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Recording Content:
The first part of this recording is a continuation of a formal interview with Iakov Shor. (Part 3 of 3. See MDV 337 and Accession # 09-010.60-F MDV 792)
The second part of the recording includes a formal interview with Bella (Beyle) Mindel Vaisman, nee Reinsdorf, and her husband Isaak (Itsik) Iosipovich Vaisman. (Part 1 of 4. See MDV 339, MDV 340, and MDV 342) They were both born in 1925 in Berdychiv and knew each other growing up. Beyle Vaisman discusses her father’s educational and religious life in Warsaw before the war. Isaak Vaisman remembers his childhood in Berdychiv when his mother took him to the synagogue on Jewish holidays. The conversation turns to the celebration of Jewish holidays, including food customs, like those for Passover, before the war. They then discuss their wedding after the war and wedding music. The conversation moves to prewar life in Berdychiv during the Great Hunger in 1933.
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00:00:00
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The team concludes the interview with Shor, while the camera collects footage of Shor's apartment and neighborhood. |
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00:01:23
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The camera cuts to the Vaismans's interview. They chat, before the team begins the formal interview with them. |
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00:03:01
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Isaak and Bella provide personal information. She also speaks about her family. Bella's father was born in Warsaw, Poland. |
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00:06:00
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Bella addresses her life before the war. She explains that she finished eight years of schooling at a Russian school and went to visited Kharkiv with her uncle. They had to evacuate from Kharkiv in July 1941. Bella also addresses her family's fate in Berdychiv during the war. Bella then speaks about her life after the war. She took classes in Kharkiv, before moving back to Berdychiv in order to get married. Bella also speaks about her family. Their daughter lives in America. |
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00:07:40
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Isaak talks about his life before the war and addresses his family. His father, who was also born in Berdychiv, was a tailor and passed away in 1928. Bella also speaks about her family, particularly her father's career and work as a musician. Bella's father was a chief accountant. |
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00:09:40
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Isaak addresses his childhood memories of Jewish Berdychiv. He also speaks about his mother's observance. Isaak attended a Yiddish school for four years until 1938. He explains how he continued to study in the same building, which was turned into a Russian school. |
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00:12:07
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Isaak speaks about his education at a Yiddish school. He then speaks about his childhood and poverty, before Bella addresses her childhood, particularly her education. Bella attended a Russian school. She also addresses her father's education and career as chief accountant. Bella then addresses her life shortly before the outbreak of World War II, when she traveled to Kharkiv with her uncle. |
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00:15:12
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Bella and Isaac briefly speak about their lives during the war. Bella then talks about her family, including her father's religious education. She grew up with two sisters. She then turns to her childhood memories of her father's fiddl playing and holiday celebrations at home. They then discuss Jewish life in Berdychiv during the war and mention Vasily Grossman. |
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00:18:16
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Isaac talks about prewar Jewish life in Berdychiv and states that Party members were not allowed to attend synagogue. According to Bella, her father refused to join the Party. Bella then talks about holiday celebrations at home before the war, including food customs. In particular, she recalls Passover and Sabbath, as well as the local kosher butcher. Bella remembers her father's story telling about Jewish history, before she describes her family's oven where they cooked latkes (potato pancake). |
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00:25:03
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Bella recalls her mother's recipe for gefilte fish and speaks about prewar Sabbath celebrations. According to Bella, her father worked on Sabbath, but not on Yom Kippur. Isaak and Bella then address prewar religious life, including synagogues and secret circumcision ceremonies, in Berdychiv. They then speak about their traditional wedding. |
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00:28:04
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Bella speaks about her father's religious customs and praying. She also addresses his education, before Issak speaks about prewar holiday celebrations at home and his childhood memories. Bella and Isaak state that they had mezuzot (doorposts) at home and then describe their childhood memories when they lived across from each other in the same courtyard. Bella remembers how Isaak's mother borrowed money from her family. |
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00:31:44
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Bella and Isaak address their lives in the 1930s, particularly during the Great Hunger and Stalinist persecution. |
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00:34:39
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Bella and Isaak speak about prewar Jewish life in Berdychiv, as well as mention Yiddish newspapers and writers. They recall Yiddish spoken on the street. According to Isaak, 60,000 Jews lived in Berdychiv out of a total population of 80,000. Bella then speaks about family letters, written in Yiddish. |
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00:40:28
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Bella speaks about antisemitism during the Soviet period, as well as present-day Jewish life. |
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