Relationship, Jewish Identity,
Decision to Leave
“He was fun because he had a wonderful sense of humor; he sings very well; he is a good musician. So he played the piano and sang me songs. It flattered me because he was twenty-eight and I was twenty. He had nice friends. It was the first all-Jewish community for me. They were nice, smart, interesting. 1 liked socializing with them. It probably played a very important role in my saying ‘yes.’
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What really triggered my husband was, he was scared. Remembering the violence between Azerbaijanis and Armenians, when the Armenians were killed and nobody helped them, he said, ‘Well, I don’t know what to think, but it looks like if it happens here, nobody would defend us either.’ It was very scary.”
- Jane Malikin
“My grandma’s sister, the one who lived in Korostyshev, was an absolutely exceptional cook. When she baked bread, everyone knew that Nakhama is making bread The smell was all over the street. She did it the way her mother did it, with an old Jewish recipe, and when 1went to see her, I was smelling that bread on the way! The memory of the bread, the street and my ‘grandma’-I called her grandma because her only son died and she loved me a lot-will be with me for the rest of my life.
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I think the most important factor was our children’s future. We were happy with our jobs, and at the time we left, we had a decent place to live, although we were living with my husband’s parents. So at that time the main concern was what our children could look forward to. Anti-Semitism in Russia is more than great.”
- Yanetta Solganik
Yanetta Solganik with daughter Sasha