Odesa, Ukraine
Moved in 1989
Moved in 1989
I was born in the city of Odessa. Grew up in Odessa. My mother did not work, she was a housewife. We were three children, and Dad was a party official before the war. And after the war, Jews were no longer accepted for these jobs. He had many friends and went for any job because of three children. He had to feed us.
First, I graduated from Railway Technical College. Then I entered the university, I finished three courses. Initially, I entered the department at the Faculty of Mathematics. My parents said that they could not feed me, that I had to work. I transferred to study part-time, completed 3 courses. I was working as a construction designer for about thirty years. In the construction bureau.
First, I graduated from Railway Technical College. Then I entered the university, I finished three courses. Initially, I entered the department at the Faculty of Mathematics. My parents said that they could not feed me, that I had to work. I transferred to study part-time, completed 3 courses. I was working as a construction designer for about thirty years. In the construction bureau.
This is a call recording with Diva and her husband Arkady in Russian
Please find the English transcript below
Please find the English transcript below
Phone call transcript
Diva: Of course we went to stay in America. The most interesting thing is that we were not afraid of anything, even though we left with no money. We were told not to take anything with us, that there in America our relatives will dress us up. We left all the clothes and packed light.
Arkady: We only had books and pins.
Diva: Yes, we agreed not to take a lot with us, each of us took 10 books which loved very much. And we moved like this.
My husband collected pins. And we took these pins with us. I had two volumes of Pushkin, I had Faust.
Arkady: Ilf and Petrov, five volumes, Gorky, 1937 edition.
Diva: Gorky? I don’t remember it, I gave part of the books to my son, I don’t remember which ones.
I still have this dictionary that you saw. And then I had an illustrated book about weapons, which I gave to my son too? As far as I remember.
And this is the book I really like. About chess. This is about ancient chess, everything is described, accompanied by illustrations.
And the pins...
Arkady: They fed us in Italy for almost a year!
Diva: Since we had $450, I decided not to touch this money, because we did not know what would happen to us here. And there was a bazaar in Italy, what was it called? In short, all Russians were taking there what they had brought to sell.
Arkady: In Rome.
Diva: Yes. And since we had nothing to sell, only pins… We had two towels and I made sort of a dress for him, you know, from two towels and his head went between them. Pins were in front of these two towels and on the back. And he was selling them. Probably cheaper than a dollar. I do not know. In general, in short, he was selling these pins, after that he could buy food. We had a lot of pins.
Why exactly these things but not other ones? Well, it's understandable: it was difficult to get hold of a book [back in the USSR]. To get a book... at work, they brought books to us from somewhere, there were very few of them. And we played the lottery: who will win the number with the book, will be lucky. And that's how I collected books. We were a family who loved to read. We all loved to read. That was the most expensive thing, I don't know what else was expensive in the Soviet Union.
Before coming to the USA, we also spent two weeks in Austria. And so we were settled there in some hotel, and opposite there was a grocery store. And for the first time, I saw such an abundance of sausages, cheeses... I wanted to look, I was so interested! My husband didn’t let me, he said, since you don’t buy it, you have no right to watch. Can you imagine?
I will tell you something else. So we wanted to go somewhere, I remember, and we had to go down the subway. And suddenly my son saw there were these magazines, what are they called?
Arkady: pornographic.
Diva: pornographic magazines, can you imagine? And he really wanted to buy them. I say - no, I will not give you money. Mom, you have no right not to give me money, because, he says, they give you a part of the money for me, so I want to spend my money. Long story short, I allowed it, can you imagine? There probably... it was expensive for us. and this was the first purchase in Austria, these magazines.
Then, to my memory, he brought them to America, and then I don’t remember what happened to them. For a long time, he had them. He had them until he got married. And when his wife saw them, she felt bad. In short, we threw them away. That’s what he brought.
Does one need to store such things? Well, those things that I took, of course, need to be kept all my life. This is memory.
Arkady: We only had books and pins.
Diva: Yes, we agreed not to take a lot with us, each of us took 10 books which loved very much. And we moved like this.
My husband collected pins. And we took these pins with us. I had two volumes of Pushkin, I had Faust.
Arkady: Ilf and Petrov, five volumes, Gorky, 1937 edition.
Diva: Gorky? I don’t remember it, I gave part of the books to my son, I don’t remember which ones.
I still have this dictionary that you saw. And then I had an illustrated book about weapons, which I gave to my son too? As far as I remember.
And this is the book I really like. About chess. This is about ancient chess, everything is described, accompanied by illustrations.
And the pins...
Arkady: They fed us in Italy for almost a year!
Diva: Since we had $450, I decided not to touch this money, because we did not know what would happen to us here. And there was a bazaar in Italy, what was it called? In short, all Russians were taking there what they had brought to sell.
Arkady: In Rome.
Diva: Yes. And since we had nothing to sell, only pins… We had two towels and I made sort of a dress for him, you know, from two towels and his head went between them. Pins were in front of these two towels and on the back. And he was selling them. Probably cheaper than a dollar. I do not know. In general, in short, he was selling these pins, after that he could buy food. We had a lot of pins.
Why exactly these things but not other ones? Well, it's understandable: it was difficult to get hold of a book [back in the USSR]. To get a book... at work, they brought books to us from somewhere, there were very few of them. And we played the lottery: who will win the number with the book, will be lucky. And that's how I collected books. We were a family who loved to read. We all loved to read. That was the most expensive thing, I don't know what else was expensive in the Soviet Union.
Before coming to the USA, we also spent two weeks in Austria. And so we were settled there in some hotel, and opposite there was a grocery store. And for the first time, I saw such an abundance of sausages, cheeses... I wanted to look, I was so interested! My husband didn’t let me, he said, since you don’t buy it, you have no right to watch. Can you imagine?
I will tell you something else. So we wanted to go somewhere, I remember, and we had to go down the subway. And suddenly my son saw there were these magazines, what are they called?
Arkady: pornographic.
Diva: pornographic magazines, can you imagine? And he really wanted to buy them. I say - no, I will not give you money. Mom, you have no right not to give me money, because, he says, they give you a part of the money for me, so I want to spend my money. Long story short, I allowed it, can you imagine? There probably... it was expensive for us. and this was the first purchase in Austria, these magazines.
Then, to my memory, he brought them to America, and then I don’t remember what happened to them. For a long time, he had them. He had them until he got married. And when his wife saw them, she felt bad. In short, we threw them away. That’s what he brought.
Does one need to store such things? Well, those things that I took, of course, need to be kept all my life. This is memory.
Things brought by Diva and her husband Arkady
At first, we didn't want to move. But when we started talking about moving, I thought, first I’ll get an apartment, and then, then, we’ll go. And so I stayed for another fifteen years in Odessa. And then we decided to move.
We were on the Israeli list. They would hold up those who were not mixed marriages and didn’t let them leave Italy. We lived there for eight months. They called us to go to Israel all the time. At that time I was 53 years old, but in Italy, there were mostly young families. There were three of us, my son was 23. But since I am a child who remembered the war... I did not want to go to Israel. My husband was reasoning with me, but I did not give up, and we decided to go to America.
We were on the Israeli list. They would hold up those who were not mixed marriages and didn’t let them leave Italy. We lived there for eight months. They called us to go to Israel all the time. At that time I was 53 years old, but in Italy, there were mostly young families. There were three of us, my son was 23. But since I am a child who remembered the war... I did not want to go to Israel. My husband was reasoning with me, but I did not give up, and we decided to go to America.
