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Recording Content:
The tape is a continuation of a formal interview with Froim Kalmanovich Bukshtein. (Part 2 of 5. See MDV 444, MDV 446, MDV 447, and MDV 448)
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00:00:00
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Bukshtein talks about his life during the war, when he was drafted in Siberia in 1942. He stayed in Siberia until 1944. He talks about the letter he wrote to his non-Jewish neighbor in Novoselitsa in order to learn about his family’s fate. Her neighbor informed him about his burned down house. He then exchanged letters with his mother, who returned to Novoselitsa from the Bershad ghetto. During his military service in Siberia, he met his Jewish wife Lucye. |
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00:03:03
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Bukshtein talks about his life after the war. After his military service in 1947, he returned to his wife to Siberia and worked there until 1953. Bukshtein and his wife moved to Ivano Frankivsk, joining his sister and mother. In 1957 his mother and sister left for Poland and due to antisemitism in Poland in 1960, they left for Brazil. Bukshtein exchanged letters with them at the beginning, but he explains how he did not want to endanger his daughter’s studies by publicizing his relatives abroad. He only received a letter from his sister after Perestroika. Bukshtein saw his sister and aunt in Brazil in 1989 for the first time in 32 years. He stayed there for three months. Bukshtein recalls the Yiddish singing with his relatives in Brazil. |
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00:10:53
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Bukshtein sings a Yiddish song about the joy of the Yiddish language, he composed the melody for. He then talks about contemporary Yiddish literature and reads a story by Avrum Karpinovich, published in “Vilne, mayne Vilne” [Vilna, my Vilna]. |
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00:15:51
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Bukshtein talks about his family. His father was a saddlemaker and born in the Novoselitsa region, living in Lipcani and Edinet. Bukhstein’s paternal aunt immigrated to America in 1937. Bukshtein then discusses his work during and after the war. The director of the tailoring factory ordered Bukshtein to take classes in mechanics. After completing his courses in Moscow, Bukshtein worked in this profession at the main mechanics factory in Siberia. After the war, Bukshtein returned to the tailoring profession and worked as a tailor’s cutter. |
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00:22:59
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Bukshtein talks about his family. His maternal grandparents raised twelve children. His mother was a tailor and born in Edinet. The majority of his family was murdered during the war. Bukshtein then states how important it is to cultivate the Yiddish language and discusses Yiddish dialects. He continues to share information about his family. He grew up with four siblings. He then talks about his brother’s fate in a Romanian-occupied ghetto during the war, he learned from his mother. In particular, Bukshtein tells a story when his brother looked for food and he fell into icy water. |
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00:35:42
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Bukshtein talks about contemporary Jewish life and food customs, before he discusses childhood memories of Edinet, specifically education. He describes how he went to religious school (cheder) during winter in Edinet and then in Novoselitsa. His family moved to Novoselitsa in 1928, where his grandfather and uncle lived. Bukshtein sings the well-known Yiddish song “Afn Pripetchik,” he calls from his childhood. Bukshtein studied at a Tarbut school for one month. He explains that the school’s director Greenberg encouraged his parents to pay for Bukshtein’s studies, instead of continuing his studies at the Yiddish Tarbut school. His parents could not afford a private school, so Bukshtein attended a Romanian school instead. |
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00:46:33
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Bukshtein talks about his work as a tailor. He moved to Chernivtsi in 1937 in order to continue his tailor apprenticeship, he started in Novoselitsa. He studied for three years and recalls his foreman singing. Bukshtein then sings a Yiddish-Russian drinking song and talks about contemporary performances. |
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00:55:30
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Bukshtein talks about life in the 1930s under fascist Romanian occupation, before he turns to life today and his family. |
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