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| Larisa (left), Nyusya (center), Fanya (top right) |
Larisa was a good student, had a lot of friends and, according to her stories, her youth was very happy.
Another person who availed herself of those opportunities was Fanya herself. She completed a 4-year school and became a semi-medical professional, dietician.
Larisa was very happy in school, had a lot of friends, was a gymnast and a good student. One of the friendships, that with Miriam Podgayetky, survived the time and the women kept in touch their entire lives. Below is the picture of Miriam from her school years, kindly given to me by her daughter, Irina Komsky.
In 1937 it was time for Larisa to go to college. It must be said that in pre-war years Kiev was not the hot-bed of anti-Semitism that it became later, when it was easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a Jew to become a college student. So, without difficulty, in the fall of 1937 Larisa Striliver became a student of the Kiev University, majoring in the French language.
Larisa was very happy in school, had a lot of friends, was a gymnast and a good student. One of the friendships, that with Miriam Podgayetky, survived the time and the women kept in touch their entire lives. Below is the picture of Miriam from her school years, kindly given to me by her daughter, Irina Komsky.
In 1937 it was time for Larisa to go to college. It must be said that in pre-war years Kiev was not the hot-bed of anti-Semitism that it became later, when it was easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a Jew to become a college student. So, without difficulty, in the fall of 1937 Larisa Striliver became a student of the Kiev University, majoring in the French language.
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| Larisa (right) and her two college-period friends - Mira and Nyusya. |
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| Larisa circa 1940 |
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| Larisa's younger sister, Nyusya circa 1940 at 16. At 17 she would perish in Kiev, Babiy Yar. |
My mom’s stories of her student years were always happy, a combination of rich social life and much studying. She covered the body of Western literature, philosophy and history, and did all of it with gusto.
Only much later did she find out what these years actually held for the people around her:
“Those were the years when Stalin made all the country a holocaust, there was no family in the country in which somebody was not arrested as an enemy of the people. It was a general extermination of the intelligent people.
The collectivization of agriculture and the industrialization of towns made the peasants run from the villages to towns, everywhere it was death from starvation. Only the movies proclaimed a golden age.”
From my mother’s notes
In 1939 my mom met Grigory Finkelstein. According to her, it was a romantic courtship, with flowers, compliments and promises of love.
My parents got married in May 1941. On the first day of Hitler's war with Russia, June 22 1941, my father was arrested by the government for allegedly telling and anti-government joke. Hope it was a good one, because it cost him 10 years of Gulag.
Only much later did she find out what these years actually held for the people around her:
“Those were the years when Stalin made all the country a holocaust, there was no family in the country in which somebody was not arrested as an enemy of the people. It was a general extermination of the intelligent people.
The collectivization of agriculture and the industrialization of towns made the peasants run from the villages to towns, everywhere it was death from starvation. Only the movies proclaimed a golden age.”
From my mother’s notes
In 1939 my mom met Grigory Finkelstein. According to her, it was a romantic courtship, with flowers, compliments and promises of love.
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| Larisa and Grigory around the time of their wedding in May 1941. |
My parents got married in May 1941. On the first day of Hitler's war with Russia, June 22 1941, my father was arrested by the government for allegedly telling and anti-government joke. Hope it was a good one, because it cost him 10 years of Gulag.
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