Lubov Vaianer’s father Leizer-Gersh Broide

My father Leizer-Gersh Broide, stonemason.

My father Leizer-Gersh Broide was born in the small Jewish town of Troyanov near Zhytomir in 1889. He was born in a common Jewish religious family that had many children. I don't know my father mother's name or anything about her family. She died in Troyanov in 1915 when she was 60 years old. I have never seen her. All I know is that she got married when she was 15, she was very religious and had 12 children. Only six of them survived. My father's father Shaya, born in 1860, was a very religious and shy man too.

My father was a stonemason in granite quarry near Zhytomir. A special sort of granite was crushed by a stone mill. My father made stone mills. It was hard work. Besides, stone mason workers fell ill with an occupational illness of miners - silicosis [lung disease - when the finest particles of stone get into lungs]. Papa had this disease for many years.

My parents met in Zhytomir. It was a tradition then that young people were introduced to one another by "shathine" - matchmakers. My father was a stonemason and Mama lived in Sarny. Her father took her to Zhytomir, following the recommendation of a matchmaker, to introduce her to the fiance. They liked each other and had a traditional Jewish wedding in 1909. I believe, they had a wedding quite like the one of Hana that I attended. After their wedding my parents rented an apartment in Zhytomir. My father went on working and Mama was a housewife.

In 1954 my parents died one after another. Papa was a very ill man due to his work as stone mason. We buried him at the Kurenyovka Jewish cemetery. We invited an old man from the synagogue to say Kaddish (sepulchral prayer). Papa was a very nice and kind man and many colleagues - Russian, Ukrainian, Jewish - came to bid their farewell. In half a year my mother died from infarction. We were alone now that my parents were gone.