I was very concerned about my family especially when newspapers began to publish articles about atrocity of fascists in the countries they occupied. My parents stayed in Kamenka. They didn’t believe that Germans could be so cruel. There were German colonies near Kamenka where my father often rented orchards and there were no problems or conflicts with Germans. And my parents stayed at home. Later people told me that Germans convoyed a march of Jews and my father and mother were there. They told me my father fell and a German soldier shot him. My mother bent over my father and screamed and that German shot her, too. After the war I wrote my brothers Fima and Michael. We decided to go to Kamenka to find out what happened to our parents. People told us how they perished when we came there.
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Displaying 49411 - 49440 of 50826 results
SIMA-LIBA NERUBENKO
He worked at a plant for many years, but now this plant is closed like many other enterprises. He is a training instructors teaching teenagers to work with industrial units. He spends a lot of time at work and gives it much effort.
Victor graduated from the Lvov Polytechnic Institute and worked at a scientific research institute. He is jobless now.
My only grandchild Sergey has a higher education. He had no work here and few years ago he moved to Israel. He lives and works there. We look forward to hearing from him, listen to the radio and read newspapers to know more about this country. As for moving there – no, my children are too indecisive. I would like to visit this country, but to travel at the age of 95 – who ever heard about it? We had never discussed this issue in our family before. We had a good life – so why change anything? Those that wanted more from life left for Israel.
Few years ago my Jewish neighbor took me to Hesed. I liked it there and all of a sudden I felt myself at home like I did many years before in Kamenka. I recalled what I thought to be forgotten. My daughter Svetlana also liked it in Hesed. She became a volunteer and enjoys taking part in various programs. I haven’t left home for about half a year, though. If it were not for assistance of food and medications provided by Hesed life would be too hard. I have wonderful children. They are with me and I am not alone.
Few generations of my father’s ancestors were “fruit hunters”. They knew how to determine whether an orchard would bear fruit when it was still winter and rented such gardens paying rent fee when there were no leaves on the trees yet. They waited until the fruit grew ripe and sold it – this was how they earned their living. They sold apples, pears, apricots, nuts and wonderful plums.
My grandfather Itzyk Ratzenmar, born in 1860s, was very good at his profession. He could determine the best perspective gardens and gathered unbelievable crops. Even when my grandfather grew so old that he could hardly see anything other men asked him to come with them to determine whether an orchard was going to be perspective. He was a professional and had a good intuition.
My grandfather Itzyk Ratzenmar, born in 1860s, was very good at his profession. He could determine the best perspective gardens and gathered unbelievable crops. Even when my grandfather grew so old that he could hardly see anything other men asked him to come with them to determine whether an orchard was going to be perspective. He was a professional and had a good intuition.
Like all other Jews in Kamenka my grandfather was very religious. He wore a beard and a cap and looked strong and sun-tanned since he spent much time in orchards. He only spoke Yiddish – I don’t know in what language he communicated with Moldavians – I never heard him talking other language than Yiddish.
My grandfather had a small white house near the synagogue. It was too small for his numerous children and grandchildren.
They were almost the same age and they got married at the age of 16-17. To get married at an early age was customary in Jewish families. My grandmother Dvoira was called Diane in the family. Looking at her one could tell that she was very pretty when she was young. She was very nice and kind. Even we, her grandchildren, could tell how dearly our grandmother and grandfather loved one another. They died almost at the same time – in late 1930s.
My father had three sisters and a brother. His oldest sister Golda, born in 1878, was a housewife and had many children (I don't know how many). Her husband was always praying. He wasn’t a khasid and didn’t wear payes, but he wore long black jackets. At home he had his kippah on and before going out he put on a hat.
When Jewish families came back from evacuation they found all their belongings taken away by Moldavians. Aunt Golda died shortly after she returned home – in 1946.
My father’s brother Gershl, born in 1884, was a laborer in Kamenka. Like my father he finished cheder.
Autumn and beginning of winter 1941 were troubling – the front was getting closer. In January 1942 the factory was evacuated to Gus-Khrustalny [Vladimirskaya region 600 km southeast from Leningrad].
In January 1942 the factory was evacuated to Gus-Khrustalny [Vladimirskaya region 600 km southeast from Leningrad]. We got a warm and cozy one-room apartment.
Gus-Khrustalny was a typical Russian town with wooden houses with carved plat bands and beautiful churches. Jews didn’t come to live there during the tsarist regime – there were probably Jewish doctors and convicts. Only after the revolution Jewish families came to the town. They led a common way of life and were no different from other inhabitants of the town. The only difference was in their names, but nobody paid any attention to it. All life in town was focused around a small glass factory that gave a name to the town – Khrustalny [crystal in Russian]. This factory manufactured cups, vases and wine glasses for the tsar’s collection. Even during the wartime there was a shop at the factory that manufactured strikingly beautiful crystal vases. Stalin gave them as gifts to high dignitaries that visited Moscow.
, Russia
In April 1942 my daughter Svetlana was born. Since then I never worked and dedicated myself to my family and raising children. Of course, during the war I was in better conditions than other wives whose husbands were at the front and they had to evacuate from their homes. My husband worked all the time he could. There were weeks when he came home for few hours and returned to the factory. We received food packages and milk for children. However, this was a hard period for the country and people and we also went through lack of food and other hardships of the wartime.
In December 1944 Grigoriy got a job assignment in Lvov. He was offered to be manager of the construction of the factory of glass insulators. He went there immediately.
Lvov joined the USSR in 1939 under the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact 10, - it belonged to Poland before. Many Polish families left for Poland and there were many vacant apartments in the town. By our arrival my husband moved into a beautiful mansion in the outskirts of the town. This was dangerous time with many gangs in the woods around – Ukrainian chauvinists struggling against the Soviet power and communists. The locals were polite and called us “Missis.” and “Mister”, but one could never tell what was on the back of their mind. We had polished manners and spoke fluent Russian – we were different from the locals and we were concerned to live in this distant mansion. We moved to a 3-room apartment with nicely tiled stoves in the center of the town. It is this same apartment where we live now.
My husband spent a lot of time at work – upon completion of the construction of the plant he became its director and worked there for many years.
I understand that we had a better life than many other families at that time. My husband held a high position and had a good salary.
I was concerned about articles published in newspapers: about struggle against cosmopolites 11, or the “doctors’ case” 12. I had my own small and comfortable world and life and I tried to keep it out of mind. My husband attended meetings and sittings at the district Party Committee and always came back home late and was very upset. He was a member of the party.
He joined the Party during the great Patriotic War when many people were joining the Party. He wasn’t a convinced communist, though, but he had to be one to make a career or he would never become director of a plant. My husband had to attend meetings, but this was one and only Party membership related activity that he was involved in. When I asked him what it was about he replied “I’d rather not tell”. He was a reserved and taciturn man and always tried to protect me from any troubles.
I come from a small town of Kamenka on the bank of the Dnestr River in the eastern part of Moldavia. The town was buried in verdure. There were orchards around every house. The population of Kamenka consisted of Jews and Moldavians. Jews constituted the majority of population. However, there was no Jewish neighborhood – we were dispersed in the town. Jewish families were very religious – I would even say fanatically religious. Religion played a major role in everyday life of our family and many other Jewish families – they strictly observed all traditions and rules. There was a synagogue in Kamenka – a big one-storied building with a high circular roof. Women had a space separated with a curtain. All Jewish families came to the synagogue during holidays and on Saturday. Besides, my grandfather prayed in the morning and in the evening. I remember him carefully taking his old book of prayers wrapped in a clean piece of cloth. I don’t remember seeing other books in their home. Our grandfather didn’t teach his grandchildren since we didn’t live together, but we learned everything about the Jewish way of life from our parents. Jewish families were big – some of them had 13-14 children. Children symbolized pride and wealth in Jewish families. According to religious rules a Jewish woman had as many children as she could bear. The more children a woman had the more respected she was in the community. A childless marriage was sufficient reason for getting a divorce. There were plenty of food products produced in this area: eggs, butter, dairy products and fruit and big families could have sufficient food to make a living. Therefore, it wasn’t a problem for families with many children to provide well for them. Jews spoke Yiddish to one another in Kamenka. All Jews were educated: they could read and write and like discussions on various subjects. Moldavians were not educated even though some of them were quite wealthy – owners of big orchards.
Sarra Nikiforenko
The synagogue in Smela was closed by atheists of various nationalities in 1929. My father was very unhappy about it. All churches were also closed during this period of struggle against religion 14.
There was entertainment center at the sugar factory where young people came to dance in the evening. I don’t remember other programs.
After finishing school in 1926 I entered the College of Food Industry in our town. Most of the students were Jewish. Jewish young people were eager to get a good education. I was to become a lab assistant for sugar industry. I was a painstaking student.
Once during a party where I sang Ukrainian and Jewish songs a young man approached me. He was Vitaliy Nikiforenko. He was a student of the Institute of Food Industry in Kiev. He was on vacation in his hometown visiting his parents. He asked my permission to take me home. He was looking at me with admiring eyes. I had never had a non-Jewish friend before and I was concerned a little bit. I avoided him at the beginning. I didn’t want to date with him. He came to see my sister Sonia and said ‘If you don’t tell Sarra to come to see me I will go to the river and drown myself’. Sonia got scared, ran to me and said ‘Here came your sweetheart’. Boris, my brother, said ‘Give him a stick and let him beat this kind of ideas out of his head’. I had to go see him and say ‘Don’t be stupid’. To make the long story short we were destined to be together. I have no regrets about it.
Vitaliy, born in 1908, came from Smela: we were neighbors. I knew his parents and they knew me. They didn’t mind my being a Jew. Vitaliy came from a very nice family. His father was a teacher at College – I don’t remember at which, and his mother was a teacher, but she didn’t work. They had a son and a daughter. My parents were a little concerned since I was the first one in our family to have a non-Jewish spouse. They knew Vitaliy’s family. They bought fish from Vitaliy’s grandfather, but still they were a non-Jewish family. My father said to Vitaly ‘Yoy need to know that if you hurt Sarra just once you will lose her’.
We saw each other for a year. I finished College and Vitaliy graduated from the Institute in 1930. He wrote me nice letters.
Vitaliy, born in 1908, came from Smela: we were neighbors. I knew his parents and they knew me. They didn’t mind my being a Jew. Vitaliy came from a very nice family. His father was a teacher at College – I don’t remember at which, and his mother was a teacher, but she didn’t work. They had a son and a daughter. My parents were a little concerned since I was the first one in our family to have a non-Jewish spouse. They knew Vitaliy’s family. They bought fish from Vitaliy’s grandfather, but still they were a non-Jewish family. My father said to Vitaly ‘Yoy need to know that if you hurt Sarra just once you will lose her’.
We saw each other for a year. I finished College and Vitaliy graduated from the Institute in 1930. He wrote me nice letters.
Upon graduation Vitaliy got a job at the sugar factory in Smela.
We had our wedding registered at registration office. We had a wedding party in my parents’ garden, but it was a Soviet wedding without a chuppah or any other Jewish rituals. There were Ukrainian and Jewish relatives and guests at the wedding. They shouted ‘Gorko!’ [Russian for ‘bitter’ – a Russian tradition] to us.
Jewish young people that left their families stopped observing traditions. We believed in new socialist life and thought that Jewish traditions belonged to the past. We thought we were more advanced than older people and had to look into the future.