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Bratslav
 (09-010.09-F) -  Shelf Number: MDV 398
 IUCAT



No streaming derivative is available.

Date: May 24, 2008

Participants: Yatskova, Dora Iosifovna; Koifman, Tsilya Yakovlevna; Kelmenson, Anya Yefimovna. Interviewed by Dov-Ber Kerler and Moisei Lemster.

Location recorded: Kopayhorod; Bratslav, Vinnyts'ka Oblast', Ukraine

Language: Yiddish, Russian

Culture Group: Jews, Yiddish-speakers, Ukrainians

 Recording Content:   



The first part of the recording is the continuation of a formal interview in Kopayhorod with Dora (Dvoyre) Iosifovna Yatskova, nee Kremer, born 1924 in Murafa (Sharhorod). (Part 2 of 2. See MDV 770)

The second part of the recording includes town footage of the Bratslav cemetery and a town tour with Tsilya Yakovlevna Koifman, born 1928 in Vapnyarka. The team meets the cemetery caretaker and discusses with him the cemetery and the types of tourists who visit. The caretaker shows the team around the cemetery. The team then meets up with Tsilya Koifman, who tells them about her childhood in Vapnyarka. The team walks with Koifman through Bratslav.

The final part of the recording is a formal interview in the home of Anya Yefimovna Kelmenson, nee Shtivelband, born 1928 in Proskurovka. (Part 1 of 2. See MDV 399) She talks about her childhood in Khmel'nyts'kyy, the time she spent in evacuation in Tashkent, her time in Central Asia after the war and later in Chisinau. She remembers that Bratslav was a lively Jewish town in the 1970s, but few families are left.

00:00:00 Yatskova talks in Russian about prewar culture in Odesa. She then talks about her family. Her aunt worked at a cinema.
00:02:10 Yatskova speaks about contemporary visitors, who visit the local Jewish cemeteries.Yatskova gives tours. The camera briefly collects footage of her house outside.
00:04:38 The camera cuts to the old Bratslav Jewish cemetery and collects footage.
00:10:00 The tream travels to the new Bratslav Jewish cemetery, while the camera collects town footage of Bratslav.
00:11:24 The team arrives and visits tzadikims' (Jewish righteous) graves. The camera then collects footage of the cemetery.
00:14:56 The team speaks with the caretaker, who provides information on locals.
00:30:00 The team heads back to the van. The camera continues to collect footage.
00:31:29 The team meets Koifman, who speaks about her life today and provides personal information. She moved to Bratslav from Vapnyarka thirteen years ago.
00:32:20 Koifman briefly talks about her life during World War II, which she spent in evacuation. Koifman then discusses her childhood memories of Jewish Vapnyarka. She attended a Ukrainian school. Koifman also shortly addresses prewar holiday celebration at home.
00:34:21 Koifman speaks about locals, before she addresses her family.
00:35:32 Koifman speaks about the contemporary community, as well as life today. She also speaks about her family. Koifman has family in Israel.
00:38:04 Koifman speaks about her life during and after the war. She returned to Vapnyarka in 1946. Koifman then talks about her life today. The team walks with Koifman through Bratslav, headed to Kelmenson's house.
00:41:43 Koifman talks about postwar Jewish life in Vapnyarka. Koifman lived in Bershad in 1972. She also addresses local geography.
00:44:56 The team arrives at Kelmenson's house and set up the interview with her.
00:46:22 Kelmenson talks about her life today. She works as Ukrainian and Russian language teacher. Kelmenson then provides personal information and speaks about her family. Her father was arrested in 1937 during the period of Stalin's persecution. Kelmenson raised two sons.
00:52:38 Kelmenson speaks about her family's life during World War II. She evacuated and her grandfather survived the Pechera concentration camp.
00:54:24 Kelmenson provides personal information. Kelmenson talks about her family.
00:57:10 Kelmenson speaks about her life during World War II and her family. Her mother was an accountant and her father worked for the the office for provision of livestock. She evacuated to Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Kelmenson explains that her father was imprisoned in the Vorkuta gulag for sixteen years. Kelmenson's family moved to Bratslav from Proskurovka in 1937. She grew up with a brother and her grandfather owned a tea plantation in Staroya Sinyava, Khmelnytskyy district.
01:00:14 Kelmenson speaks about prewar and postwar Jewish life in Bratslav She then turns to her life after the war. Kelmenson finished ten years of high school and then studied at the pedagogical institute in Vinnytsya. Kelmenson explains how she moved to Central Asia due to her husband's work assignment.
01:02:11 End of recording.