Yiddish was spoken at home and it was my mother tongue. In general, Latvian Jews found it proper to know their mother tongue.
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Displaying 43981 - 44010 of 50826 results
Feiga Kil
Mother grew up in a religious Jewish family and I imbibed Jewish traditions since childhood. She took Jewry with zeal, observed kashrut. Mother strictly set aside milk and meat dishes, we had Paschal dishes, which were used only once a year for Pesach. Mother always marked Sabbath, lit candles. Father did not always take part in Sabbath celebration. He had to work on Saturdays. What could he do if his was the profession of a surgeon. Mother never showed her displeasure and told us if a person saved somebody’s life on Sabbath it was pleasing to God.
We always marked Jewish holidays at home in line with the tradition. Both adults and kids were looking forward to them. Mother cooked Jewish dishes for each holiday. She was an excellent cook. Every holiday was traditional in our family. On Pesach Father led the seder.
We always marked Jewish holidays at home in line with the tradition. Both adults and kids were looking forward to them. Mother cooked Jewish dishes for each holiday. She was an excellent cook. Every holiday was traditional in our family. On Pesach Father led the seder.
On Yom Kippur everybody fasted – the adults for 24 hour, from one vesper to another and kids for half a day, usually before lunch. My parents took us to the synagogue since early childhood. There were no restrictions. It was up to the parents at what age kids should be taken to the synagogue. We went to the synagogue on Peivatas Street. It is still there. It was not a two-story building, which was common, but a three-story one, as there was also a basement. Men prayed on the first floor, women – on the second. Both men and women could go in the basement. There was a partition dividing the area for males and females. There was a very high attendance during the holidays and not all wishing to pray on a holiday could fit on two floors.
I did not go to school before World War II, I was too young. My elder siblings went to a Jewish school. It was common in Latvia. There were Lettish, Russian, Jewish and German schools. Jews went to Jewish schools and lyceum. It was not compulsory, it was the choice of the Jews.
In 1940 Latvia became part of the USSR [6]. I don’t have any recollections about that time as I was too small. I think, nobody from our family was repressed. We stayed in the same apartment, and nobody was going to evict us. Father was still working in Bikkur Holim.
Yiddish was spoken at home, and I also spoke that language with my friends. Of course, everybody knew Lettish in our family. Father was the only one who spoke Russian in our family.
I didn’t feel any biased attitude in the orphanage, any anti-Semitism. I didn’t even identify myself as a Jew. All of us were orphans. We got here from different places. We found nothing special about different nationalities, even with broken Russian we understood each other. Being in an orphanage made us one family.
,
After WW2
See text in interview
I became a Young Octobrist [7] in the orphanage, then I joined the pioneer [8] organization together with the class. It was very ceremonious, in the assembly hall in front of a monument dedicated to Lenin [9]. I was proud of being a pioneer.
I went to a Ukrainian school in Zolotonosha. All subjects were taught in Ukrainian. I learnt Ukrainian pretty well during the time of staying in the cellar at aunt Galya’s place. So, I even stood out among the others. I was a pretty good student, but I did not do exceptionally well. In 1949 I finished the 4th grade of Ukrainian school in Zolotonosha.
The Red Cross was in charge of looking for children. Finally, in late September 1949 the headmaster called me and said that in Riga my mother was found. I couldn’t believe my happiness. It was true. On 30th October 1949 some kids from Latvia, my sister and I were taken to Riga by our PT teacher. We saw our mom again!
She was given a room in a communal apartment [10], in the basement. It was small and damp. It was hard to squeeze in even a small bed there. Mother didn’t work before war as she was fully provided by dad. She didn’t have any occupation, so she became a maid. She did odd jobs: cleaning, laundry. Of course she got a skimpy fee, but it was enough for food, at any rate not to die from hunger. My younger sister Libe was taken to the Riga orphanage, but I was older and they let me stay with Mom.
Father perished at the front. He was a military surgeon and worked in a field hospital, where the wounded were taken straight from the battlefield. He was killed during the last war days, in Berlin. Mother got the notification that Father died like a brave man – it was a proper wording for those who were at the front. He perished on 8th May 1945, when the agreement on surrender of Germany was signed.
Mother’s elder sister Libe and her family died in Rezekene. They either didn’t manage to get evacuated, or they were not willing to. When the Germans occupied Rezekene, they put all Jews in the ghetto and shot them. They don’t even have a grave.
I entered Russian compulsory school. There were no Jewish schools in Latvia at that time. Besides, I had forgotten Yiddish by that time. I was fluent in Ukrainian, but I didn’t know Russian at all. It was hard for me to study. I had to stay in the 5th grade for two years. I spoke bad Russian with a strong Ukrainian accent. I made many mistakes in writing. Though Russian and Ukrainian are very similar, their writing is different. Schoolmates teased me not for being a Jew, but for being illiterate in writing and in speech. Thought, Letts never teased me, only Russians. The languages were hard on me, but I also got good marks in math, as formulae are the same in any language.
Mother couldn’t make enough money to provide for the two of us. After school I worked. When I was 14, I worked hard. I was a baby-sitter, a janitor. I was given food for my job. When I washed dishes, I ate the bits and ends from the pots and plates. Of course, I wasn’t sated, but I didn’t starve. I also studied. Then one family offered me a job as maid to me for boarding. I agreed without hesitation. I grew up in the orphanage and knew how to work. I had a different attitude to life as compared to those who lived with their families all the time, being taken care of by the adults. I was transferred to the evening school. I worked in the daytime and in the evening I attended classes at school. Of course, my life was hard, but I understood that I should count only on myself.
Then I learned that in Ispolkom [11] there was a labor commission and I went there. I was offered a job as courier – to take all kinds of papers to the offices. Then I became an accountant in the workshop. I liked the job. I joined the Komsomol [12] at the factory and soon I was elected the secretary of the Komsomol committee. [Editor’s note: Komsomol units existed at all educational and industrial enterprises. They were headed by Komsomol committees involved in organizational activities]. I was very active and could find a key to every person. I was respected by all employees, who were mostly men. When I worked at the factory, l was not a maid any more.
I started living with my mom. Then we were given another room in the same basement and Mother took my sister from the orphanage. The three of us started living together.
I finished ten grades of evening school and entered finance college, also the evening department. I worked in the daytime and studied in the evening.
I stayed at my factory after graduation from college. I was not a worker any more. Now I held the position of an economist in the planning department.
In spite of having a difficult life, Mother and I always marked Jewish holidays. It was sacred. We saved up money to buy chicken and fish for the holiday. We tried to mark it in accordance with the Jewish tradition. We also went to the synagogue. On holidays there was no room to swing a cat in the only operating synagogue in Riga. There were a lot of young people there as well. We were not shy of being Jews. I tried to communicate with Jews mostly. Maybe it is not very good, but I am a nationalist in my heart. I am proud of being a Jew. It has always been like that.
We met with my ‘tribesmen,’ discussed the events in Israel, our intentions to leave there. It was very hard during the Soviet times. People from Baltic countries left for Israel via Poland. It was easier to go to Poland and then immigrate to Israel. I was eager to go. At that time I was dating a guy, with whom I decided to immigrate to Israel and get married there. At that time to depart for Israel it was required to have a written document with the consent of all family members to depart. My mother refused to sign it. She could have gone with us, but she didn’t want to leave my sister Libe. Thus, I couldn’t go either.
My aunt Shifra and her husband immigrated to Israel via Poland in 1959 after my wedding. Shifra’s husband died in the 1980s. I had a chance to see my aunt. I went to visit her in Israel in the late 1980s. I happened to see that beautiful country of Israel. I went on an excursion, tried to see as much as I could. I was so deeply impressed!
,
After WW2
See text in interview
I met my future husband in synagogue on a Jewish holiday. There were a lot of young people on that day. He came up to me and we had a talk. Young people meet easily. We liked each other and started dating. In 1959 we got married. I had a religious wedding, in accordance with all rites and customs. Our marriage was registered in the state marriage registration office, and at home we had a chuppah. The rabbi came to wed us. Our wedding was very beautiful. Of course, Mother couldn’t afford a wedding party for me. Both, my husband and I worked and we put aside money for the wedding.
My husband was the third child and the youngest was his brother Benjamin. The family was very religious. All traditions were observed. The children were raised Jewish.
We lived in our basement apartment after I got married. My mother and sister occupied one room, and we the other. Of course, it was hard, but we were young and in love, so we did not fear hardships.
It was very important for me and for my husband that our son was a Jew.
My husband and I always marked Jewish holidays. We did it traditionally as we found it important. Our children knew Jewish traditions, rites. Of course, it was not easy. In Soviet times it was hard to buy matzah. If we could not buy it, we baked it. We had all necessary things. My husband made some notched rolls to make holes in matzah and we baked good matzah at home.
Mother and I cooked traditional Jewish dishes: gefilte fish, chicken broth, potato latkes. We loved the Jewish cuisine. On Pesach we didn’t eat bread. On Yom Kippur we fasted in line with the tradition. We had special dishes for Pesach. We did all in line with tradition. My husband led the seder and the children were also present. On each holiday the whole family went to the synagogue. We stuck to the traditions of our nation.
Mother and I cooked traditional Jewish dishes: gefilte fish, chicken broth, potato latkes. We loved the Jewish cuisine. On Pesach we didn’t eat bread. On Yom Kippur we fasted in line with the tradition. We had special dishes for Pesach. We did all in line with tradition. My husband led the seder and the children were also present. On each holiday the whole family went to the synagogue. We stuck to the traditions of our nation.
Soviet holidays were additional days off for us. It was an occasion to get together with friends, spend time in the company of pleasant people, to dance and sing. We were young. We wanted to dance and sing.
For me, as a kid who was in an orphanage, Stalin became an idol. I sincerely loved him, as I know that if it hadn’t been for Stalin, I would have perished. What can I say, if adults also loved him blindly.
Though, in the early 1953 there was the Doctors’ Plot [12], and I understood that it was against Jews. I was alarmed because I understood that our peoples were stigmatized. At that time I started to understand the mendaciousness of the Soviet regime. I couldn’t believe that doctors could do harm to people. I was perturbed when hearing that all Jews were blamed. I argued, raising my voice against those who blamed the doctors and Jews on the whole. I was very happy when after Stalin’s death those Jewish doctors and all Jews were exonerated.