Frida Khatset with her husband Alfred Lieberman

I, Frida Khatset and my husband Alfred Lieberman. We were photographed at home on our 57th wedding anniversary. Kiev, 2001. Amateur photo.

In 1960 I defended my thesis and became a Candidate of Sciences. I liked my work. We had a great team at work. We met at leisure time to go to a theater, Theater of Rssian drama that staged plays by Russian and Soviet classical writers and we also shared opinions about what we had read or seen. At weekends Alfred, Georgi and I went to a theater or concert classical.

We liked traveling on vacations and went to a beach on the Dnieper River. Our laboratory was located in Darnitsa on the left bank of the Dnieper and I managed to go for a swim in the river before taking metro to commute to work.
When perestroika began in 1985 books that we had read a long time before began to be published. Therefore, we were not surprised about what they published. We continued subscribing to newspapers and magazines. We listened to 'Svoboda' [Editor's note: American radio station broadcasting in Russian from Germany] radio broadcasts in Russian and radio of Israel - they were not jammed any longer.

I've been a pensioner for 16 years. I have great memories about my work at the Road Transport Institute. My former colleagues also remember me: they visit me on my birthday every year.

My husband Alfred worked at the Scientific research Institute of Construction Structures before he turned 85, but even after he retired he continued providing consulting services to them. In 2002 Alfred passed away and it was a terrible blow for me. Shortly afterward I broke my leg and was confined to bed for a long time. There are no close people of mine left in Kiev. I am so happy that Georgi lives nearby. Besides my son, my daughter-in-law and my granddaughter, my old acquaintances and friends often visit me. Hesed takes care of us, old people, and I don't feel lonely at all.