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Recording Content:
This recording consists of a formal interview with Iosef (Yosl) Grigoryevich Grayf (b. 1922 in Kolomyya).
Cities and towns mentioned on this tape: Kolomyya, L’viv, Tel Aviv, Perm’.
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00:00:00
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Iosef (Yosl) Grigoryevich Grayf (b. 1922 in Kolomyya). He speaks about prewar Jewish life in Kolomyya and his education in a supplemental twice weekly Hebrew school. He also talks about his parents and Jewish religious life in the town, describing its numerous synagogues. He also makes several comparisons with the much reduced Jewish life in Kolomyya today and how the contemporary synagogue often has trouble securing a “minyen” (minyan, prayer quorum of ten men). |
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00:10:07
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Grayf speaks briefly about the presence of Hasidim in his prewar town and compares them with contemporary Hasidic pilgrims to Ukraine from Israel. Grayf describes prewar interethnic relations, commenting on the general lack of anti-Semitism, which only began to appear in 1939 when Germany invaded Poland. |
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00:15:31
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Grayf talks about Jewish organizations and clubs in Kolomyya before the war, including HaPoel and the Bund. Grayf’s mother had seven kids. During his youth Grayf’s family lived in an apartment near the town hall. |
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00:20:14
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Grayf discusses his war experiences, during which he was evacuated and then served in the Red Army. He also shares the fate of other members of his family who were either killed or survived and eventually immigrated to Israel. Commenting on Ukrainian-Jewish relations during the war, Grayf states that anti-Semitism was introduced by leaders such as Stepan Bandera and has since remained in the country. |
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00:26:11
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Grayf discusses his military service and return to Kolomyya after the war. Although he found no family left in the town and few friends, he decided to stay and describes the general atmosphere of the period as stable, secure and peaceful. |
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00:29:53
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Grayf shows the researchers his jacket bedecked with war medals and explains the significance of each one. He remarks on the respected social position of veterans in contemporary society. Grayf then discusses the state of the contemporary Jewish community of Kolomyya, detailing the humanitarian aid received through the “Joint” (the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee) and the elderly welfare organization Hesed-Leib. Grayf details the pension he receives and provides an overview of the contemporary economic situation in Ukraine. |
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00:37:47
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Grayf talks about the contemporary religious community in the city and how it has trouble securing a “minyen” on shabes (the Sabbath) in part due to the emigration of so many of its members. He then speaks about the lack of anti-Semitism in contemporary Ukraine and remarks generally about contemporary politics. Grayf states that he believes in G-d and shares his personal religious views of Judaism and Christianity as well as the religious revival in the country. |
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00:46:25
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Grayf answers a series of questions from the AHEYM sociolinguistic and dialectological survey. |
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00:52:21
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Grayf speaks briefly about the period of Soviet rule in 1939-1941 before the war began, noting that it was a happy time of increased economic opportunities. The Soviets did not close the synagogues in the town and religious life continued, according to Grayf, until the Germans came in 1941. Although Kolomyya’s synagogues remained closed in the postwar period, Grayf states that Jews came together in private homes to pray and celebrate shabes and the holidays through these years. |
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