On 22nd June 1941, when the Great Patriotic War broke out, some people came to me from work. I had to destroy all Komsomol documents for the enemy not to see them. We burnt those documents in the central heating boiler in the basement premises of the municipal committee. There was no panic. We understood that Komsomol members would become the first victims of Fascists, in the event the city was occupied. The leaders of the municipal committee arranged bus transportation and ordered us to leave the town for a couple of days. We were told that we should get to Shvenchas, located in the Western part of Lithuania and stay there for five days. Meanwhile, the Red Army would shatter the Fascists and then we would come back home. I came home with the news and told my parents that I would be leaving for several days. We didn’t even think of saying good-bye as we were sure we would see each other again soon. I kissed my sisters Chaya and Iyegudis. Paya was not in. I took some money, documents, underwear and without changing my silk dress darted to the municipal committee.
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Displaying 44671 - 44700 of 50826 results
Frida Zimanene
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A couple of weeks after the Soviets came to power, my lyceum fellows from the Communist underground called on me. They were assigned to different positions in Komsomol organizations once the Soviets were in power. They suggested that I should do typing for them as my Lithuanian was very good. I had never been paid for my work yet. I had worked for a couple of weeks and was employed by the municipal Komsomol committee of Kaunas. First, I was a typist, and I was consequently promoted to the head of the office. Soon I joined the Komsomol, otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to work for the municipal committee.
At first, there were hardly any changes. Mother’s store was so small that her business was of no interest to the new regime. However, it was nationalized a couple of months later and my mother started working there as a sales assistant. Father kept on working. He got even more orders as Soviet officers with their wives and children settled in Kaunas. The wives of officers, who hadn’t seen beautiful clothes before, swept anything they liked in the store and ordered new things for their kids. Mother leased one of our rooms to a yeshivah student. That student was very poor and our kind Marite gave him food in our kitchen. I was astounded that the student was so untidy, even filthy. It was strange to watch how a person who had been praying all day long used one and the same towel all year round and went without a bath for weeks. I mention that student, whose name I forgot, as there was a very sad episode in our family connected with him.
I was enrolled for typing courses in order to get any profession. Father bought me a typing machine and I acquired good touch typing skills. When the Soviets came to power [12] in 1940, I didn’t have a job. Many people were happy to see the Soviet Army [13]. Our family also welcomed them as a hope for a better future. There was no other option for a small Lithuania – either Hitler, or Stalin. When the soldiers were marching along Kaunas, I and the governess from a Jewish kindergarten, who accidentally happened to be close by, were in the welcoming crowd. She admiringly spoke of the bright future for the Jews in the Soviet Union, and I involuntarily caught her joyful mood and inspiration.
In spite of the fact that my parents weren’t interested in politics, they knew what was going on. Father subscribed to the Jewish newspaper Folksblat – Jewish flyer. That paper as well as other mass media wrote about Hitler, about Fascists coming to power in Germany. In 1933 all Jewish children left the Kaunas German lyceum after a Fascist putsch. Strange as it may be, my mother, who was apolitical more than any other members of our family, felt the imminent danger coming from Hitler. She reiterated that a calamity was about to happen and we had to be ready for it. When I finished the lyceum in 1938, she decided that I should stay at home, to be closer to her. Mother always dreamt that I should obtain an education in Economics and start helping her with the store and expand her business. I stayed at home for a year after finishing the lyceum. In 1939 I decided to enter university. When Vilnius was annexed to Lithuania [11], it became its capital again. Kaunas University was transferred to Vilnius, and my mother was flatly against my going to Vilnius. I had to obey. I was always obedient to my parents.
In the summer we went to our dacha [10]. The thing is that my father had asthma and doctors recommended him to live in the suburb. My parents bought a small plot of land, about 30 kilometers away from the town. It was near the river Neman. There they had a small wooden house built and we went there on a steamboat in summertime. My younger sisters liked the dacha the most. They were wonderful girls – pretty and smart. Paya and I often took care of the girls, when our parents were busy. We didn’t have our dacha for a long time. It was hard on my father to keep an apartment in Kaunas and a country house, therefore my parents sold the plot of land and the house.
I took an interest in things that appealed to young ladies – dancing and flirting. In the evening we strolled along the streets of Kaunas, ate ice-cream, went to the cinemas and cafes. There were all kinds of movies on, most of them were German. I loved comedies. There were a lot of stores downtown. Most of them were Jewish. We liked to drop in a Jewish jewelry store, or the footwear store Batya. Almost every night we went out to our favorite café, Monika. It was also located in the downtown area. Here we enjoyed pastries, coffee. There were modern dances such as tango, rumba, Charleston. Paya also went there with me. I loved my sister very much. In spite of being a couple of years younger than me she was very sociable and funny.
At that time there was a great number of youth organizations in Kaunas. There were also Zionist organizations – Maccabi, Betar [8]. There were also ‘left-wing’ movements in our school and some teachers, including Zimanis, strove to attract students to underground Komsomol organizations [9]. Many of my comrades joined the Komsomol. They got together surreptitiously, handed out flyers. They were also involved in Communist propaganda. I was totally apolitical. Our family wasn’t interested in politics at all.
There was a students’ council at school. There it was decided that every student who was lagging behind was supposed to be helped with homework by a good student. I was assigned to Minka Filkenstein. Her parents were rather elderly and well-heeled. Minka didn’t want to study. I came to see her every day. At first, I tried making my friend study, but it was next to impossible. Minka had boyfriends who climbed into her apartment on the fire escape route. Minka’s parents were sure that we were studying, but in fact we were flirting with the boys. Besides, Minka smoked and she taught me smoking in the end. It turned out that I, the teacher, was in the leading strings of my student. In general, there was no use in our classes.
Our school paid much attention to extra-curricular activities. There were all kinds of clubs – drama, mathematics, biology, choir chamber music. I liked the drama club a lot. Here the works by Sholem Aleichem were staged. I tried attending that club, but soon I understood that I couldn’t go on the stage. I was very shy. Then I was enrolled in a language studies club. I didn’t get straight excellent marks, but I did pretty well.
Besides Lithuanian, we studied German and English. I was good at languages and thanks to the lyceum I got solid knowledge. I didn’t study languages anywhere else. We didn’t just study modern languages. We also studied Latin. I liked liberal arts very much. My favorite teacher was Esther Berger. She taught literature. We studied the classics of Jewish literature. We also studied religion at school, but the class, where Tannakh was read, was a mere formality. At that time we weren’t interested in the Jewish religion. We kept abreast with the modern times.
The headmaster of our lyceum, Livin, managed to create great working conditions for both teachers and students. His wife also worked for the lyceum. Unfortunately, both of them perished in Kaunas ghetto. All subjects were taught in Yiddish. Besides, there were a lot of hours in our syllabus devoted to the study of the Lithuanian language. Our Lithuanian teacher Zimanis, the youngest among his colleagues, was loved by everybody. He was a talented teacher, who plied us with love for the Lithuanian language. Besides, Zimanis taught Biology. He knew our country very well. In the summer he arranged hiking trips around Lithuania, as well as kayaking along the rivers and lakes of our country. During such trips the teacher taught the children unobtrusively. Sometimes a herb could be the subject of a whole story.
I was lucky to spend my school time in that wonderful lyceum. A true spirit of friendship reigned in our lyceum, which was later renamed after Sholem Aleichem [7]. Our teachers put their heart and soul into their work, they were true masters, fond of their profession. At times there was a demand for teachers, as there were backlogs in salary payments, since the lyceum worked on the tuition fees paid by the students. But still, none of the teachers ever cancelled a class on the ground of backlogged salary. We always had our classes. I don’t know what amount was paid for me, and later for my sister Paya. All I know is that it wasn’t cheap. Mostly children of well-off Jews – doctors, lawyers, entrepreneurs – studied there. There were also children of middle-classed parents, like my sister and I. Gifted children from the poorer strata of society were also admitted to the lyceum. Their tuition was paid by a special committee, a charity fund.
My parents had a tough choice of which school I should attend. There were several Jewish educational institutions in Kaunas, as a lot of Jews lived there. Those were: the Hebrew lyceum Shvabes, the Yiddish Realschule [6], the Lithuanian Jewish lyceum and a religious Jewish school. At that time my parents didn’t even want to hear about the latter. The Jewish Commercial Lyceum was the most democratic and popular with the middle class Jews, which my parents also belonged to. I went to that lyceum, when I turned seven.
I remember Pesach best of all. People got ready for that holiday beforehand. Linen, carpets, featherbeds were taken out, dusted and dried. There was a thorough cleaning in the house: the furniture was polished, the floors were waxed, curtains and tablecloths were washed and ironed. Everything was sparkling and looked spic-and-span. Father made new things for all the children beforehand. On Pesach we put on the new dresses. Mother bought us new shoes for Pesach. The eve of the holiday was the most pleasing event for me, especially when festive dishes were taken out from the chest. The set was gorgeous, consisting of a silver wine set, silver goblets, silverware and splendid china. Everyday dishes were packed up and taken to the loft. On Pascal holidays festive dishes were the adornment of the table. Matzah was brought from the synagogue in a large hamper, covered with a white napkin. There should be no bread during the Paschal period. I cannot recall my parents carrying out the rite of banishing chametz. Our seder was an ordinary festive dinner. We didn’t look for the afikoman and didn’t ask Father questions about the origin of the holiday. I found out about those traditions at school.
We didn’t mark Chanukkah at home, and we weren’t told about the origin of this holiday. I learnt about it, when I went to school. Every day my mother lit a new candle in a splendid silver chanukkiyah, placed on the windowsill. In that period of time candles were lit in Jewish houses. There were so many of them, that Kaunas appeared to be inhabited mostly by Jews. Marite cooked potato fritters and tasty mushroom and vegetable sauces to go with them. Of course, we got Chanukkah gelt from our parents. We were agog to get it. Marite made us happy with hamantashen. She baked them as good as any other Jewish lady. I don’t recall bringing shelakhmones to each other. I learnt about that tradition, when I studied at the Jewish school.
In spite of the fact that my parents weren’t truly religious, some Jewish holidays were celebrated in our family in accordance with the tradition. I can’t recall, if my parents fasted on Yom Kippur. As far as I remember, my father was against it, but Mother fasted. On that day as well as on Rosh Hashanah we didn’t have a festive meal. I don’t remember the fall holidays. At any rate a sukkah wasn’t set up in our yard. I remember the joyful holiday of Simchat Torah as we, the children, went to the synagogue not far from the house. We saw a procession of religious Jews, walking with the Torah scroll around the synagogue.
On Friday Marite cooked a Sabbath meal and my mother instructed her. I don’t remember for sure what kind of dishes we had on Saturdays. Usually those were dishes that we didn’t have to heat, such as tsimes, gefilte fish once in while. The mandatory dish was chulent. Marite was a master of that dish. It consisted of meat, potatoes and beans. The warm pot with chulent was taken to the neighboring bakery as the oven was still warm after baking challot. There was a sign on our pot – Shevalovich – as other neighbors brought their chulent to the bakery too. On Saturday my parents took our pot on the way from the synagogue. When my parents came home, we started our Sabbath meal. I don’t think Marite cooked on Saturday as the main dish was chulent. After lunch we went to bed, as the Sabbath nap was also traditional in our family.
We didn’t observe the kashrut either. I don’t remember anybody going to a shochet to have the poultry slaughtered. The meat was bought at the market. I don’t think there were separate dishes for meat and dairy products. However, we didn’t eat pork. Mother at least made it look like we observed the kashrut. On Sabbath my mother went to the synagogue not because she was religious, but because of the custom. We were surrounded by Jews who stuck to traditions. They would have found it strange, if not worse, if our family had openly neglected traditions. My mother asked my father persistently to go to the synagogue. He put a kippah on and went there. It was a real ordeal for him as he didn’t feel like going there. My parents went to the synagogue not far from our house. It was the synagogue of the tailors. Sometimes, on Sabbath my father rushed home from the synagogue. He would wink at me, open the cupboard, gulp down a shot of vodka and go back to the synagogue happily patting his belly. Father said that it was hard for him to stay in the synagogue without vodka and listen to long monotonous prayers.
My parents weren’t religious. I can’t remember if my mother lit the candles on Friday. Probably, Grandmother Chaya lit candles in her little room, but I don’t remember it for sure. My parents belonged to the lower middle class, and thought only of their daily bread. Our family had a rather modest living. On Saturday the store was closed, as Jews weren’t supposed to do anything on that day and on Sunday all stores were closed in accordance with the Lithuanian law. Mother didn’t like weekends as she earned nothing. However, when some of her clients needed something, my mother opened the door to the store, from one of our rooms in the house, and sold the things to the customer, asking him not to tell anybody about that.
Marite helped my mother about the house, cooked, bought food products and did the laundry. When she got married, she was still working for us, but she went home at night. Marite always had a lot of work to do. Our food was cooked in the stove, stoked with firewood. So, first firewood had to be brought, cut and then the stove was stoked. Later primuses [Primus stoves] and kerosene stoves appeared. The stove was used as a table. Marite ran the house. My mother had neither the time nor the desire to do house chores. Firstly, she was busy with the store, secondly, there was no tradition in our family to get together for lunch. Everybody had meals when they wanted to, and the food was always served by Marite. She was fluent in Yiddish, as it was spoken in our house. Besides, Marite cooked great Jewish dishes.
Our furniture was rather simple, made of wood, without any ornament, but it was well-made. It seemed to be built to last for centuries. Our drawing-room was multifunctional – it was not only a dining-room and a study, but it also served as my parents’ bedroom. The children’s room was after the drawing-room. Paya and I lived there. When the twins were born, I took the room, previously occupied by Grandmother Chaya. She mostly stayed in her room. She didn’t even join us for lunch. The food was brought to her room. Grandmother took the room of the maid. It was a poky room, partitioned off from the kitchen. Before she got married our maid, a Lithuanian girl called Marite Saviskene, lived in that room.
The biggest room was used as a drawing and dining room. There was a big round table there. Our whole family got together there for dinner and supper. There was also a cupboard. Father used to work in that room as well. The dining table was turned into his working place, where he cut the fabric. Father made pretty good outfits. He made garments for men and women. He didn’t charge much for his work and almost all dwellers of our and adjacent streets were his clients. Besides, my father made coats for children and sold them. He created the designs himself and his articles turned out to be very beautiful. The coats for boys were blue and for girls – pink with pompons. Those coats were sold in my mother’s store.
Our apartment was in a large three-storied brick building. We lived on the first floor. Our apartment wasn’t very big; it consisted of three or four rooms and a kitchen. There was a small hall. The first room was occupied by the store. It was my mother’s business. She stayed behind the counter all day long. Haberdashery goods were sold in that store. There were such primary goods as soap, threads, combs and articles for children. Mother had a large logbook, where debts were entered. As a rule, neighbors bought the goods on credit and paid for them as soon as they had a chance. She was never deceived by any of them.
We lived in a good rented apartment on Luksho Street. That house belonged to a Jew. His last name was Katz. The owner was an elderly man, and he looked old to me. Katz was very rich. He owned a couple of houses and leased them. I don’t remember his wife, but I recall that Katz’s daughter used to go skiing to Switzerland every year, and that was very prestigious. My sisters and I enviously watched her driving to the house in a cab, dressed up in a nice fur coat.
My mother, Beila Michel, was born in Kaunas in 1898. She finished a couple of grades of school, and knew how to read and write. My mother was brought up with a love for reading. Both her and my father’s parents, simple craftsmen, were more worried about daily bread and earnings. My parents were wed in accordance with all the Jewish traditions– under a chuppah. Their marriage certificate was issued by a rabbi. I was born on 23rd February 1924. I, the first-born, was named Frida. Two years later my mother gave birth to a girl, Paya. In 1932, when my sister and I had grown up a little bit, my mother was expecting another child. She and my father wanted a boy, but wonderful and beautiful twin-girls were born – Chaya and Iyegudis.
I don’t know anything about my maternal grandparents. They passed away long before I was born. The only thing I know is that my mother’s maiden name was Michel. My mother had a sister. She was about five years younger than she. Her name was Rosa. She married a Jew called Katzеnis. Rosa was a very beautiful, stately woman. She lived in Kaunas with her husband and two sons. Unfortunately, I don’t remember the names of her husband and children. Rosa and her family also were prisoners of the Kaunas ghetto. Her husband died first. Rosa and her sons perished in 1943 during the liquidation of the ghetto.
My father, Zalman Shevalovich, was born in Kaunas in 1896. There was a tradition in the family of Grandfather Chaim to give children a Jewish education. My father went to cheder, then he finished a couple of grades of a Jewish school. Since his childhood he had been an apprentice of a tailor. I assume that Grandfather Chaim was also a tailor. My father was not just a tailor. He became a true designer. He was the best at making children’s clothes. My parents got married in 1920. They didn’t have a pre-arranged marriage, like most Jews at the time. They met in some company of friends and fell in love with each other.
Now I would like to find Sheina’s daughter, but I know neither her name nor her surname. About two years ago the cemetery worker told me that two women had come up to Sheinas’ grave. They definitely looked like foreigners. They discussed something in some foreign language. He knew for sure that it wasn’t English, and he had no idea what language they were speaking. At that time the cemetery worker didn’t think of talking to those ladies, or at least informing me of their visit. I think one of them must have been my cousin, Sheina’s daughter.
Upon her return, Aunt Sheina moved in with us, and then my husband made arrangements for her to be given a one-room apartment in the adjacent house. We didn’t look for her elder daughter as my husband had a very high state position and couldn’t risk it. At that time any type of relation with the capitalist world could negatively affect his career [4]. Sheina died in the early 1960s in Kaunas. She was buried in the Jewish sector of the town cemetery [5].