. In May we will visit a song festival in Latvia and in June we will go to one in Lithuania. We always participate in song festivals in Estonia. Karine sings in the choir of her music school and we participate in song festivals together. This makes me particularly happy.
My heart consists of two halves: one Jewish and one Estonian. The name Ester is both biblical and Estonian. Many girls in Estonia have the name of Eesti. I believe my parents gave me a good name.
For 15 years Estonian has been independent [35]. Now, when looking back, I can’t say whether life has become better or worse than during the Soviet time. Many things have grown worse. In the past there were more children’s programs: summer camps, free hobby and study groups in pioneer centers and sports centers. They still exist, but they’ve become rather costly. Few parents can afford to pay for their children’s after-class activities. Also, there used to be state-provided apartments, free education and healthcare. There were no homeless or jobless people. This was good. What is good about now, is that we live in our own country, and people decide what they want it to be like. Hopefully, my granddaughter will live in an independent and wealthy Estonia.
The Jewish community of Estonia was established during perestroika. I remember my first visit to the community. I went to a concert of Jewish folk dances and songs. It was heart-rending. It was like going back to my childhood times. My younger brothers and sister were more assimilated. They were significantly younger than me. As for me, I could remember this all from my childhood. I remembered Grandfather taking me with him, when visiting his Jewish friends, and I remembered, when I studied in the Jewish school. There was nothing of the Jewish life preserved during the Soviet period.
Nowadays, the Jewish community supports contacts and communications between Jewish people. These contacts mean a lot. I also celebrate Jewish holidays in the community, and this is important, too. The community provides some assistance. There are free lunches and food packages before holidays. They also compensate the cost of some medications and glasses. Life is costly nowadays, and this assistance is very helpful. There is a Jewish school at the community. I worked at this school as an Estonian teacher in a pre-school class for a year. I worked with children and enjoyed it a lot.
The Jewish community of Estonia was established during perestroika. I remember my first visit to the community. I went to a concert of Jewish folk dances and songs. It was heart-rending. It was like going back to my childhood times. My younger brothers and sister were more assimilated. They were significantly younger than me. As for me, I could remember this all from my childhood. I remembered Grandfather taking me with him, when visiting his Jewish friends, and I remembered, when I studied in the Jewish school. There was nothing of the Jewish life preserved during the Soviet period.
Nowadays, the Jewish community supports contacts and communications between Jewish people. These contacts mean a lot. I also celebrate Jewish holidays in the community, and this is important, too. The community provides some assistance. There are free lunches and food packages before holidays. They also compensate the cost of some medications and glasses. Life is costly nowadays, and this assistance is very helpful. There is a Jewish school at the community. I worked at this school as an Estonian teacher in a pre-school class for a year. I worked with children and enjoyed it a lot.
Perestroika ended with a putsch [34]. This was a period of concern for all of us in Tallinn. We watched the news and there was a feeling of fear. During perestroika life was changing for the better, and it was impossible to imagine that things could go backward with the Communist Party taking the lead again.
During the putsch a tank division entered the city. The military intended to capture the TV Tower. This was when I could clearly observe a separation between the Russians and Estonians. Estonians came out onto the streets to construct barricades, and Russians headed to the parliament to capture it and make it easier for the military. They were for the Soviet regime. Thank God there was no bloodshed. The Estonians Government proved to be very reserved and prevented whatever provocations. Meanwhile the plotters in Moscow were arrested and shortly afterwards, Estonian declared its independence. We were very happy about it.
During the putsch a tank division entered the city. The military intended to capture the TV Tower. This was when I could clearly observe a separation between the Russians and Estonians. Estonians came out onto the streets to construct barricades, and Russians headed to the parliament to capture it and make it easier for the military. They were for the Soviet regime. Thank God there was no bloodshed. The Estonians Government proved to be very reserved and prevented whatever provocations. Meanwhile the plotters in Moscow were arrested and shortly afterwards, Estonian declared its independence. We were very happy about it.
It goes without saying that I was under a stronger influence of the Soviet power during the evacuation and studies in Leningrad than those living in Estonia. Therefore, I didn’t have nearly as adverse feelings against the Soviet regime as the majority of Estonians did. My generation was also educated in the Soviet spirit at school. However, older residents in Estonia hated the Soviet regime. They could remember their life before the Soviet time.
It wasn’t just their freedom that the Soviet power took away from Estonians. Everything Estonian was forbidden: our flag, money, songs and holidays. By saying ‘our holidays’ I also mean Jewish holidays besides Estonian ones. They were forbidden by the Soviet authorities. Most of them were religious holidays, and the Soviet regime demonstrated no tolerance towards religion [29]. For example, at Christmas all professors from the Teachers’ Training School, including myself, were to visit churches. This was a hard mission. We were to watch whether any of our students came to church and report to the principal. I saw my students in church, by I can say frankly that I never disclosed their names. I just reported to the principal that I had seen no one.
So the Soviet holidays were mandatory, even though they were of no significance to us. At times we happened to have a few days off on the holidays of 1st May or 7th November [30]. However, everybody was to go to the parade, which was a mandatory requirement. Professors were responsible for their students’ attendance. We had a number of students from other locations in Estonia, and they were eager to visit their homes on holidays, but they had to stay in Tallinn to go to parades. Prior to parades there were rehearsals of parades. We were to march and shout ‘Hurrah!’, which also took time and energy. We had to drill for hours.
It wasn’t just their freedom that the Soviet power took away from Estonians. Everything Estonian was forbidden: our flag, money, songs and holidays. By saying ‘our holidays’ I also mean Jewish holidays besides Estonian ones. They were forbidden by the Soviet authorities. Most of them were religious holidays, and the Soviet regime demonstrated no tolerance towards religion [29]. For example, at Christmas all professors from the Teachers’ Training School, including myself, were to visit churches. This was a hard mission. We were to watch whether any of our students came to church and report to the principal. I saw my students in church, by I can say frankly that I never disclosed their names. I just reported to the principal that I had seen no one.
So the Soviet holidays were mandatory, even though they were of no significance to us. At times we happened to have a few days off on the holidays of 1st May or 7th November [30]. However, everybody was to go to the parade, which was a mandatory requirement. Professors were responsible for their students’ attendance. We had a number of students from other locations in Estonia, and they were eager to visit their homes on holidays, but they had to stay in Tallinn to go to parades. Prior to parades there were rehearsals of parades. We were to march and shout ‘Hurrah!’, which also took time and energy. We had to drill for hours.