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FROM THE GOLDMAHERS’ FAMILY ARCHIVE
INCOMPLETE INTERVIEW WITH BASYA GOLDMACHER
DR. NELLY GOROVSKY, BASYA GOLDMACHER
NEW-YORK, 2011
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Incomplete interview with Bays Goldwater
I made an appointment with Pyres Goldmacher –
we had to sign some papers regarding our joint work at
the Association of Engineers and Scientists for New
Americans (AES).
I have always enjoyed our discussions, as the
meetings in ‘homelike atmosphere’ with Basya and
Peyrets were extremely cognitive and captivating.
The Goldmachers lived a long, fruitful, and
non-ordinary life. They both were born in Romania, when
the Jewish communal, political and religious life there
was still boiling.
Photo from A. Yasenik’s collection
Фото из коллекции А. Ясеника
They were lucky to have spent their childhood in ‘normal’, for those times,
Jewish families. Therefore, their life experience was much different from our ‘Soviet’
upbringing with its Pioneer and Komsomol principles under the ‘Thanks to comrade
Stalin for our happy childhood’ slogan.
Peyrets went deeper into reading the papers, while I decided to talk to Basya
this time around. I was interested to know her woman’s view on the distant past, since
we have already completed a number of publications with Peyrets by that time.
We were sitting in their cozy apartment in Rego Park (Queens), going through the
family album, while the imagination was taking us back and deep into the times long
gone...
Photo #1 Basya having a Photo #2 On the balcony, Photo
#3
Shabbat
rest in her apartment, view
over
Manhattan, candles lighting, 2003
Queens, view on Rego Park, 2005
2006
1. Bendery ( Romanian Bessarabia)
N.G. Basya, let’s begin with your roots. Tell me about your parents and
grandparents. How was the life of the Jews in Romania at the beginning of the
last century? What was Bessarabia like, the one that I know only by Pushkin’s
‘Gypsies’? ‘Gypsies, a noisy herd, wonder around Bessarabia… ‘. The poet
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wrote this piece, while in exile in Bessarabia, the southern province of Russia,
from its shining capital – St. Petersburg.
Basya Goldmacher: I was born in Bendery (Bessarabia) in 1921. From 1918 to
1940, Bendery was part of Romania. It was a neat, nice little town, which was
literally drowning in vineyards and orchards. The air was filled with aromas of fruit
and flowers. The streets were paved with granite stones. The town had sewage,
electricity, and water supply systems in place. All these conveniences were set up by
the local authorities only after Bessarabia was incorporated to Romania.
During the tsarist imperial years (1812-1918), Bendery, as well as the whole
Bessarabia, was for the Jews the «pale of settlement», and the authorities did not care
much of the wellbeing of the ‘shtetlah’.
I remember the big square in the center of the town. Children were playing at
the fountain in the summer. The fountain was made of statues of children that were
releasing water springs that cooled the hot and dry summer air. One of the best brass
orchestras of Romanian army used to perform on Saturdays and Sundays. It was
then that I fell in love with the classical music, waltzes and other marvelous musical
pieces.
A large Orthodox church was standing in the center of the town (Romanians, as
Russians, are Christian Orthodox). Two-three blocks away - Old Believer’s church.
There was a number of Russian Old-Believers in Bendery and they could freely
practice their religion. Nearby, Lutheran and Protestant, as well as Adventists of the
7th Day prayer houses towered.
Two big synagogues were situated not far from the center of the town: the
so-called ‘New Synagogue’, built in the late 19th century, and the Sadgorskaya
Synagogue - a praying place for the followers of Sadgorsky Rabbi. There were other
synagogues in town as well, together with prayer houses that were gathering
‘minyans’. After all, Jews constituted the majority of the town’s population.
The city has been ‘spotted’ with ethnicities and looked like a ‘layer cake’representatives of many nationalities and religions such as Romanians, Moldavians,
Germans, Russians, Ukrainians, Poles, Hungarians, and Gypsies were relatively
peacefully coexisting.
The city had a large and influential Jewish community. I still remember the
centrally-located tall synagogues with beautiful architecture, lancet windows and
magnificent interiors combined with amazing mosaics. Rabbis were well respected
not only by the Jewish population. Gentiles also came to seek advice.
Jewish life there, as well as in other cities of Bessarabia, was in full swing. The
Jewish community sponsored the Jewish Home for the Elderly, Jewish Hospital,
Jewish Library, rich in books not only in Yiddish and Hebrew, but also in Romanian,
French, and Russian. The city had a Jewish Benevolent Fund, which helped in
establishing and setting up of small business enterprises. The Jewish community
took care of two Jewish cemeteries as well. One was ‘the old cemetery’, it was
considered an ‘honor’ to be buried there, and another was known as «the new».
Along with the public schools, where Jews could relatively easy get enrolled,
there was an extensive network of Jewish educational institutions – Jewish
Vocational School (ORT), Talmud Torah (Jewish religious elementary school), Jewish
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Gymnasium named after Schwartzman with a complete 12 year educational program.
It was a secular school for boys and girls. It provided quite solid classic education by
European standards. Even French and Latin were taught there.
The Jewish subjects included Hebrew, Jewish history, Tanah, and Talmud. I
was fortunate enough to study at this specific school where I also got my primary
musical education. Our teachers were brilliant professionals.
It is understandable that the Jewish community, to a degree, financially
supported the school. However, the education was not free. The Gymnasium received
half of its income from its students’ tuitions.
But our political education we were getting from other sources. A number of
Zionist organizations, from ‘left’ to ‘right’, were active in Bessarabia. Jewish youth
received so-called ‘Zionist schooling’ and their first political experience of struggling
for the realization and implementation of the national idea in various Zionist youth
organizations.
N. G. How did the members of different ethnic groups coexist and get
along? I cannot believe there were no conflicts among them.
B. G. At that time, various ethnic and religious groups treated each other with
respect. By the way, in my childhood my closest friend was a German girl. We
studied together at elementary school and lived close by. Her name was Lilya
Tsymmer, and she was the youngest daughter of our landlord.
Government at that time did not impede, but rather encouraged, what was
officially called ‘national–cultural autonomy for ethnic minorities.’ For the time being,
of course…
N. G. How was the year 1933rd, the year when Hitler came to power,
perceived by Bendery Jewish Community?
B. G. The Jews all around the world perceived carefully and painfully Hitler’s
anti-Jewish rhetoric, which since 1933 gained legal state’s voice and weight. Our
community was not an exception.
When in April of 1933, Nazi hostility towards the Jews turned into tangible
actions (from April 1, Germany started boycotting Jewish stores, medical and law
offices), Romanian Jews, in response, started to boycott German products. I
remember we refused to buy even German pencils. Other ethnic groups, even
Germans living in the city, joined us in our efforts.
Nevertheless, little did we know that the start of the Holocaust would be
imprinted as the day when Hitler overtook power, and that January 30, 1933 would
be the day when the European Jewry heard the death bell.
Until 1936, the situation in Romania (and in Bendery) was stable. Then some
disorders and even outbursts occurred. They were connected with one Nazi
organization in Romania called the ‘Iron Guardians’. Similar organizations emerged
in Poland – National-Democratic Party, Slovakia - ‘The Guardians of Andjey Glinka’,
in Hungary - ‘Crossed arrows’, etc.
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At the beginning, the Romanian Government tried to fight against extremists. I
remember how one of the activists of this organization was executed in Bendery by
the Romanian secret police on Yom Kippur eve. Our mayor made a warning by
saying that was exactly what would happen to those who would disturb the peace
and order in the town. But things turned out differently…
Tolerant attitude toward Jews was gradually replaced by a growing anti-Semitic
mood, and their civil and national rights became more and more unsteady. Bacillus
of German Nazism increasingly spread throughout once enlightened and liberal
Europe.
The leaders of Central and Eastern European countries (Milos Horthy in
Hungary, Josef Beck in Poland, and Ion Antonescu in Romania) were ideologically
close to German fascism. For instance, Romania has adopted anti-Semitic laws at
state level at the end of 1937. State-sponsored anti-Semitism had become a favorite
tool for ‘uniting the nation’. All this made quite questionable the meaning and even
possibility of our very existence in Diaspora. The victory of fascism in Germany and
other countries turned the hopes of many assimilated Jews (including those who
believed in cultural autonomy and members of Bund party) into futile dream, another
illusion.
N.G. Basya, tell me more about your ancestors. Who were they, what
were they, how did they live in Bessarabia?
B. G. From my mothers’ side, my grandfather’s name was Joseph, and
grandmother’s name was Sarah, the Pistrovs’. They raised and educated 8 children
and 19 grandchildren. As for the grandparents from my father’s side, they were
Mordechai and Rachel, the Kishinevskys’; they raised 7 children and 7 grandchildren.
Photo #4 Grandfather Joseph and
Grandmother Sarah with their
older daughter Brahah, 1923
Photo #5 Grandmother Rachel (first from
right), with her daughters, Bendery, 1928
Yiddish was mostly spoken in the Pistrov’s house. If I addressed my
grandmother in Russian, the answer would be only in Yiddish.
Grandmother Sarah had her own religious book «Tseena-u-Reena’- (Tsur)
(Hebrew, literally: ‘Go and See’) the title in Yiddish of the book for Jewish women. The
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book was named after the verse from ‘Song of Songs’: ‘Go and See daughters of
Jerusalem’. She was trying to read at least one chapter each and every evening.
Grandma Sarah grew up in a German village in southern part of Bessarabia.
She was a devout person and educated me in the spirit of the Jewish tradition. For
instance, she related to me how God created the world, then the man and more. The
most important things that I remembered for my whole life were her stories about
‘God’s Angels’. If I am a good Jewish girl and I need help, then God will send one of
his angels. This angel will come as a person and will help me.
I recalled my grandma’s ‘God’s Angels’ for my entire life and whenever I
encountered difficulties, in moments of sorrow and weakness, whenever I felt
desperate and saw no way out – there were always good ‘Angles’ coming as kind
humans and offering a helping hand. It happened even in the ‘Godless’ Soviet Union,
where the destiny threw me after 1940. I am grateful to them. Without their help I
would have never survived those tragic times.
N. G. Yes, Basya, you grew up in a completely different world and
different atmosphere. A lot of things you’ve been telling are new to me, despite
the fact that I also grew up in a Jewish family and had well educated parents.
Yet, your education had national and spiritual emphasis, the one that the
Soviet Jews were deprived of.
B. G. My grandmother was also the one to tell me about the existence of the
‘Holy Land’, Eretz Yisrael, where our ancestors lived in ancient times. And that a day
would come when all the Jews would return to their homeland. That is when ‘A
Groysse Simhe’ (Yiddish: great celebration) will occur. From the early childhood these
words have been infiltrated in my memory, the memory of my heart!
N. G. What did your other grandmother teach you in your childhood - the
one from your father’s side?
B.G. Grandmother Rachel grew up in a family that was imbued with the ideas
of Haskalah (Jewish enlightenment). She spoke Russian to me, read Russian books,
took me to the cinema and tried to acquaint me with all the ‘modern’ things. On High
Holidays, she took me to the synagogue with her. Since my grandfather was a banker
we went to the New Synagogue, one that was built in a modern style. Even there
women were sitting on the balcony, not in the main hall, this synagogue had open
balconies, so I was able to see and hear everything: solemn ceremonies, marvelous
choral music, and amazing boys’ chorus accompanied by the cantor himself. These
melodies touched my soul and bring beautiful memories till now.
N. G. How was the life of the next generation, the generation of your
parents? How was it different for the life of your grandparents?
B. G. My grandparents from both sides were intelligent, wealthy, and highly
respected people in the city. As I mentioned before, they were very knowledgeable in
Jewish culture and traditions and followed religious customs. They all spoke Yiddish
and Hebrew fluently. They spoke other languages as well, a skill that was at hand in
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a multicultural city like ours. Russian, German, and Polish languages were
constantly heard in the house.
Grandparents’ main goal was to offer their kids proper education. Not only
traditionally Jewish but a broader one as this would give them the opportunity to
grow professionally.
The mood of ‘Haskalah’ was in the air, meant to integrate the Jews to
European Enlightenment.
All the children from my father’s grandparents received solid education. They
all graduated gymnasiums, vocational schools, and higher pharmaceutical
institutions. Some of my relatives even studied in Moscow University, as it was the
period when Bessarabia was an integral part of the Russian Empire.
My mother’s youngest sister, aunt Zyna, graduated the conservatory in Iasi,
Romania. She became the soloist of Bucharest Opera Theatre. Her best role was that
of Rachel from J.F. Galevy’s ‘Jewess’. The audience loved her and her husband, also
an opera soloist, and always heartily welcomed them on stage.
Photo #6 Aunt Zyna in her role of Rachel in the
‘Daughter of the Cardinal’ (the Jewess) play,
Bucharest, 1932
In 1936, the administration of the theatre issued them an ultimatum: either
convert to Christianity or leave the stage. The conductor, an Italian by origin, was
begging them to accept the offer. He was convincing my aunt, ‘This is just a
formality’. My aunt and her husband made up their mind and chose to leave the
theatre.
My aunt started giving private lessons of vocal art in Bucharest. A great
number of well-known personalities visited her. One of the examples would be the
wife of the University Dean. Extremely talented but poor students were benefiting
from free lessons, as my aunt enjoyed working with them a lot.
Her colleagues, opera singers, came to ‘correct their voices’. My aunt was a
gifted, highly qualified opera singer. The famous Fyodor Chaliapin enjoyed and was
deeply impressed with her performances at the end of the 20s.
Aunt Zyna was kind enough to teach me as well. It is possible that by the law
of genetics, I inherited good vocals and a perfect ear. My aunt hoped that I would
follow her footsteps. But it wasn’t meant to happen.
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N. G. You told me about the destiny of your aunt. She became a singer - a
high class professional. Were all of the representatives of the second
generation as successful in life as she was?
B. G. Unfortunately no. Some of them had tragic lives. This was the case of my
mother’s elder sister. Her name was Bruha (or the Hebrew name Braha). She got
married early, at 17. Moesha Dorfman, the chief manager of grandfather’s colonial
store fell in love with her. He was 4 years older than my aunt. They got married soon
and had six children. On one unfortunate day my aunt got sick with intestine twist, a
type of illness that could not be cured during those times. She was taken to Chisinau
to the best of the surgeons. She passed away on the operation table. Six children
were left orphans, three girls and three boys. A tough situation, as you could
imagine. My wise grandfather found his son in law a young wife, who generously
accepted to get married to a widower with six children. That is how the family solved
a difficult and sensitive situation in a Jewish manner.
N. G. What happened as the result of such marriage? Did the new wife
treat her step children well and with respect?
B. G. She treated them perfectly. Even more, in order to skip the situations
like: ‘your kids are beating mine’, she dropped the idea of having her own children.
N. G. Amazing story. In our age of ‘enlightenment’, it is unlikely for our
women to sacrifice to such a degree. Raising six children? I understand that it
wasn’t an easy task.
How was this woman treated in your family taking into account that she
in a way replaced your aunt?
B.G. Imagine that she was treated with a lot of attention and sympathy.
Everyone understood the sacrifice this woman made. Grandmother Sarah was giving
most of her care and support to her.
In those days, all the family members lived in the same town and it was
customary to bring the grandchildren to their grandparents.
Even the neighbors noticed my grandmother’s attitude toward this woman. I
remember them asking, ‘Madame Pystrova, why do you treat this woman so nice?
Wasn’t she the one to take your daughter’s place in the family?’
My grandmother’s answer was the quintessence of Jewish wisdom itself, ‘You
don’t know how much this woman sacrificed. She surrounds my grandchildren with
love and affection. Not only has she deserved my full respect, but even me washing
her feet when she comes to this house. ‘
N. G. Why ‘wash her feet?’ What does it mean?
B. G. It is a referral to an old Jewish tradition from the times of our forefathers.
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Photo #7 Grandfather Joseph and Grandmother Sarah with their grandchildren.
Second row (from left, standing) Basya, aunt Zyna and mother Feyga, Bendery,
1933.
There were times when by washing the feet of your guests after them walking
through the deserts of Canaan, you showed the greatest respect to your guests.
N. G. I do not remember such details from the biblical stories. One more
useful lesson learned today. Was it that easy for your grandmother to forget
her elder daughter?
B. G. Of course not, to the contrary. As far as I remember, until her last day,
she was dedicating a special ritual each Friday, in remembrance of her deceased
daughter. On Friday night, after she lit the Shabbat candles and has said all the
prayers, she was ‘talking’ to her daughter Broha. She was in a way ‘reporting’ on how
the children grew, what happened to each of them, how they lived and what
successes and failures they had. This ritual report lasted for at least half an hour. Do
not forget there were six of them and my grandmother spoke about each and every
child in detail. It was an extremely tough moment for me as I knew my aunt very well
and loved her enormously. I was very close to her children, all of them being older
than me, of course. I could not understand how was it possible to talk to a deceased
daughter, but these scenes left a deep trace in my soul and stayed with me my whole
life.
N. G. Incredible, indeed. After all, it is thought that if a person sincerely
believes from the bottom of his heart and observes all religious customs then
the faith itself turns into a material force.
How else did she express her religiosity? What else did this devout
woman do, worth to be considered special?
B. G. She cared about the needy, weak, and hungry. Each Thursday, when she
prepared the Shabbat dinner, she would cook a separate meal for the ladies from the
Jewish elderly home. On Friday, before noon, she would go to the elderly home (of
course, women and men had separate dorms) and treat them with the Shabbat meal,
which always included different sweet dishes and ‘tsimes’.
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That was her charity, her personal contribution and help to the needy. In
summer she made jam from different berries and herbs, which were considered to
have healing properties. She used to take a jar of her ‘magic jam’ to the ladies, and,
frankly speaking, I don’t know whether the jam could really serve as a remedy for
blood pressure and other sicknesses, but it surely worked well on their mood.
N. G. You know, Basya, your stories relating the behavior of religious
people impress me more and more. I start understanding the reason you and
Peyrets respect and follow Jewish traditions with such endeavor. On the other
hand, you can be considered secular people. I do understand that after all, the
poison, which was poured daily by Bolshevik propagandists, brought us,
Soviet Jews, an enormous harm.
In spite of everything, your grandparents, not playing with ‘humanism’
phrases, were more human than our soviet government. They used to call their
country ‘the most humanist country in the world’, but in the meantime
persecuted their real and imaginary enemies, like true cannibals.
It’s high time for me to change my attitude towards Jewish religion, not
to become a religious fanatic, but to understand its spiritual value to a
person.
Peyrets and you, reveal a totally different world, special relationship
between people in comparison with ‘our Soviet people’. This is an entirely
exceptional attitude towards life and people. I believe that is exactly the
essence of ‘Jewish wisdom’, which was absorbed by the religious people. We
were deprived of that since the first days of ‘our happy childhood’.
Basya, what other interesting facts can you tell me about other members
of your family from your mother’s generation? Each of your stories deserve a
special chapter, because they are so captivating and full of wisdom; at least
for us, Soviet people, who have their stories to tell, but of a totally different
character.
B.G. I think it would be interesting to tell you the story of my uncle, David
Pystrov, who was the youngest in the mother’s family. Uncle David was a prominent
Zionist leader in the city of Bendery. He was the participant of various Zionist
conferences in Berlin, Zurich, and other cities. He got married to my aunt from my
father’s side, sister Sonya. Their son, Menashe was almost like a brother to me,
because he had the Kishinevsky’s and Pystrov’s blood running through his veins. By
the way, when I was visiting them, I was kindly asked to look after ‘my little brother’
when he was sleeping – keep the flies away, so he can rest peacefully. After all,
Bendery was the ‘kingdom of fruit and vegetables’, and there were more than enough
flies.
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Photo #8 Uncle David with
Aunt Sonya, son Menashe and
daughter-in-law Meyra with the
first grandchildren. Petah
Tikva, 1967.
Photo #9 Pystrov’s family resting at their summer
house in Borysovka. First from the left - Basya
(sitting), second row (sitting): Uncle David, Aunt
Sonya, and Basya’s mother Feyga, Bendery, 1926
As I mentioned earlier, my uncle was the member of the ‘Poaley Zion’ (Hebrew:
‘workers of Zion’), Ben Gurion’s party. He was also the leader of the Joint Committee
of all Bendery Zionist organizations.
He was a book keeper by profession. For many years he worked as an
accountant at the ‘Hebrew Free Loan Society’, or, better to say, the cashier ‘of Jewish
Benevolent Fund’. My aunt was a librarian and she was managing the city’s Jewish
Library.
Uncle David was actually the organizer and fundraiser for the ‘Keren Kayemet
L’Israel’ and ‘Keren Hayesod’, of all charity balls. To make a long story short, my
uncle was ‘the primary’ Zionist Leader in Bendery.
He was supposed to leave with Aunt Sonya to Palestine in 1935, but suddenly,
my uncle got pneumonia. He survived, but the doctors highly recommended
postponing the trip to Palestine for at least a couple of years and improving his lungs.
When Romania was getting more and more anti –Semitic and the activity of all
Zionist organizations was forbidden, the government started to persecute the leading
Zionists of Romania. One morning, my grandfather was visited by Mr. Popescu, the
Head of Bendery ‘Sigurantsa’ (Secret Service), which warned him about the order he
received to arrest my uncle David: ‘You have three days. I cannot hold back for
longer. Do something’.
Another thing to mention is that my grandfather Joseph, besides other
‘intermediary works’, sometimes solved the problems that people had with the
authorities. He wasn’t only a wise man; he had a special approach to people. He was
well trusted, especially by city authorities. Popescu and he had many ‘deals’
together. In other words, Popescu received many bribes from my grandfather. He was
the head of Secret Service after all, and even the judges listened to what he had to
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say. That is why, he came that day to my grandfather, returning the favors, and
cautiously warned him about the nasty order he got.
N.G. This is an original story, indeed. It occurs to me, that there were
more good people among the Romanian officials then among the ‘most
people’s soviet officials’. What was next?
B.G. Despite the fact that it was 1937, the year when the British government
cut the number of ‘certificates’ allowing legal entrance to Palestine, my uncle
contacted the ‘Merkaz’, the center of Zionist organizations in Kishinev , and received
the certificates for both himself and Aunt Sonya on the very same day. On the third
day they ‘vanished’ from Bendery. In a week, they were already on a boat taking them
from Constanta to Palestine.
N.G. Another unique story. How was their life in Palestine, taking into
account the express way they left and no time to prepare in advance?
B.G. My uncle found a job in Palestine pretty quickly. Let us not forget that he
was the member of the ruling party of Palestine, supporter of Ben Gurion. In 1937
Palestine was just at the beginning of its agricultural development, which later
unfolded into kibbutzim and moshavot. The country was facing major problems with
food supplies.
They moved to the suburbs of Tel-Aviv, a place that later became the village of
Petach-Tikva. Basically, they were the founders of the village. Aunt Sonya started her
household with chicken, goats for milk, vegetable garden, etc. I would say that the
beginning was very tough. The village they started was constantly growing and
developing together with the country. When their son, my cousin Menashe, grew up,
he participated in all wars that Israel waged. He got married and has four children.
All of them are married by now, and Menashe, if I am not mistaken, has 13
grandchildren.
N. G. Basya, you mentioned that this big Romanian boss was ‘slapped in
his face?’ What story is this?
B. G. One day, I was returning from visiting my grandmother Rachel. On my
way home, I met the Head of the Secret Service, Mr. Popescu. He definitely knew I
was the granddaughter of Joseph, the person he had ‘deals’ with, and it seems to me
he respected my grandfather a lot. He stopped and told me: ‘Young lady, what are
you hanging out on the streets at such a late hour?’ (He called me ‘domnishoara’,
which is the Romanian ‘a young lady’). I was offended by him saying ‘hanging out’,
like I was a street girl… I slightly slapped him in the face for offending my ‘woman’s
pride’.
N. G. Unbelievable. And what was afterwards? Did he arrest you?
B. G. Oh, no. He just told me: ‘Silly girl!’ Turned around and left. In a couple of
days, when he met my grandfather, Joseph, he complained about my reaction. My
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grandfather told me angrily: ‘Basya, it seems to me you forget where we live. He could
have arrested you and keep you in jail for a long time.’
I replied with the same words: ‘Why did he say I was ‘hanging out’, like I am a
street girl?’
My grandfather was not satisfied with my explanation and continued: ‘Be
aware, and make sure this will not happen again. He will not forgive you next time.’
And he was right.
I wasn’t supposed to walk late without somebody accompanying me. You never
know, what might happen to you. It was a lesson learned about my behavior.
N.G. Basya, we got so involved in the stories of your mother’s generation.
Let’s go back to the stories of your parents. You mentioned that in your
childhood you lived with your mother and her parents. How come?
B. G. I lived without my father since I was three years old. He was a
photographer and a business man at the same time. He had extensive business
contacts in Russia. After Bessarabia became a part of Romania, he continued visiting
Russia. Of course, this was done through contraband ways. After all, Bendery was
the border city between Romania and Soviet Russia.
During one of his visits, he was caught by the Soviet border patrols and was
accused of ‘espionage in favor of bourgeois Romania’ and was sentenced to death.
After a while, the sentence was changed to 15 years in a concentration camp. He
spent 10 years in Stalin’s concentration camps.
Photo #10, 11 Basya’s father Abraham and mother Feyga in youth, Bendery 1908.
In the concentration camp, he got sick with tuberculosis and was released to
‘die in freedom’.
The family did not have any information about him for a long time. That is the
reason my mother moved back to her parents with her kids (my elder brother Grisha
and me). You can say that I grew up without a father.
Going much ahead, I will tell you, that after the World War II, when Peyrets, my
mother and I were in Siberia, my father found us in the city of Omsk. The family
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reunited for a while. I already had a small son in my hands. Everybody was happy;
especially my mother as she waited and always believed my father was alive.
Soon, we got a piece of bad news from Bendery - my elder brother Grisha was
arrested. My brother worked as a driver and was accused of speculations with
documents and of stealing a truckload of sugar. He was married, had two small
children. My brother bravely defended himself; after all, he participated in war, was
wounded and was awarded governmental medals. He had personal attitude towards
the Nazi. In his letter from the battlefield he wrote: ‘I am here to revenge our
grandmothers and grandfathers, all our relatives, our entire nation, who suffered
from Hitler’s crooks.’
Photo #12 Grisha in Vienna, Red Army, 1944
My father left to Bendery to offer support to my brother’s family. By bribing
someone, he managed to cut the sentence to one year detention in prison. In winter,
he was standing in long lines to take food to Grisha, a fact that cost him his life. He
did not even have the last chance to see my brother. All year, before my brother’s
release, he spent with my brother’s wife Raya and his small children. He knew the
‘soviet law’ so well, and while trying to make Grisha’s wife feel better, he, himself was
hopeless and did not believe in miracles. All he went through left deep traces on his
health that was already weakened by long years of detention. A couple of weeks
before Grisha’s release, my father passed away. He didn’t wait for Peyrets, who was
on his way to Bendery to give a helping hand. My husband only managed to get there
in time for the funeral.
Photo #13 Visiting the brother (from left
standing) Grisha, Grisha’s elder son Izya
and Peyrets (from left sitting), Grisha’s
wife Raya, Basya’s mother-Feyga and
Basya, Bendery 1975
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Photo #14 At the wedding of Grisha’s youngest son Alexander, Bendery 1967
N. G. You keep mentioning your husband Peyrets Goldmacher who is a
well-known leader in our community. How did you meet him? When did you
understand you were meant for each other? You have been together for 70
years already. Fantastic!
B. G. I read somewhere a quotation that I liked ‘Love is not when two people
are looking at each other but in the same direction’. That is the case of Peyrets and
me; we looked to the Middle East, more precisely, toward Eretz Yisrael. Although, I
will tell you a secret, it did not hurt us to look at each other as well. Let me start from
the very beginning.
Zionist movement in Bendery, as well as in the whole Romania and Central and
Eastern Europe (before the Zionist movement was outlawed in Soviet Russia after the
October Revolution) became widespread and extremely popular among Jewish youth.
Photo #15 The members of ‘Hashomer Hatsair’ in camp, Carpathia, Romania 1938
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The new generation lost their belief in the idea that solving the Jewish problem
could be achieved by enlightenment, progress and liberalization in the countries of
their residence (Bund’s ideology). The events that occurred in the first third of the
20th century, specifically the brutal anti-Semitism that seized the whole European
continent, set even the last illusions at rest. The national idea of peoplehood, nation
and state revival became a guiding light for the Jewish youth. The lucky happy star
was shining in the East for us. We were strangers here in the ‘Galut’. It was
important to choose a new path, a path that would lead to Zion, to the land of our
ancestors. This was our Homeland, our destiny. That was the political, ideological,
and moral credo of our generation.
Most of the Jewish young people were overwhelmed with Zionist socialistic
Ideology and were deeply impressed by the tragic events of hatred and persecution of
the Jews. Many of my peers were joining such organizations as ‘Beitar’ or ‘Hashomer
Hatsair’, the most radical movements of the Socialist Zionist spectrum.
Like true romantic ideologists, by means of making Aliyah, we sought to
reinvigorate the Palestinian socialist movement and feel the joy of being a part of this
grandiose project of rebuilding our own historic state. The Kibbutz movement was
quickly emerging, and by the time the World War II erupted there were around fifty
kibbutz settlements in the land of Israel.
Serious training was needed in order to turn our dream into reality. The
candidates were distinctively calling themselves ‘Halutzim’, which means pioneers. A
specialized labor and political training called ‘Hahshara’ was carried out by youth
organizations. We worked at farms and small factories owned by wealthy Jews who
supported the Romanian Zionist movement.
The main goal was to train professionals to colonize Palestine, learn to live the
communal life where everything was shared including food and clothing.
We studied Hebrew, the history of the Kibbutz movement, the Jewish history.
The training was not pretentious, but serious and challenging. There were times we
even had to starve. Not everyone was able to withstand it. Those who survived and
overcame all difficulties became well prepared and convinced pioneers ready for all
the troubles that were awaiting them in the process of obtaining their Homeland.
Gradually, we were changing ourselves. The new Jew emerged that formed the core
of the nation; the Galut fear was vanishing and inferiority complex was gradually
fading. Revival of the state came hand in hand with the nation’s revival.
We rightly considered ourselves the vanguard of the Zionist movement, people
who were supposed to turn ‘the dream into reality’. We were aware of the serious
political disputes among Haim Weizmann, Ben Gurion, and Vladimir Jabotinsky. I
do remember the words of Jabotinsky who said that the ability to shoot was essential
in the process of education and national revival. He considered our training too
‘pacifistic’.
Despite all the drawbacks, the role of pioneers in the history of Zionist
movement was unique. Halutzim represented a moral example and romantic goal of
Jews all around the world. I think the kibbutz will forever stay as memorial of Zionist
epics.
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Photo #16 After the end of ‘Hahshara’. New generation
of Halutzim. From right: Peyrets, Basya, Fayvel.
Bendery 1939
N. G. Peyrets and you talk intensively about ‘Hashomer Hatsair’ youth
organization. Why was it so attractive for you?
B. G. Hashomer Hatsair’s methods of upbringing were special. The organization
used elitist methods of upbringing and education. That is why it left a deep trace in
my conscious and the conscious of my peers.
The organization used scout methods of education like hiking, traveling,
camping and sports competitions. Even the uniform, which we proudly wore, was
copied from scouts and it contained shorts, boots, and shirts with special sewn
pockets, scarves and other distinctive elements.
Soviet pioneers also copied something from the scouts. As wired as it may
sound it was the well-known ties. The difference was that the soviet pioneers had
their red ties – the color of their red flag; while the scouts had the green ties - the
color of nature.
Our daily shirts were grey, while the holiday ones were white. Our assemblies
were very interesting. We, the Bessarabian Jewish youth, usually gathered in
Chisinau. The meetings started with Israeli and Jewish songs. An extensive
educational program on history of Zionism and its leaders was carried out during
these meetings. We discussed the socialist reforms in Palestine and Marxism. The
general knowledge lectures were very complex as well. We were calling our improvised
school ‘ulpan’. ‘Will you come to Ulpan today?’ or ‘I will meet you at Ulpan’. This term
was always at the tips of our tongues. The ‘meetings’ took place in joyful atmosphere
with songs and dances, which, by the way, did not stop but rather facilitated the
absorption of serious cultural-historical programs.
Our summer camp was situated in the suburbs of Bendery. The place was
called Borisovka. It was a beautiful and picturesque place with orchards and
vineyards all around. It looked like ‘heaven on earth’. Traveling with our fellows to
the camp was a true holiday for Peyrets and me. Our trips to camps in Carpathian
Mountains and in Transylvania, located to the left of the mountains, had the same
significance to us.
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N. G. Basya, you are telling that mostly children from ‘good families’,
more or less wealthy ones became members of these types of organizations.
Why? It would seem logical if young people from wealthy families go to more
‘prestigious’ right wing organizations such as ‘Beitar’ or ‘Makkabi’. How do
you explain such a paradox?
B. G. It is not quite true. A part of our peers from wealthy families attended
‘Beitar’ or ‘Makkabi’, while another one was going to ‘Hashomer Hatsair’. Only later, I
understood that there was a purpose for ‘Hashomer Hatsair’ to try involving the
‘golden’ youth. I believe that the main idea was that the more educated and literate
young people would understand better these complex ideas of Zionism. Indeed, the
ideas of nations’ revival, the revival of historical land of Israel in conjunction with
building of socialistic agricultural communes were not easy to grasp. Apparently,
this was the politics of the ideological leadership of ‘Hashomer Hatsair’.
The young people from modest families were attending, for instance, such
organizations as ‘Gordonya’. This organization, using modern terms, was following
the ‘labor’ ideas of Gordon, Ben Gurion and other Zionist politicians. It doesn’t mean,
though, that the son of a tailor could not attend ‘Beitar’ or ‘Makkabi’ as well as
‘Hashomer Hatsair’. There were a few young people from some poor families in our
group as well.
N. G. For me this is completely different example of Jewish youth
upbringing; it is a different spirit. Perhaps it was not easy to create and
implement all of this into reality. How did you, the ‘green’ youth, learn to use
these methods?
B. G. It was a well thought and organized process. The political leaders of our
kibbutzim (they were members of the Israeli kibbutzim movement ‘Kibbutz Haartzi’)
set up the ‘Shlihim’ system (Hebrew: messengers). They sent two-three Shlihim who
were experienced teachers and political leaders, to each country including Romania.
Twice or three times a year they organized seminars for the members of Central
Committee of Romanian ‘Hashomer Hatsair’. These well-trained activists in turn were
training the local preeminent activists. After this, it was compulsory for certain local
activists (for ½ year or a year) to visit other organizations as ‘Shlihim’ and work with
the local members or better say, lead them ideologically.
N. G. Indeed, well thought and original system of education and
leadership of local organizations. Who was supporting these ‘Shlihim’? Did
they get a salary?
B. G. What are you talking about, Nelly? What salary? These people were
ideologists. This was their community and political duty to their people and their
organization. They were supposed to support themselves, meaning they had to find
ways to feed themselves. Usually they were teaching Hebrew. We helped them find
students. If they were not fluent in Hebrew, they were looking for beginners to tutor
them. Of course, the members of our organization, after discussing with parents,
invited them for ‘Shabbat’. Peyrets had more chances than others did as his family
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owned a restaurant. Overall, nobody could take them ‘under their wing’ to sustain
them. I don’t think they were well fed all the times. Let’s not forget we talk about
ideologists, dreaming of changing ‘the whole Jewish world’ and each of them had to
contribute with their hard work and sacrifices.
N. G. It seems they were not quite satiated there. Can you recall some
specific ‘Shlihim’?
B. G. Of course I can. When I only started going to ‘ulpan’ we had a ‘shliha’
named Pnina. She was from Beltsy, if I am not mistaken, a city that had a strong
‘Hashomer Hatsair’ organization. An extremely pleasant young girl that was only four
or five years elder that us. She impressed me a lot: a true young lady, pioneer and
dreamer. She became my first role model; that was how I always envisioned
‘Halutzim’.
N. G. The things you recall look fantastic. But is that true that these
‘Shlihim’ were so keen to go to different towns and ‘live half starving’?
B. G. As far as I know, not all of them. The thing is that the Political Committee
of Romanian Zionist movement had its own ‘lever’. It was the ‘priority list for
emigrating on ‘Aliyah Bet’ system. The candidate was asked to go for a year to a city
as ‘shaliah’. Upon his/her consent, the candidate’s departing date got one year
closer. After all, the first one to be sent to Palestine was the most active people that
were devoted to Zionist ideology. It was the most effective tool for those who were
willing to get to Palestine as soon as possible. Young men were mostly interested as
they were recruited into Romanian army at a certain age. Believe me, this was not an
attractive perspective for young men.
N. G. As strange as it might sound, your ‘Halutzim’ remind me of
Russian ‘professional revolutionaries’. The same sort of sincerity,
commitment, despise of money are similar in both groups. These qualities
were characteristic to Marxist revolutionaries of the ‘first call’.
Photo # 17 Basya in Bendery - ‘halutza’
expecting departure to Palestine, 1940
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Photo # 18 Peyrets in Bendery City Park
expecting departure to Palestine, 1939.
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B. G. The twentieth century was rich with noble ideas and high goals. Of
course, there were ideological knights and pioneers in different political movements.
It is worth mentioning that only the Zionist idea was brought to life.
By the way, there was a tight competition among potential pioneers for the
right to depart first. The most active teachers were rewarded for their contribution
and had the chance to get on the top of the list. I would say that there definitely was
a moral stimulus. That was a certain ‘lever’ used by the leadership of Romanian
Zionist movement.
N. G. It was in ‘Hashomer Hatsair’ that you first met Peyrets? Was it
then when you started your common journey?
B. G. I heard about Goldmacher family and their wonderful sons before. There
were three of them. Peyrets was the youngest one in the family. We were the same
age. It was during our activity in our youth Zionist organization that I took a closer
look at him. It turned out that we had a lot in common: favorite books, poems, but
the most important were the same goals and principles.
Peyrets never loved dancing; this was my element and my passion. I loved
singing as well. It was the impact of my aunts’ musical education. Peyrets confessed
later, after one of our camp concerts, that he was highly impressed with such a small
girl possessing such a powerful voice.
I recalled how we climbed the Petrosul pick of 2200 meters high in the
Carpathian Mountains. Peyrets was carrying my back pack and was trying hard to be
helpful. In return he was getting the ‘don’t worry, I will do it myself’ answer.
Carpathian Mountains are all covered with coniferous forests with only pines growing
on the top. We had a local person as a guide. I remember how we went through
different towns marching like scouts under the sounds of drums, wearing holiday
uniforms.
That was our youth, the beautiful and naive youth. Jabotinsky was right when
he spoke about the lack of military training by the Zionist youth. It is funny now to
remember that he was considered an ‘extremist’. But that time all of us were
optimists and were able to enjoy life at its full extent. The fact that Peyrets came
along on these trips made them even more captivating.
N. G. How was your ‘university’ training? How were Peyrets and you
preparing for the new life in Palestine?
B. G. I got my first Zionist education at home. As I mentioned already, my
family was well educated and wealthy. My mother liked music and reading books. We
had interesting visitors in our house: writers, journalists, artists, musicians,
financiers, and of course political leaders including supporters of Zionism.
I ingested this extraordinary atmosphere. Apparently, I was quite an advanced
girl for my generation. At five, I was already reading Russian books and at six I easily
read ‘Notes of a Doll’, ‘Notes of a Young Gymnast’ and other Russian books written by
Lydya Charsky, a writer of children books.
On Fridays I was helping my mother lit up the Shabbat candles and said the
traditional Hebrew prayer.
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We had two small boxes in the house. I was putting money for Israel in the
whitish-blue box, while in the other one, which had an ivory color; I put money for
the needy members of the Jewish community. Charity, after all, is a noble Jewish
tradition. The word ‘tsedaka’ came to me with my ‘mother’s milk’. My grandfather
used to say that if a person asks for help, you should help him with everything you
can without asking questions.
Photo № 18а. The box to collect money
for the Jewish National Fund for Israel
(English version).
David Perstov, my mother’s brother, was the leading activist of Zionist ‘Poaley
Zion’ party, while my mother was the member of the Women’s Zionist Organization.
I remember that my mother and Aunt Sonya (my father’s sister) took me to
help them raise money for ‘Keren Kayemet Le’Israel’ – the Jewish Foundation. The
fundraising was devoted to ‘TU B’Shvat’ (a ‘New Year’ for trees festival in Israel). We
gathered so called ‘gift bags’ with fruit growing in Israel. Then, the members of the
youth organizations delivered these bags to Jewish homes and raised money for
Zionist Foundations. When I grew older, I was raising money for Israel as well.
I do also recall the balls. Women, members of Zionist group, organized them for
raising money for Israel charity foundations. Young people cooked various treats,
made costumes and sent out invitations. What wonderful concerts they organized,
with music, dances, and masquerade! Imagination was the key to all.
We,
gymnasium students, were working as ‘waitresses’. People were putting their
donations on the trays. All the money was directed towards the development of the
settlement movement in Palestine.
Peyrets, who was a natural leader, was already the head of one of Bendery’s
Youth Zionist organization. He impressed me with his confidence, courage, and
determination. I have to confess that meeting him influenced me a lot in the sense of
my personality formation. It identified my entire destiny.
N. G. As I understood, you had a well-developed Jewish identity even
before meeting Peyrets. You and your chosen one had a happy and happy-golucky childhood as well as a fortunate youth. Identity is good, but I cannot
believe that by 17-18 years old you were ready and used to hard labor (I
suppose you had maids at home), and had the ability to overcome difficulties.
In the real world I guess you did not have much trouble.
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B. G. That is the reason we ‘reached out to the people’. Jewish youth and
intellectuals, getting ready to become pioneers, started to acquire professional skills
immediately. Young people abandoned prestigious universities and enrolled in Jewish
vocational schools (ORT).
The basic profession for the young women was seamstress. When I turned 17,
I together with some of my girlfriends went to Romanian city of Bacau. There was a
large factory that was managed by a businessman who was compassionate toward
Zionism. That was exactly my ‘labor training’ before the trip to Palestine. These
Halutz communities received small stipends from Jewish charity Foundations. Of
course, our parents sent us food packages that immediately became ‘community’
property, and in almost half an hour there was nothing left of them. On Saturdays,
we were taken to different homes for Shabbat.
After we finished our ‘vocational training’, we were sent to agricultural work
such as plowing, harvesting, milking the cows, and housekeeping. We had our
practical training in agricultural manors. The Romanian name for them was
‘moshya’. I do remember how Mikhail, local Moldavian manager, was teaching us
how to work the land. He was deeply surprised that such educated and literate young
people could not see the difference between weeds and crops. ‘What do they teach
you in gymnasiums’? – He was constantly asking.
Peyrets, who was trained as a ‘baker’, once decided to treat us with homemade
bread. Though it was his first attempt and the bread came out lumpy, we all enjoyed
it before it would turn into coals. I never got to the second attempt, as never again in
his life did my husband bake again; neither bread, nor buns.
As for me, I learned to sew and knit very well. Needlework has been my hobby
and recreation for many years.
There were around forty young Zionists on this country mansion. These were
the last prewar years. We didn’t feel the war coming our way, we lived joyfully and
friendly. Who could foresee the future? Who would have thought then that many of
our comrades would perish in the flames of war and Holocaust?
N. G. What was your parents’ attitude towards long separation? After
all, your departure was planned seriously and would last for long. It wasn’t a
holiday trip you were going to. Weren’t they afraid to let you, young and
inexperienced, go away from them?
B. G. Our parents were companionate and were sharing our love to the reviving
Homeland. Probably deep down, they were worried and nervous facing the upcoming
separation. Yet, they never showed it and never tried to make us change our minds.
Moreover, relatives were collecting money for me as I had the intention to continue
my studies in Palestine and graduate an agricultural school for girls. The tuition was
thirty thousand lei.
Peyrets and I thought that upon settling in a kibbutz we would be able to take
our parents and bring them to live with us after they would spend few more years in
Diaspora.
Some of my relatives lived in Palestine already. For instance, one of my
grandfather’s partners who was also a banker. In 1936, he sold his bank, moved to
Bucharest and started sending fruit and vegetables to Palestine. The money for the
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produced he kept in the bank of Palestine… After a while, when the biggest part of
the money was this way sent to Palestine, he moved there together with his kids.
This shrewd plan was necessary, as it was impossible to directly take money to
Palestine. It was forbidden to take money out of Romania. As far as you can see,
some Jews were more far–sighted than others.
Definitely, our education and upbringing in Romania was much different from
that of those young assimilated Jews in the 1920’s – 1930’s in the Soviet Union,
where Zionism was outlawed.
II. In Bendery. Soviet Bessarabia
N. G. Basya, let us talk about the most dramatic events in your and
Peyrets’ life. How did it happen that both of you found yourselves in
Bessarabia when the Soviet power took over?
B. G. As I mentioned previously, by the beginning of the 1940 we both
successfully completed our ‘Halutzim’ training for the trip to Palestine. We were
included in the ‘Aliyah Bet’ lists. We waited for the opportunity to sail away to
Palestine illegally on the ship that was purchased for transportation of people like us.
Peyrets was assigned to return to Bendery and together with his friend Fayvel
Gorodetsky continue leading the local ‘Hashomer Hatsair’ organization to prepare the
next generation to become pioneers-Halutzim. By that time, our organization was
working underground since in the late 1930’s the activity of Zionist organizations in
Romania was banned. Under the influence of Nazi Germany, which became even
more aggressive and influential in Central Europe, anti-Semitism was getting
stronger in the Romanian government as well.
I decided to go to Bucharest before my departure to say goodbye to my aunt
Zyna and uncle Lyova with who I was in a very close relationship. On the same
occasion I wanted to try to push my way up on the list of the applicants for the
agricultural college in Palestine. This educational institution for young girls was
called ‘Meshek Hapoalot’.
We were notified that our turn for departure is approaching. The next ship
with ‘Halutzim’ was to depart Constanta port (Romania) in September of 1940. The
ship was on repairs at that time. My mother asked Peyrets to go to Bucharest and
bring me home so that I could spend the last months with her. After all, Palestine
was considered then a faraway country. It took about three weeks to get there sailing
through the Black and Mediterranean Seas.
Peyrets easily convinced me to return home with him. And we got back to
Bendery on June 20 1940, if I am not mistaken. On June 28, 1940, the Red Army
entered Bendery. It was then that the gates for departure closed for many years
ahead.
N. G. I suppose it was your destiny, Basya. Had you stayed in Bucharest,
you would end up in Israel whereas Peyrets could not get there from Bendery.
This means that both your and Peyrets’ lives would be different. But tell me
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please, how did the Jewish population of Bessarabia react to the Red Army
arrival and to the establishment of Soviet power?
What was Peyrets’ and your attitude regarding this event?
B. G. I remember how the Red Army arrived on Friday. Usually my
grandmother started preparing ‘the Saturday challah’ on Thursday evening. She
considered that the challos made in bakeries not true ‘Saturday challos’. On Friday
morning she already put her challos in the hot oven. I helped her with cleaning the
apartment and getting it prepared for Saturday.
That specific moment, Peyrets rushed to me and told me to leave everything
and go with him to the bridge. The Red Army was crossing the bridge over the
Dniester River. That was true; the army was crossing the bridge. I do remember how
Peyrets, who was politicized despite his young age, said: ‘All is good except one most
important thing. I am afraid that these ‘guests’ will strongly interfere with our plans
to leave to Palestine. Who knows how this new government will change our destiny’.
He was right this time. Soviets delayed our departure from the Soviet Union for
40 long years!
The troops kept coming and coming. Suddenly Peyrets told me - ‘Look, this
man with many decorations must be their leader, Timoshenko’. I didn’t like the man.
He was bold and old. I presume he was over 40 years old. For us, green youth, he
was an extremely old military person. Semen Timoshenko, as we found out later,
was born in Bessarabia in the village of Furmanka.
Back then, we knew nothing about the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact or the secret
protocols that allowed Hitler to start the WWII and not be afraid of second Eastern
front. We did not understand that it was actually a new turn in history and we
would be involved in a bloody massacre.
Stalin’s friendship with Hitler strengthened anti – Semitism in the Soviet
Union. We understood all of this later, when after becoming ‘overnight’ Soviet
citizens, we started to realize, slowly but gradually, what the Soviet government was
all about.
Initially, the local Jewish population was somehow positive about the change of
government in Bessarabia. As I said, the Romanian governments were replacing each
other, with every next becoming more anti-Semitic than the previous, trying to please
and to be friends with the aggressive Nazi Germany.
We, educated in the spirit of ‘Hashomer Hatsair’ and Marxism, believed that the
‘friendship of all nations’, ‘brotherhood of all people’ slogans were realities in the
Soviet state. It took some time for both Peyrets and me to realize that the slogan
‘there should not be rich and poor in a proletarian state’ meant in fact that all people
should be ‘equally poor’. The socialist country, based on ‘Marx-Lenin-Stalin’ party
understanding, meant that all countries’ wealth, including its natural resources,
factories, plants, agricultural lands, houses in cities and villages, was literally
nationalized and belonged to the only owner - the Soviet State. Moreover, this state
based on empty words was called ‘peoples state’. In reality, people had no direct or
indirect implication or authority to participate in the governance of this great
country.
The Bolshevik Party was apparently ruling, but in reality, even the party
members had no power whatsoever. They played the role of humble servants of the
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will of ‘their’ Central Committee and Soviet Government. Later on, we understood
that it was also a fiction, and that even the members of the Central Committee had
no real independent authority. They were obedient to any decision made by the
Communist Party Political Directorate. As we later found out, even this was not the
whole story. De facto, there was one person who decided everything in this ‘most
democratic, socialist country in the world’, and it was Stalin himself. No one dared to
disobey his orders and decisions, because Stalin was keeping everyone under
threatening control by means of oprichniks, the KGB. The longer we lived in this
socialistic state and learned the true situation in the country, the better we started to
comprehend this complicated structure of ‘political governance of Soviet State’.
It was a far cry from the life we dreamed of living in our kibbutz. There, it is
true that the decisions are taken collectively and everyone has the right to express
his opinion. The majority of votes solve the fundamental issues.
Gradually, the longer we lived in the Soviet Union, the better we understood the
way ‘the real-socialism’ works. We saw the impact of the governments’ unsuccessful
rulings on the lives of ordinary citizens. It has become clearer to us that this
socialism was a fiction. It was far from being the ‘people’s rule of common citizens’ as
it involved new forms of enslavement. As a result, all people become dependent on
government. It included the working place which was the only family income
generator, living space which was provided by the government, daily supply with
bread and food products and other. Not only the agriculture, but also the distribution
of the agricultural products was in the hands of the state.
N. G. Basya, we got carried away with your and Peyrets perception of
real socialism, which is an interesting issue itself. You were able to compare
the situation in our ‘democratic’ state and in capitalist Romania. I did not
have the possibility to compare and evaluate. We were kept in the ‘fog of
Soviet propaganda’ and we knew nothing the way people live in the West.
Interestingly, you compare the Soviets with your ‘dreamed of’ socialist
kibbutz.
But still, tell me please, what exactly happened with you in Bessarabia
later? How was the new government acting?
B. G. To begin with, on the third day of the new authority executions began.
The principal of Bendery gymnasium was executed for allegedly helping fighting
against communist cluster that developed among students. The ex-mayor of the city,
a Russian intellectual who did so many things for the city wellbeing, was executed as
well. Under his rule, the town that once was a ‘Shtetl’ in the pale of settlement, with
streets flooding in mud, turned into a prosperous city of Western type. With running
water in houses, streets with granite stones, paved sidewalks and trees along all
streets. He was accused of supposedly narrowing the asphalted roads by five
centimeters and steeling the saved money.
I think the main goal of the new authority was inculcating fear in people, so
that no one had the guts to object to the ‘new order’. All the arrests and executions
were decided with no investigation or trial.
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Later, a real looting began. They were going around, coming into the houses of
wealthy people and ‘expropriating’ the most valuable things. They called this process
‘nationalization’.
They came to our house, the apartment of Peyrets’ parents, where we lived
back then. While opening the bedroom closet, a military officer asked why we had so
many clothes and underwear. He confiscated several pajamas and silk nightgowns.
They took other things as well. Nobody dared say a thing. Everybody was frightened
with shooting and other horrible acts.
There was, by the way, confusion with those nightgowns. In the park, where
the military orchestra used to play classic music they organized dances. Officers’
wives came dressed up in those silk nightgowns that were embroidered with frills and
laces. The girls considered them ‘sophisticated ball dresses’. Frankly speaking, we did
not even laugh at them. We started to understand that this was just the result of
their extremely poor lives under the socialist regime.
From the very first days, Bessarabia began to spiral into ruins. The stores,
restaurants stayed opened but the owners were notified that all the money they earn
should be taken to the bank and deposited on ‘a special account’ of each owner.
Slowly but surely, the military started to buy all the goods. In a couple of days, the
stores that always had a large diversity of goods were left emptied.
The secret of this incredible purchasing power was simple. The Soviet power set
up an exchange rate for the Romanian lei, which was 40 lei for one ruble. Back then,
we did not know the real value of this ruble, which later we learned was very low.
This ruble exchange rate was exorbitant, a true robbery. The Soviets literally robbed
everybody. We were not able to buy many things with our lei, whereas they could
afford to buy anything with their rubles, and more than that – any amounts.
N. G. It is interesting how the Soviets robbed the local population by
means of such simple methods. I would have never thought there were such
easy ways to clean up somebody else’s pockets or even a fortune people
worked their whole lives for.
How else the new power distinguished itself in Bessarabia?
B. G. The new authorities settled military personnel and their families in
people’s apartments. And the population of the city grew rapidly.
N. G. It is understandable as you had shops and opened markets with a
variety of products. Village people were selling fresh products. And taking into
account the ‘favorable’ exchange rate for ruble, I bet a lot of people from other
Soviet cities moved there. It was a heaven on earth for them.
B. G. Not really. Bessarabia was a ‘closed zone’ for most soviet citizens. Only
those with special permissions from the state authorities could come. Mainly, these
were the military personnel and the newly appointed Soviet officials that were
engaged in the establishment of the new regime: party bosses, administrative staff,
school teachers, bank and other clerks. Even this was more than enough.
People who lived in other Romanian provinces when the Soviets overtook the
power started coming back. The thing is that many in Romania thought that they lost
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Bessarabia because of the Jews who supposedly liked the Bolsheviks. It is true that
there were silly Jews who were making fun of Romanian retreating army. As
retaliation, the Romanian authorities officially permitted pogroms and lootings of
Jewish homes and businesses.
There were many victims among the Jewish
population of Romania. The Jews who descended from Bessarabia did their best to
come back. After all, no other countries were letting the Jews in.
As a result, the population of the city doubled during the first year of the new
regime before the beginning of the war with Germany.
N. G. Basya, until now you told me what happened to the Jewish
population of Bendery. How did the new power influence other ethnic groups
in the city? After all, as you told me, the population of Bendery as well as
whole Bessarabia was heterogeneous.
B. G. The new rules impacted the majority of population in the same way as
Jews. Not only Jewish people were businessmen. They also got ‘cleaned up’. People
who previously ran away from Soviets, felt terrible. The same situation was with the
religious people. There were many old believers in the city that later were even
persecuted. Nevertheless, there was a layer of people they didn’t get involved with,
and specifically, the ethnic Germans. They were a few in the city. The MolotovRibbentrop pact stipulated that the ethnic Germans were allowed to depart to
Germany freely and could take all the things they could carry with them.
N. G. What was the reaction of German population to such an invitation
to ‘the historical homeland’? Were they willing to go? In general, were your
Bendery Germans infused with Hitler’s ideas or not?
B. G. Based on my grandfather’s stories I understood that the majority of the
German population was not keen to leave. First of all, almost all of them had a pretty
decent life in Bendery. They were businessmen, restaurant and other companies’
owners. There were also wealthy craftsmen with many employees, doctors and even
small bankers. Nobody liked the idea of leaving their jobs and valuables behind and
selling it for nothing. Everybody was afraid that the Soviets would start ‘nationalizing’
everything. At the same time they didn’t want to be refugees even in their homeland
Germany, a country they knew so little. As for their political views, no anti-Semitism
was detected at the time they lived in Bendery. After all, they did business with Jews
that constituted the majority of Bendery population. My grandfather worked with
them for many years after he closed his colonial goods shop. Many Germans would
not cut a major deal without my grandfather. He was their expert and trustee in
business. My grandfather was known for his exceptional decency and competence.
That is why I knew all about local German attitudes. He was able to freely
communicate with them in either German or Russian. For more than twenty-five
years we lived in houses owned by Germans.
So, I think many of them were reluctant to become refugees at an advanced
age. The fact is that Hitler’s government warned them that if they did not leave,
sooner or later, they would be sent to Siberia. Some Germans were literally crying but
all left for Germany.
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N. G. Let us move to the most important part. What happened to Peyrets
and you? How did you adapt to the new government?
B. G. As I repeatedly mentioned, there was nothing else that interested us but
our departure to Palestine and building kibbutzim. We abandoned our educational
institutions in order to pass special Zionist training. Nevertheless, that training did
not provide us with a professional vocation. When we clearly understood that we
would not be able to leave the Soviet Union in the nearest years, we started thinking
of how to survive in the meantime. We realized we had to get some professional
training. We decided that the best thing for us was to become agronomists. At least,
it would be useful in Palestine, in our kibbutzim.
We took the books to refresh the school subjects and started preparing. We
went to Kishinev to the famous Agricultural University. We found out that a working
faculty for an express training of local specialists was opened. Apparently, it was not
as easy as we thought. We were explained that the faculty was opened for only rural
areas’ students. This category of students had benefits like stipends, preparatory
courses and the like. We asked a simple question: ‘What should we, city students,
do? We want to embrace a profession and be useful citizens of our country’. The piece
of advice we received was rather wise.
A Pedagogical Institute, with express courses for preparing teachers for
elementary school, was planned to be opened soon in Bendery. People with completed
secondary education got their ‘Educational Science’ training in just one year. That is
why one could get a profession and a teacher diploma fast.
N. G. It is understandable; the Soviet officials of the Kishinev University
did not look for bright students, but rather solved the ‘countries’ social
objectives’ from ‘the class policy’ point of view. I can only imagine the level of
students of schools from rural areas.
B. G. We did not analyze their actions as thoroughly. We knew that we received
a piece of good advice in exchange to our failure to be admitted. Moreover, we could
study being at home. The Soviets were cleaning our parents’ pockets and we needed
to somehow live while we studied. So we returned to our hometown and entered the
Pedagogical Institute and took the ‘express training of elementary school teachers’
course.
N. G. What was the level of training in that institution? Was it serious or
just superficial? What was the study language? As far as I remember, Bendery
was part of Soviet Moldavian Republic.
B. G. Imagine, they were preparing teachers for Moldavian schools but the
language of training was Russian. All the subjects, except Moldavian language, of
course, were taught in Russian. The program itself was serious and intensive and
went for eight hours a day, six days a week, from 8am to 4pm every day, except
Sundays. The majority of professors were highly qualified, especially in such subjects
as math, physics, chemistry, and geography. We studied Russian (6 hours a week)
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and Romanian (also 6 hours a week). Though it was not easy, Peyrets and I were good
students. Other students also did well in school; after all, they were from the city and
80% of them were Jewish. All of them had completed secondary education. In
Romania, as I referred earlier, secondary education was very solid and based on
Western European educational programs.
N. G. Thus, you were studying, getting ready for the new life in the Soviet
Union. It is interesting to know when Peyrets and you started to realize what
the Soviet power was all about.
B. G. We were not very critical of the Soviet regime at first since we were
brainwashed by the socialist ideas. The Soviet Union in our perception was the ‘first
socialist country in the world’ where the power was in the hands of workers and
farmers, working people.
III. Exile to Far North. War. Evacuation.
B. G. My grandfather was the fastest to understand the essence of the new
authorities. He was a great master at growing grapes and making wine, he was well
respected and authoritative figure in the town. That is why he was summoned, as
well as some other individuals, to a ‘brainwashing’ session, to convince him of the
advantages of the soviet lifestyle. Grandfather was a wise man, he was not arguing,
nodded his head. He was behaving, as he was telling, in a ‘diplomatic’ way. He
gathered everyone at the ‘family board’, and whispered, ‘Run at your first
opportunity. Naked, barefooted – run… This is not the authority of order and justice –
these are thieves and demagogues. I don’t believe them’.
However, there was no place to run to… The communist regime took decisive
actions on its new territory: independent Jewish organizations were closed, the
number of institutions, where people would speak Yiddish, was reduced to a strict
minimum, thousands of political activists were imprisoned or sent to labor camps to
the farthest reaches of Russia, Zionist organizations were outlawed. We have even
had to hide the fact that we were part of these organizations, that we were ‘Hahshara’
trained, that we were dreaming of going to ‘faraway land’. It was not only
discrimination against Jews. They undertook similar actions against other ethnic
groups living on the annexed lands. There were talks however that too many Jews
were involved in the communist repressions. Quite often, the responsibility for the
repressive actions was shifted on the Jews. And though we felt that this is the end,
we were 19 and we had to go on with our lives and studying…
Peyrets’ parents were even more scared of the Soviet authorities. After all, they
were wealthy people in Romania. Although the Soviets have confiscated their
restaurant and homes, they realized from the words of the refugees that Soviets’
confiscation of property was not the worst thing that might come to pass. God knows
what else could happen.
During1940-1941, several waves of deportations of the varied local population
came about in Bendery. The last one occurred on June 13, 1941. Echelons with
those who were expelled by the Soviet government, were headed somewhere to the
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East. Many representatives of Jewish intellectuals, Zionists, Bund, Orthodox, as well
as secured and prosperous Jews, were forcibly, with no fanfare and no luggage, sent
to Central Siberia, Kazakhstan, Yakutia, to the North. In this very last portion of
deportation of the population of Bendery, Peyrets’ parents were also caught.
N.G. Were you married at that time? How did you get married, and what
happened then?
B. G. Our marriage also was a ‘mishap’. We continued our education to become
teachers, and our life started to improve.
‘Dizziness of success’ left its ectype on our personal relationship. We were on
the rise and decided to take one more fortress. ‘How much longer can we postpone
making our relationship official, - said Peyrets – we are mature enough, to act on our
own. I cannot imagine my life without you. Who knows how life will be… It is
unpredictable… We should be together…’
These were the words, or approximate words, of a ‘very experienced’, 19 year
old Peyrets, who was taking me with his iron hand in the direction of registration
point of city’s ‘Civil Registry Office’. Frankly speaking, I did not dig in heels. But the
employees of the ‘Civil Registry Office’ told us that in order to register a marriage we
needed to have a witness and to pay a fee of three rubles. We had neither one nor the
other.
However, Peyrets was very determined. He generally likes bringing everything to
an end – to the victorious end… Within 10-15 minutes the elder brother Matus, who
looked quite formal, was brought as a witness. Sure, he was already 22. With his
generous hand, he handed the desired three rubles that were a barrier on the way of
our happiness, and nobly said, ‘It is my wedding present. You don’t have to pay it
back’.
‘Asenyka, I think – said my stern husband after receiving the ‘document with
the stamp’, - we still need to tell our parents’. I agreed. At the beginning, I agreed to
everything he would say. I was overwhelmed: my husband is the smartest, the most
impartial, the most fundamental and prudent… Moreover, he was a few days older
than I was.
We were disappointed by the reaction of our parents… We were ready for
everything… But they just did not take our marriage seriously. This was the most
painful… It was written with black on white on the document that Basya
Kishinevskaya and Peyrets Goldmacher became husband and wife. Yet, the first
evening after the registration, when Peyrets, based on his legal rights as a ‘husband’,
sit up in his wife’s house, my grandfather transparently hinted that it is time to
honor the hosts. The next day we made a try to ‘anchor’ in the husband’s house. Yet,
in the evening, Peyrets’ father gently offered walking me home. He told Peyrets, who
was just ready to walk his ‘lady’ home: ‘Young man, stay home and study. The exams
are at hand.’
Yet, after a week, ‘the ice broke’. Peyrets’ father came to my grandfather and
told him: ‘What are we going to do with these kids? They love each other… we should
help them. What this piece of paper from the ‘Civil Office’ means to them? We should
make everything by our Jewish traditions. The way it supposed to be. They started to
think and ponder. It was impossible under the Soviet rule to have a ‘normal’ Jewish
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wedding to comply with all the traditions and customs. We could have fallen under
suspicion. You could always find a bunch of paid and volunteer informers hanging
around. ‘The proletarian fight’ on the Jewish street was in high gear in the newly
annexed lands.
As always, my wise grandfather found a way out of a dead end situation by
suggesting celebrating our wedding on November 7th, on the ‘calendar red day’. On
the day of public holiday, no one would even think to wonder why the house of the
Goldmachers is full of music, dances, and laughter. To the contrary, this would once
again underscore our love and loyalty to the government. Yet, the number of guests
should be drastically reduced. There will be only close relatives, the most intimate.
Yet, ten people – adult men for a ‘minyan’ we would find. That was decided. Well,
truly, my grandmother was crying. Not of that kind of wedding for her
granddaughter, she was dreaming. ‘Not a wedding, but a ‘clandestine diversion’, - she
wailed.
Peyrets and I were still happy: young, healthy, full of energy. We were confident
that we would be happy, and able to overcome every difficulty and obstacle, and
would love each other for the rest of our lives. The most amazing thing is that it all
happened...
Now, Peyrets and I are hoping to soon celebrate the 70th anniversary of our
marriage. In the end, despite all the dramatic events, we not only survived, not only
were both happy, but I think, I have the right to state that we lived through a decent
life, the one that we both understand as being a ‘decent life’.
N. G. Could it be possible that you did not fight even once or you did not
have conflicts or misunderstandings?
B. G. Of course, we had… After a few days of the ‘illegal wedding’, I came back
home, to my mother…
The matter was like this. Peyrets and I were getting ready for exams and were
conscientiously taking math and biology tests. Peyrets set down for math, and I for
biology: we had it done by the end of the day. After finishing my work, I carefully
started to copy the reference assignment of my mathematics ‘genius’. Imagine my
surprise when Peyrets said that he would not let me ‘cheat’; instead he would be
ready to explain to me the logic of the problem solving, because otherwise I would not
develop my own mathematical thinking.
Shocked by his uncompromising stand, I agreed, and went out to take some air
for about an hour. In five minutes, I started to miss him, and decided to come back. I
was really surprised and angry to find out that my stern pedant was quietly rewriting
my freshly baked biology assignment work.
I grabbed my bag, threw in it my notebooks, books, manuals – it was my main
‘dowry’, and, saying that ‘I was totally disappointed in him and will never come back’,
went to my mother.
Fortunately I did not have to walk far, only a block and a half. At home, I did
not tell a word, locked myself in the room and started to cry over my broken love and
life. In the evening, I heard a voice in the hall. But it wasn’t Peyrets’ voice… I did not
think he would come to make up to me. I knew he was proud and would never make
the first step. This was the voice of his father. He entered my room, and listened to
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my confused story about mathematics and biology. The first version of the argument
he heard from the ‘abandoned husband’. ‘Basenyka, - asked me my father in law, did I and my wife upset you with something?’
‘No’, - I said. ‘So what is the deal then’, - he went on suavely, - if we did not
hurt you, then come back to us’. ‘What about Peyrets, - I asked’. ‘Peyrets? Somehow
the fellow got surprised, - what about Peyrets? Mother cooked such a tasty dinner for
you, and sent me for you… The dinner is getting cool. We are waiting for you…’
My tears dried off. With the guard of honor, escorted by my father-in-law, who
was carrying my impossibly heavy bag, staffed with books, I walked into my
husband’s life. It was all true; they were waiting for me… The whole family was sitting
around the table, waiting for me to start the dinner. The entire evening, Peyrets, with
an ashamed face, was all around me and tried to flatter me in all possible ways. ‘I
came to mama and papa, not to you’, - I did not fail to clarify myself. It seemed to me,
he did not really believe it, but the same evening we made up.
Today, when I hear definite statements, that parents should not interfere in the
lives of their children, I remember this 68 year old case. Sometimes an intelligent and
delicate intervention of wise adults can play a positive role.
N. G. Did you ever fight again?
B. G. Events began to develop with such speed and in such an insidious
manner, that we started to ‘grow up’ fast, as in a fairy tale: by leaps and bounds…
We, literally, grew up in one day, in the day when we understood that the
Goldmacher family is on the list of people to be deported to Siberia.
That is the case – the man plans and God, in the meanwhile, laughs. We
wanted to go to the South, but went the North. We wanted to go on a ship, but went
on a train instead, in a ‘port cabin’. We wanted to get a professional degree – did not
work out… We always wanted to be together. Not likely… Fate got in the middle.
They were sending to Siberia only Peyrets, his parents, and brother. I was not
on the list. When they were making the list, we were not husband and wife yet.
When Peyrets was courting me, envious neighbors were always telling my mother:
‘Oh, your daughter is dating a ‘millionaire’. By ‘Bendery standards’, the Goldmacher
family looked fairly affluent. To such remarks, my mother would answer: ‘My
daughter is marrying a good young man.’ Peyrets’ parents were always told that
Basya Kishinevskaya is a banker’s granddaughter. ‘Peyrets wants to marry a very
good girl, - they were answering. She is decent, kind, intelligent. Oh, you should hear
how she sings…’
But the neighbors weren’t calming down. We looked too much of a wealthy
couple: a son of millionaire and a granddaughter of a banker. After the Soviets came,
the discussions on ‘expropriation of expropriators’ stopped naturally. There was
nothing to discuss about. About dowerless Basya and former rich heritor Peyrets…
Money went away, but we stayed. And the good girl Basya Kishinevskaya went to
Siberia after the good boy Peyrets Goldmacher.
The road to Siberia, to my husband, had been trodden yet by the Decembrists.
Many still remember the poem of N. Nekrasov ‘Russian women’. I would like to say
that Jewish women are not worse than that. Moreover, it is not only about me…
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However, all of this happened later on. Other dramatic events happened in our
lives in the meanwhile.
N. G. Basya, we touched a subject, that our ‘Soviet people’ were not
really informed about. Tell us from the beginning, how this process of
deporting of the Goldmacher family and people like them really unfolded.
B. G. It happened on the night of June 12th to 13th. The graduating exams
started at our pedagogical institute at that time, in the beginning of June. Of course,
those were the ‘hottest days’ for Peyrets and me, when we were staying late at nights
to prepare for the exams. Actually, both of us passed the exams very successfully, as
well as the majority of other students.
We just went to bed, when at 2 o’clock in the morning someone heavily
knocked on our door; three men entered our apartment. One of them was wearing a
KGB uniform, the second – an armed soldier with a rifle, and the third – a civilian.
As we were explained later, the last one was an ‘attesting witness’ of this crew.
They ordered everyone to ‘get out of bed’, stand by the wall with our hands up.
Everything was so scary and tragic, but I almost laughed out loud, when the KGB
man started prowling my father-in-law, who was usually sleeping in his underwear
(‘matskes’). He also began to frisk Peyrets and his elder brother, Matus, for guns.
Then, for almost 15 minutes, they were reading us the long ‘Resolution of the
Supreme Soviet of the Moldovan SSR’ on the fact that the entire family was decided
to be ‘sent into the depth of the country’ as exiles. The destination was not defined.
No question was allowed to be asked. They gave the family half an hour for packing one suitcase per person.
Since I was not on the list, I was told to stay home. The parents, Matus, and
Peyrets were put in the back of the trunk of a truck, covered with a tarpaulin,
together with other families.
I was amazed by the endurance of Peyrets’ parents. They did not cry nor
complain. May be they assumed that something like this might happen. After all,
they were more informed of the methods of the Soviet power. Maybe, they knew about
the possible exile way earlier than the others. The only one who was crying was me.
However, I allowed myself this weakness only after Peyrets and his family were taken
out of the house…
N. G. Unfortunately, these nightly ‘visiting methods’ by KGB are well
known for me since the Kyiv times. To tell the truth, people were taken away
by ‘black passenger cars’ and not by trucks. Probably it happened so because
it was about ‘individual visits’, and not mass deporting.
So, what happened then?
B. G. In the morning the city was ‘boiling’ from this overwhelming news. They
began to deport to ‘far away lands’ the majority of the population of the city: wealthy
people, former ‘political’ and ‘religious’ figures, and God know who else. Yet, what
was the most important for me, they were all sent in box-wagons, which were
standing on the sidetrack of the Bendery freight railway station.
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Naturally, I immediately ran to this station, and I saw a long echelon of boxwagons for cattle, full of people… I found the wagon with Peyrets and his family. I
was talking to them through the window of the box-wagon. First off all, I asked what
they want me to bring them from home. Mother told me that Peyrets’ father was not
with them. They had him in a different wagon ‘for men’ – heads of the family. And she
did not like this at all. She took her diamond ring out of her finger, and told me to
take it to the manager of our restaurant, EPD (Employee Provisioning Department)
worker. She told me to ask him to use his contacts at KGB, and do all the possible
and the impossible in exchange of that valuable ring to bring father to their car.
Afterwards, he also took care of their other needs: buy 3-4 loafs of bread, sausages,
and other products and bringing three small pillows and other little, stuff. The
manager took care of everything indeed. On the second day, Peyrets’ father was
transferred to their wagon.
N. G. What an amazing story! Tell me, why was it so important to
transfer him into their wagon? Maybe there was a concept to separate men
and women?
B. G. Imagine, that by reacting so quickly, she saved Peyrets’ father’s life. As it
turned out, women and children were sent to settlements in different parts of Siberia,
and men – sent to concentration camps. There, they had to work under very difficult
conditions of life, half-starved… Many of them could not stand the hard labor and
camp environment and died.
N. G. For how long did you manage to provide them the ‘first aid’, i.e. for
how long were they kept in Bendery in those box-wagons?
B. G. I was running to the freight railway station from morning till evening. I
saw how trucks covered with tarpaulin were coming by all the time, bringing new
families. Apparently they were bringing them from the regions close to our city.
On the fourth day, June 17, 1941, the freight railway station was empty. The
train with the people went ‘into the unknown’, at least in my understanding. Then,
again, I allowed myself the weakness and burst into real tears.
N. G. Still, it looks like it was not yet the worst period of those terrible
times. I remember that Peyrets gave this event even a positive evaluation in
one of his interviews: The Soviets wanted to make these ‘unreliable elements’
even worse, but probably this saved Peyrets and his family from the following
Holocaust, which did not omit Bendery.
B. G. You are probably right. However, I was not aware of this back then.
agreed with Peyrets that the moment they reach the destination he will write to
right away, and tell me what our next steps shall be. Both of us did not hit upon
idea that I could bring stamped envelopes along, so that he could write me on
way and send me letters.
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N. G. Were they able to get out of their wagons to ‘drop off letters’ in
mailboxes, or give them to the guards?
B. G. Certainly not. The military guards did not allow them to get out of the
wagons. They did not take any letters from them. On the way, as Peyrets told me
later, when the echelons were kept for a longer time on sidetracks in the stations,
local people approached them. Once they found out that people are sent to exile, they
were even bringing some food. People from the train could certainly relay on the
locals, and hand them over the letters for sending.
N. G. Of course local people were feeling sorry for the exiled. At that time
you could very seldom find a Soviet family, which did not suffer from the
permanent terror of the Soviet power.
B. G. Further was even worse. After several days, on the night of June 22,
1941, Germans started to bomb Bendery. The National Socialist Germany attacked
its ‘ally’ – the Soviet Union. It started from bombing the escape routes of the Red
Army. Indeed, Bendery was a very important strategic point. It was the only place to
have a bridge with rail road branch over Nistru (Dnestrt) River. First thing they
bombed the station and the territory around that bridge. Our relatives and friends
that lived close to those points had to hide in places closer to the center of the city.
During the second night of the war, I had ‘guests’ – Peyrets’ relatives, and some of
our friends from ‘Hashomer Hatsair’, who lived in the most dangerous regions. All
these events were distracting me in a way from sad thoughts. The exams at the
pedagogical institute were interrupted.
Each and every day I was waiting for ‘mail’ to come. Long after this, I found out that
they traveled in cattle wagons more than three weeks, before they reached the deep of
Siberia, at Omsk.
Only at this point, they started settling families to different evacuation points.
Some were sent to closest regions of Omsk, some were sent much further. The Goldmacher
family and three-fourth of other families from Bendery were directed to further regions of
Omsk- Hanta- Mansysk, the capital of the north nomads, people of Hanta and Mansa,
region of Arctic Circle. It means that they were traveling by ship three more weeks to get
there. There were no railroads at that time that could take them to their final destination.
N. G. Finally, you got letters from Peyrets, did you?
B. G. Unfortunately, no. On the fifth day of the war, my brother Grisha ran to us and
announced that the last train from Bendery departs the next day and that we all had to
evacuate. The German troops were approaching, and nothing good should be expected.
The thing is that, during the Soviet times Grisha worked as a train operator. The
whole Ministry of Railroads was ‘recruited’. The workers of the railroads were considered
‘mobilized’ and they were asked to evacuate together with the Red Army. They were allowed
to take their families along. That is why Grisha hurried to warn us that in three hours we
had to be ready to leave.
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I didn’t want to leave without receiving a note from Peyrets, but when Grisha saw
that I wasn’t packing he yield at me: ‘What are you waiting for, the Nazis? After the train
will cross the bridge it will be destroyed.’
It wasn’t just Grisha to warn me, but also the leader of the local Komsomol party of
Bendery. He was a young Jewish man from Tiraspol who said: ‘Basya, evacuate together
with your family, the further the better. Difficult times await us.’
N. G. Basya, how come the Secretary of Komsomol organization knew you?
Did you join the Komsomol during your studies at the pedagogical college?
B. G. No, of course not. This young man came to our college. Most of the students
were Jewish boys and girls from Bendery and surrounding areas. I was well known,
because I was the best shooter between boys and girls at the sports lessons. This young
leader liked to interact with youth. That is how Peyrets and I got to know him. He,
apparently, knew more things about the situation on the front line. He also had a better
understanding of the current military situation of the Red Army during the first days of the
war. But he was afraid to freely discuss it with us. The only thing he would say was: ‘Get
away as far as possible.’
N. G. What followed? How did you decide to evacuate in the end?
B. G. Well, Grisha hassled not only me but my mother as well. She wasn’t willing to
evacuate, taking into account that my grandmother and grandfather, her parents, were
strongly against leaving their home. They kept saying,’ We are old people; we don’t want to
become refugees. You are young, and that is a totally different story. We were always good
friends with Germans, speak German fluently, we hope we will find common language with
them. As for you, you better evacuate.’ My mother, even in tears and pain, took the
decision to evacuate together with Grisha and me. It was then that she told me, ‘Get ready
immediately, there is no other way; I hope we won’t be gone for long. I think in 2-3 weeks
the situation will calm down. And we will return home.’ At that point I made up my mind.
And as soon as our train took off and crossed the bridge, it was bombed in order to hurdle
the German troops.
N. G. What happened with your grandparents?
B. G. Unfortunately, the worst that could happen. Neither their knowledge of
German language nor my grandfather’s ability to connect with people helped. They burned
in the flames of Holocaust. After the war, I came to visit Grisha and his family, who
returned to Bendery after evacuation. My old acquaintances, locals, told me that, when the
Nazi troops came to Bendery, all Jewish families from Bendery and surrounding areas were
taken to a concentration camp near the fortress and were all shot to death.
N. G. How tragic! Fearful destiny of Jewish people on the German occupied
territory. My grand grandparents were shot in Kiev in ‘Babye Yar’. My mother told
me that they also didn’t want to evacuate, naively believing that Nazis would not
touch the elderly.
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B. G. Unfortunately, there were more stages of evacuation. And with every stage, our
situation got worse. At the beginning, we got into a ‘kolkhoz’ in Ukraine, in a Cossack
region. The local authorities appointed us to different villages and kolkhozes. It was the first
time that some of the villagers saw real ‘Jews’. Some would even touch our heads to see if
the ‘Jews have horns’ for real.
N. G. I have never heard such stories before. Why should the Jews have
horns?
B. G. It was an interesting finding for me as well. I read somewhere later on why they
called us horned. It is a matter of translation of the Bible by Greeks. It is known that the
Old Testament was translated into Russian not from its original language (Hebrew), but
from a 2000 year-old Greek language. The translation misinterpreted a lot of words. For
example, they translated that Moses had….horns. In our Bible, the head of Moses was
crowned with the ‘aureole of holiness’. In Hebrew this word has more meanings, one of
which is horns. That is why the Greeks translated it this way. And Michelangelo painted
Moses with horns. Even the priests would tell the people in church that the Jews are
relatives of Devil with horns. At least, this is what I read regarding Jews with horns.
N. G. What followed afterwards? Did you starve in those places? How much
time did you spend there?
B. G. Of course, we did not have enough food. The younger people worked in
kolkhoz. That is the reason we had at least something to eat. We were sleeping on the floor,
several families in one room. Every family had its own corner, with their packages and
suitcases. Luckily, there were mostly relatives of ours in our room: my mother and I, Grisha
with his family, somebody from my relatives with my cousins, and two other families –
Peyrets’ relatives. So, we somehow lived ‘among friends’.
Still, we did not stay there for long. After about two months, the president of our
kolkhoz, a young, energetic and very decent man, who felt sorry for the refugees, warned us
that the German troupes are not that far anymore. He told us that it would be better if we
leave the place and go deeper to the country, otherwise, according to the information they
received, ‘the Germans kill all the Jews and communists’. He offered us a carriage with a
horse and coacher to get to a rail road station. The closest one was at a distance of about
50 km.
We took the train to a town on the Volga River. The local authorities of this town told
us they cannot shelter and feed us. In general, it is better for us to leave further to the
country on a boat. But it was not that easy. There were tens of thousands of refugees. For
about three weeks, we were lying around were we could find a place: at the railroad station,
in the port, on the streets. I was sleeping under the bench, close to the toilet. During
the night, people were stepping over me to reach the toilet. Still, I was satisfied with
what I had, as it was worse to sleep under the open sky. Here we got really filthy. I
never saw lice before, and I could not understand why my whole body was itching…
Finally our turn came to ‘shove in’ on some boat. We were sleeping on the deck.
We were really hungry. My cousin, with a small child, Osyk, was giving away a silver
set in exchange of a slice of bread for the child. But nobody would share their slice of
bread, if they had some. Nobody knew what would happen in the next days and
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weeks. Maybe they would also have to walk around with their valuable things to
exchange for a slice of bread…
N. G. A very tragic situation. I can imagine how small children were
suffering. The adults were starving but at least understood what was going on
around. What happened to the small Osyk?
B. G. He died of starvation. We could not save him. He was not the only one;
some adults did not resist either, especially elderly people. Then I understood what
my grandfather meant when he said that at his age he was not ready to become a
refugee. Before those days of evacuations, I did not quite understand what the term
‘refugee’ hides in its meaning…
N. G. I perfectly understand you. How did you finally get there?
B. G. After sailing on the ship, we traveled to Makat, a city in Kazakhstan. It
was a small town, but rich with oil, like other places in that region. At the beginning
I didn’t understand why in such a small town there were so many outdoor street
toilets. After a while everything was clear to me. Everybody had stomach disorders.
The drinking water was terrible and smelled like oil. People boiled it, but apparently,
this wasn’t enough. Everybody suffered from diarrhea.
N. G. For how long did you live in Makat? What did you do there?
B. G. We lived there for almost two years. I, like many other people, got a job. It
was extremely important to get a ‘working card’. The whole country was on card
system and people were getting food based on food cards. Those employed got their
working cards and that allowed them to get 300 grams of bread a day. Besides that,
the employed got cards for the family members as well. I also got 150 grams of bread
for my mother. Not too much though, right?
N. G. How did you manage to survive under those conditions? That was
‘half dying meal’.
B. G. Everyone was looking for ways to survive, to earn more and to be able to
buy food from the open market. Grisha and his family were also with us in Makat. He
was a young, full of energy and got himself a job very fast. At the beginning he was
bringing some white sacks and together with my mother we were tearing them to
threads and knitting white socks to sell them on the open market in order to be able
to buy more bread. Bread was our main ration.
Our life changed for better after a while. Grisha, in that period, worked at the
local regional executive committee and got connected to a bakery in town. He made
an agreement to have 2-3 loafs of bread daily from their reserves. Each loaf weighted
2 kg…a fortune. We were leaving half of a loaf at home, the other half we had to sell
and most of the money was going back to the bakers. I was not a good seller, but I
had no other choice. We had to survive somehow. Instead of going to the open
market, I went to the train station, as it was much safer there. I was selling slices of
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bread to the passengers of the trains. My mother was hiding with loafs, and I was
selling slices or exchanging for a glass of beans or other food like vegetables.
Vegetables were not affordable there. There was a chance to get sick with scurvy. So,
everything was precious to us. After selling my slices, I was running to my mother for
more slices…
This occupation was far from being pleasant to me. At least we were not
starving as we used to. And if we managed to bring other products home as well, it
was considered a true holiday…
N. G. How did you manage to get to Peyrets from Makat?
B. G. I started to look for the address of Peyrets and his family. I found out that
in a town in Ural a ‘Soviet wide center of evacuated people’ was organized. I do not
remember now the name of the town. I immediately wrote to that center. They
registered my mother’s and my address in Makat. We also inquired about the
evacuated family of Goldmachers. Within two weeks, we received an answer telling
that, unfortunately, the address of Goldmachers was not listed.
However, a new possibility appeared on my way. Grysha’s wife’s family was also
deported, together with other Bendery families. Raya, my brother’s wife, managed to
locate the place of exile of her mother. It was a town not far from Omsk city. She
began to persuade my brother to go to that town and ‘kidnap’ her mother. Moreover,
she was living in a home for the elderly because of her age and inability to work.
My Grysha was a desperate man. He gathered some money and obtained an
approval to travel to the city of Omsk, as an employee of the local executive
committee. He found out about the location of the town once he got to Omsk city. It
was winter of 1942. He hired a horse sleigh with a driver and headed to the town. He
found his mother-in-law, and within half an hour, he was on his way back to Omsk.
This way he managed to bring his mother-in-law back to Makat. It turned out that
the people of that small town were aware of the address in Khanty-Mansyisk, where
the Goldmachers were living. I immediately started my correspondence with Peyrets.
N. G. Did you manage to go from Makat to Khanty-Mansyisk right away?
B. G. It turned out not to be that easy. It was impossible to get train tickets
and leave the town at that time without the permission of the authorities, due to
official regulations. Peyrets asked his brother Samuel, who was in Ural at that time
as a political functionary within the Red Army, for help, He was working with the
General Political Directorate of the Red Army in camps for Italian prisoners. As an
officer of the Red Army, Samuel sent me a document stating that I have the right to
go to Khanty-Mansyisk to ‘reunite with his evacuated family’.
N. G. Basya, this was the first time you mentioned Peyrets’ older brother
Samuel. How did it happen that he was a political functionary, moreover,
within the General Political Directorate of the Red Army?
B. G. It is a long story. However, not to be too much distracted from our main
subject, I will summarize what happened. Samuel was a doctor at that time already.
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He studied in France for one year and in Italy for 5 years, in the city of Modena. After
graduating college, in the beginning of 1940 he came back to Romania and passed all
the necessary exams in Bucharest to be eligible to practice medicine in Romania. By
the way, while in Bucharest, he was living at my aunt’s Zyna. As soon as I found out
that he was going to be in Bucharest for several weeks, I asked my aunt Zyna to let
him live with them, and I moved to the dorm of our Halutzim. He received a
Romanian doctor’s license (giving the right to practice medicine in Romania), after
successfully passing all the exams. He went back to Bendery, to his parents. He
found a job as a doctor in the Jewish hospital. At the time the Soviet power was
established in Bendery, the local health department sent him into one of the regions
of the country for elimination of typhus epidemic. Consequently, he was not living
with his parents during the exile period. Samuel came back to Bendery on the third
day of the war and told me that he decided to join the Red Army to fight the German
Fascism. He even agitated me to join the army to fight the Germans.
I did not know what to do, but my mother told me: ‘You are a married woman,
Basya. Your place is to be with your husband. Otherwise, you will repeat the story
that happened to me – I lived the best years of my life without the husband, having a
husband alive’.
N. G. This is another lesson of ‘Jewish wisdom’ for me. What happened
with Samuel then?
G. B. He was first turned down, when he appeared in the military
commandment’s office in Bendery, because they knew his biography and that his
parents were ‘exiled’. Yet, he insisted. They finally enlisted him, because during the
war doctors in the army were very much needed. He was assigned to serve in the
Cavalry Regiment. He familiarized himself very quickly there, even though he barely
saw a horse from a distance closer than 3-5 meters. Soon, he was appointed the
Chief of the Medical Service of the Regiment. He served for a year in that Regiment.
War is war, so he got close to death several times. Luckily, he had only a few light
injuries during the first year.
Suddenly, one day he was called to Moscow, to the Main Political Directorate of
the Red Army (GLAVPURKA). It turned out that they were recruiting officers with the
knowledge of the Italian language. At the end of the first year of the war, there were a
considerable number of Italian POWs, but there were not enough experts in the
language to carry on a ‘political, communist propaganda’ for them.
He had an appointment with Manuilsky in Moscow, the representative of
Comintern in ‘GLAVPURKA’. As Samuel told us later, after a long conversation,
Manuilsky (in a rank of general) told him that he decided to recall him from his
military unit and assign Samuel to work with the Ural Political Directorate of the Red
Army. He was assigned to work with Italian military prisoners and was sent for two
months to s special training for ‘political workers’. He was not even allowed to go
back to his unit to properly resign.
Samuel already knew his parents’ address and was in constant correspondence
with them. He knew that Peyrets was looking for Basya within the ‘whole Soviet
Union’. As soon as Peyrets told him that he found Basya and that she and her
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mother wanted to move to Khanty-Mansyisk, he immediately sent me the necessary
documents.
N. G. Did you and your mother finally get to Peyrets?
B. G. Yes, we did, still with many twists and turns. Autumn came in-between
our intensive correspondence with Peyrets and Samuel. My mother and I took the
train to Tyumen when we finally received all the necessary paperwork from Samuel.
This was the closest place to Khanty-Mansyisk to have a railroad station. It was
difficult to reach Tyumen, as we had to make two or three changes. There we found
out that it was impossible to sail on Irtysh River as it was completely frozen. We had
to make it through the winter in Tyumen. Do not forget that this was the end of
1943, and it was a very difficult period. Hunger was raging through the country.
Moreover, we did not have food-coupons.
Good people advised me that it would be easier for me to find a job if I told
everyone that I was a Komsomol member and lost my documents during our flight.
Finally the administration approved me as a bursar in one of the local schools. I did
not quite understand what a school bursar responsibility was, yet I was happy that I,
at least, found a job. This way I received a ‘labor food-coupon’. Everybody’s greatest
concern at that time was to survive and still the permanent feeling of hunger.
N. G. I found out about your epic of your 3-day working experience in a
school from one of Peyrets’ interviews.
B. G. Indeed, I worked in the school only for three days, because the principle
of the school fired me on the fourth day. The cause of this decision was that I
categorically refused to give her 10 kg of bones from the 100 kg I received to feed the
children of the school. They were cooking soup form those bones, moreover they were
picking from the bones that had remains of meat on them. After all, those soups
where ‘royal meals’ for the children during the war. Consequently, the principal fired
me from school. Furthermore, we were left without the corner in the school, the place
we were allowed to spend the nights in.
We fell again into a very critical situation. We were two helpless women; with
no money; no provisions; no place to stay in a totally strange city in the beginning of
the winter...
A ‘Holly Angel’ came to help again. It was an angel in the shape of a woman.
When the janitress found out about the cause of my dismissal – refusal to give the
principle the ‘bones for children’, she invited us, two vulnerable women, to leave in
her apartment. She and her husband were also exiled from Leningrad. She was an
educated woman working as a janitress, and her husband, an engineer by profession,
was a stoker. No other jobs were available to the exiled in Tyumen…
N. G. What happened after, how did your mother and you manage to
survive in Tyumen city?
B. G. I managed to find a job at the post office, to check the incoming
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Mansyisk as soon as possible. I made an agreement with a sled driver to go to
Khanty-Mansyisk by sledding. They told me they would get me to the destination in
9-10 days… I also agreed to their terms of payment, being a young and inexperienced
woman, and I told my mother: ‘Get packed…We are sledging to Peyrets. After all,
Grysha did the same when he stole his old woman…’
However, our hostess and my mother were more experienced people. The
hostess warned my mother that the sledge drivers will not get us anywhere. They will
kill us and take our entire luggage as soon as they will go farther from the city. We
would not be found for years. Who would look for us in this strange city…?
At 5 o’clock in the morning, when our escort was supposed to come for us, the
owner bent the electrical light tube, to make believe an accident happened at the
electrical station. This way she saved our lives for the second time… She was a very
special ‘Holly Angel’… She managed to save us twice in such a short period.
N. G. Your story is a little scary! I always knew that there were many
cases of robbery during the evacuation period, but killing people…
It was the feature of the war period. Some people were ready to do
everything it takes to survive those difficult times of hunger. What happened
with you after?
B. G. My mother made them believe she did not want to prepare her luggage
again. My ‘drivers’ said they would come back the next days, after we fix the
problem. Yet, they never came back. The two women managed to convince me that
such a trip with strange people was a deathful one.
N. G. I wander how could the two women survive that starving winter?
B. G. We were, of course, very hungry, even with our food-coupons. The woman
recommended us to buy turnip at the open market, as a remedy against scurvy. We
used to feed turnip to our cattle at home, in Bendery. People, surely, would never use
turnip as food. In Tyumen, we were eating everything, everything that was possible to
chew… Samuel helped us again. One evening someone knocked at our door. Our
host would not usually open the door after sundown. She was afraid of robbery and
killing. Robberies became more frequent during the war. However, the man at the
door was very persistent. ‘It is cold, I am freezing. It is me, Samuel – screamed the
man’. I opened the door to him. Samuel managed to receive a short break from work
and come to Tyumen to visit us and help. He brought a full military suitcase with
him, full of food provisions. There were three big loafs of bread, different fish and
meat cans, and many other things. A true fortune… I immediately rushed to try the
food, and invited the host’s daughter with whom I became friends. Samuel warned
me that I should eat little by little and slowly, because if I would eat too much after a
very long period of starving, I could get my stomach too full and get an intestinal
torsion. He was a doctor, and he had seen many such cases that happened to
starving people.
He stayed with us for three days, and it was a true holiday for my mother and
me. We also fed the entire host family. We had a lot to talk about after being far from
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each other for such a long period. He also left us some money, as he did not have a
chance to spend it being on a full military contentment.
N. G. This is another amazing story. Indeed, after listening to you, I start
believing in angels. They were truly protecting you all the way.
B. G. I think this was more than enough. Although, perhaps you will be
interested to listen another story about ‘Holly Angels’ that appeared in my life during
our ship travel from Tyumen to Khanty-Mansyisk.
N. G. It seems like your grandmother delivered to you a share of Jewish
optimism through these stories… She gave you faith that eventually comes
alive in a very special way, the help of God…
B. G. As soon as the sailing season opened in spring on Irtysh River, my
mother and I took the first ship to Khanty-Mansyisk. It was difficult to find two
tickets for the ship, and we ended up sleeping on the deck. The early spring nights in
the North are ‘not very warm’. Unfortunately, we did not have a choice. My mother
laid down on the pile of luggage and packages, and I decided to breathe the fresh
river air. I was enjoying the dense pine forests from the bank of the river. It was very
light outside, because, as it is very well known, the ‘White Nights’ in the North last for
weeks.
Photo #19. The Goldmacher family
in Chernovtsy. Peyrets’ parents,
brother Matus with his family and
Peyrets with Basya and son Josef,
1951
Suddenly, a middle-aged man approaches me (at least he seemed to me, a 23
year old young lady, a middle-aged man) and asks me: ‘What are you doing alone on
the deck that late, young lady? It is one o’clock in the morning!’
- What do you mean one o’clock, it is absolutely light outside! It is exactly as
the day is! By the way, I am not a young lady; I am a married woman, even though I
am only 23 years old.
One can tell that you are not local. You do not know when it is day and when it
is night during this time of the year. One can tell that you are not local even by
observing you clothing. Where are you exactly heading to, in the North?
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I was small in stature and very skinny from starvation. It was not difficult to
think I was looking like a girl. I was also dressed in European clothes. I did not have
other cloths to wear at that time. None of us would buy local clothes during the
evacuation period. This was not something to take into consideration then…
Photo #20. In Chernovtsy.
Basya with Peyrets, son Josef
and mother Feyga, 1965.
I told him that we, my mother and I, were heading to Khanty-Mansyisk to my
husband and his family. The Goldmacher family… As soon as I said the name of the
family, he immediately put his arm around my neck: ‘The Goldmacher family – I see!
Well, come with me than…’ The next moment I found myself in a big cabin, with a
couple of men sitting around a big table full of drinks and food… I was hungry, and
the smell of the food almost made me faint…
I soon found out that the administration of ‘Glavribtrest’ (Fish Company) of the
North District was traveling in that cabin. There was an incredible abundance of fish
in that area, where the Irtysh River merges with Ob River. These were the two biggest
rivers of Siberia, the land of rivers.
It was not a problem to have food products on the table for that kind of
superiors. A part of that group was the chief accountant of ‘Glavribtrest’, Brodsky,
and other accountants that were going to Salekhard to inspect the subordinated
branches of the fish trust. Matus and Peyrets told me later that the fish industry at
that time was the main one of the region. Its importance increased significantly with
the beginning of the war. It was due to the fact that many fish canning factories were
working in the region that were supplying the Red Army with mushroom and fish
cans, and other products that the North region was rich of.
Brodsky knew Matus very well, as he was working as chief accountant at the
Khanty-Mansyisk department of the trust. Matus was a very experienced accountant,
and Brodsky was always inviting him to develop the financial reports for the entire
trust.
The man who took me to Brodsky was the chief accountant of the Tyumen
department of the fish trust. When we first got to Tyumen, Matus wrote him a letter
and asked to help his relatives, who were forced to spend the winter in Tyumen.
Peyrets also wrote me in one of his letters the address of his office, and advised me to
go there as he could give us a helping hand. I went there once, but the manager
appeared to be on a field trip. I never went there again because of my juvenile
foolishness. Here I was, meeting this man and his colleagues on a ship.
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We did not starve on that ship anymore after that nightly meeting. Brodsky
asked the captain of the ship to find a cabin for us, so that we would not have to
sleep on the deck on the cold nights. The cabin had only one bed though, but it was
not an inconvenience for two skinny women, moreover it was enough for both of us.
In addition, the cabin had a shower, which turned out to be a ‘luxury’ for us, as well
as rescue from lice. Brodsky asked my mother if she could cook for them the Jewish
Gefilte Fish. In other words, another ‘Holly Angel’ saved us on that ship.
Photo #21. Basya is carrying a
chemistry class in the school # 13,
Chernovtsy, 1954.
When we reached Khanty-Mansyisk, I finally found my Peyrets, and his family.
Photo #22, #23 Basya in the associated choir of teachers from Moldavian Schools
in Chernovtsy city, 1970.
N. G. The great philosopher Maimonides said that Jews should believe in
miracles. Your last story is a true miracle! I cannot believe that the person you
were supposed to meet in Tyumen and did not manage to, was on that ship.
Moreover, he was together with the Chief Financial Manager Brodsky…
I believe you are very tired by now. We are having this conversation for
almost 4 hours already…
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Let me polish the material and we will meet again in three weeks from
now to find out your ‘womanly understanding’ of the next step of your
extraordinary life.
Nelly Gorovskaya.
happened…
Unfortunately,
the
second
meeting-discussion
never
At first, I was busy with my personal problems, and continuously postponing for
‘later’ to continue our conversation.
After that, Basya had serious health issues. The disease was incurable. After a
short period she passed away in the Long Island Jewish hospital.
According to Peyrets’ words, Basya was very ‘brave’ during her stay in the
hospital. She never complained that she was dying. She was aware of everything. She
was hesitant to bother an assistant or nurse. She was independent, holding her
husband’s hand, going to the bathroom until her last breath… What a will power did
she have! She showed ‘halutza’ endurance and courage! This is what ‘never give in’
means!
She passed away in her sleep. The first moment, Peyrets thought she peacefully
felt asleep. But she was not sleeping. She was gone forever…
‘Whenever a man dies there dies with him his first snow and kiss and love – it
goes with him. And every time my heart just screams, about this irretrievable course of
things!’
Basya has lived a long and intensive life full of incredible events. A life, I tried to,
at least partially bring to life with my interview (or better said a heart to heart
conversation). The years of life experience of this wonderful woman became history for
my generation. I believe it is not only my case; it is the case of many other women too.
Experiencing tremendously difficult life circumstances, she managed to graduate
from college in Siberia; obtain a higher education diploma; become a successful
professional chemist, an excellent teacher, and an experienced head teacher of the
school…
She came to USA at the age of 60, mastered the English language and
successfully continued working by her main profession in American companies. At the
same time, she bravely bore her daily life and hardships of emigration, and she always
was helping Peyrets, captivated by public Jewish activity…
******
Nothing can be set aside ‘for later’. Human life is a too fragile thing.
I am convinced that if I would continue my conversation – interview with Basya, I
would certainly find out about many more ‘Holly Angels’ that helped her and her family
along the way of her life; as well as about other wonderful stories, rich with Jewish
wisdom she inherited from her grandparents and her mother.
The Jewish wisdom and faith in the ‘Jewish destiny’ in this world help our
people survive in the most tragic circumstances for more than four millennia. Moreover,
it helped create timeless spiritual values – Torah, ‘The Book of Books’, that changed the
world surrounding us for the better; it helped our nation to ‘be reborn from ashes’ into a
new life in the most terrible and critical moment of national and worldwide history of
the cruel 20th century.
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The Jewish people, that were one of the most humiliated, deprived of homeland,
security and dignity, found willingness to arrive at those peaks, which they reached in
the second half of the 20th century, and show wonders of resilience, courage and
optimism.
This is about our liberation from the ‘Modern Egypt of the 20th century’ – from
Soviet bondage; it is about rebuilding of our national identity in the lands of our
ancestors, and strengthening of our Jewish communities around the globe. It is about
the achievements of our Jewish scientists and intellectuals – that were awarded with
most distinguished prizes in all the areas of the intellectual performance of the modern
world.
This kind of drastic metamorphosis borders with ‘Divine miracles’. While
reflecting on the destiny of Basya Goldmacher – an outstanding Jewish woman, I
remembered a legend Peyrets told me about, trying to ‘enlighten’ me, ‘a Soviet person’,
about the Jewish wisdom. According to this legend, the whole world is holding on,
relaying on 36 righteous people of the world. Speaking in Hebrew terms, he named the
36 righteous ‘Lamed Vav’, as the Hebrew letters ‘lamed’ (numerical value of 30) and
‘vav’ (numerical value of 6) have together numerical meaning of 36. Our world would
come to an end without the 36 ‘Lamed Vav’ (righteous). If one of 36 righteous dies, a
substitution will be found in our world immediately to replace the righteous.
I strongly believe that Basya was one of the righteous. She was the feminine
component of them.
What woman would be ready to immediately replace the righteous in the
obligatory magic number of 36?
My dear Jewish women – we live in the times, when the ‘patriarchic era’ comes
to an end in our Jewish traditions. Nowadays, our Jewish women are increasingly
occupying the most important positions of the Jewish world. We cannot lower this bar…
Who is the next woman, which could continue to hold this honorable torch, who
could take a very difficult and responsible place within the group of righteous?
Respond to my calling and I will be ready to tell your stories to ‘the entire Jewish
world’…
Nelly Gorovskaya. October, 2010
Note: The 23 photos are from the personal archive of the Goldmacher family.
NOTES
ORT (abbreviation) – Association of Vocational Labor – philanthropy
organization for distribution among the Jews of Russia of qualified vocational and
agricultural training. Since 1921, ORT is a world-wide Jewish educational and
cultural organization.
ORT was founded in 1880 in St. Petersburg. The founders were Russian Jewish
philanthropists S. Poliakov, G. Ginzburg, L. Rozental, and others. The goal of the
Association was the economic stability of Russian Jews in Tsarist Russia. Besides
training, it would offer loans for the purchase of agricultural equipment. At present,
the headquarters of ORT is in London. ORT Association does not only have vocational
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schools (mainly in poor developed countries), but also colleges in US, Israel and CIS
countries.
«TSEENA-U- EREENA» (Hebrew), literally: «Go and see». The Yiddish name of
the book for Jewish women. Named after the verse from ‘Song of Songs’: ‘Go and see
daughters of Jerusalem’. It represents the transcription of the story of Torah and five
other biblical books (Ruth, Esther, Ecclesiast, Jeremiah, and Song of Songs). The
book also contained translations from the books of Prophets together with a number
of commentaries made by Rashi and other Jewish religious scholars. The book of
‘Tsur’ was very popular among Ashkenazi women and, as a rule, was the main
reading attribute.
From the aesthetic point of view, the book was poetic, filled with pathos, meant
to address the readers’ curiosity. Since ‘Tsur’ was written in Yiddish, it was better
understood by women, more than religious literature written in Hebrew. Hebrew was
less taught to the girls than to the boys. Only boys could study at Yeshivas and other
religious schools.
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