This recording is a formal interview with Raisa Rusakovskaia, born in Chornobyl' in 1925. (Part 1 of 3. See MDV 511 and MDV 512) She talks about her two different first names, Rakhil (Rokhl) and Raisa. She then discusses her family. Her father was observant and they would celebrate all holidays at home until the war. Rusakovskaia remembers how Jews were punished by the police for gathering at private homes after the war. She then describes the synagogue and religious services in Chornobyl'. Her mother was born in Chornobyl' and her father, a carpenter, was born in the near-by Ivankovtsy.

The conversation turns to her early childhood memories and the house she was raised in, in addition to talking about her two sisters. She also mentions their cow Manke. She briefly discusses the preparation for evacuation, before talking about prewar religious life and holiday celebrations. Rusakovskaia then discusses Yiddish schools in Chornobyl'. They closed the Yiddish school in 1934 and all the pupils were transferred to a Ukrainian school. She then talks about how her mother helped out people in need. When returning to religious life in prewar Chornobyl', she talks about how women studied in the synagogue. She then talks about childhood memories, in particular about her friends, with whom she played in Russian. After school ended, they spent time at a cultural club. Occasionally, Yiddish theater groups from Kyiv performed plays in the club. The conversation then turns to her father’s work as a carpenter and food customs, as well as preparation for Passover and celebrating other holidays, such as Hanukkah and the Sabbath.

After the war, a shoykhet (kosher butcher) would slaughter animals for the community. When he passed away, another shoykhet from Ovruch continued his work. After talking about holiday celebrations, Rusakovskaia discusses conversion to Judaism, as well as Purim celebrations. The conversation returns to the Yiddish school and non-Jews speaking Yiddish. She then talks about the dialectological differences between her father’s and mother’s speech, as well as how they learned it at the Yiddish school. They then talk about relations between Jews and Christians. After the war, Rusakovskaia worked as an accountant in a collective community where the majority of employees were Jewish. The tape concludes with her discussing female healers in Chornobyl'.