Frida Shatkhina

This is me walking in the woods. This photo was taken in Chernevtsy in 1956.

In 1934 I got a job at the post office as a telephone operator. I continued to work there after World War II. I didn't consider a marriage. I had to take care of Mama. There were no old age pensions paid at that time, and Mama had never worked in her life, she was a housewife, so she didn't receive a work pension. I was the only breadwinner. Of course, this wouldn't have been enough for living in a town, but in the village we quite managed.

I met my future husband, Isaac Brisman, a Jew, in Chernevtsy in 1960. He came on a long business trip from Mogilyov-Podolskiy. He worked as a postal worker. It was necessary to install cables for a new telephone station. Isaac stayed in Chernevtsy for over two years. One of my colleagues introduced him to me. We began to see each other occasionally.

Isaac was born in Mogilyov-Podolskiy in 1910. I don’t know anything about his parents. He probably told me about his family, but I can hardly remember anything. He was in communication forces at the front during the war. His wife and daughter stayed in Mogilyov-Podolskiy where they were in the ghetto. Isaac’s wife died after the war, and their daughter was raised by her relatives in Vinnitsa. Isaac could not take care of his daughter having to go on frequent business trips.

Before going home Isaac proposed to me. Of course, we didn’t have a Jewish wedding. We registered our marriage in a registry office and in the evening invited my relatives and friends to a dinner. Then Isaac left and I stayed in Chernevtsy. I couldn’t get a job in Mogilyov-Podolskiy and I didn’t want to be a housewife. Mama couldn’t move either due to her health condition.