Rakhil Givand-Tikhaya's mother, Rebecca Givand

My mother, Rebecca Givand (maiden name: Eidelman), was born in 1904 in Kiev, and died in 1980. The photo was taken in Kiev in 1927 on the eve of her wedding with my father. My grandparents had four daughters and a son. The eldest daughter and the son died as babies from scarlet fever; I don't even know their names. Three daughters were left: Tatiana, who was born in 1902, my mother, who was born in 1904, and Maria, who was born in 1913. My mother had no secondary education, because after the death of her father she had to stop studying in order to help in her father's shop and around the house. I don't know how my parents met, but when they married they moved to No. 16, Tarasovskaya Street. My father worked at a plant then and he was given a room in a basement. That's where I was born. It was in the city center, and 'kikes' were forbidden to live in that street. I can remember the sign that said that - it was fixed to one of our houses. Later, we moved to another flat in house No. 8 on the same street. At our house we did not celebrate Jewish holidays because my father was a member of the Communist Party and was afraid that someone at his workplace might learn that he celebrated Jewish holidays at home and report him. My mother would exchange whispers with a friendly neighbor we called ?grandfather Nudelman? and they would arrange the family celebration in their apartment for us. On Pesach, mother would bring matzoh from grandmother, and the family would celebrate this holiday with ?grandfather? Nudelman. During the Second World War. Grandfather Nudelman was killed at Babi Yar. My mother was sick for many years, and I was very attached to her, so I had no time or opportunity to think about marriage, so for many years, I remained single. My mother died in 1980.