#45
[A555] MICHAEL KAPROV’S FAMILY:
CAPITALIST,
WAR HERO, AND POGROM
by [A558] Gene Katzman
Editor’s note:
[A552] Shemariah Kaprov was the fifth of [A290] Khaim Kaprove’s eight
children. Virtually nothing was known about the branch until we heard from
cousin [A558] Gene Katzman. In the early 1900s, this branch had become
prominent “capitalists” trading in horses. Some were war heroes, but all but
few died in the pogroms, and of the survivors, only a few survived the Nazis.
Their stories are below.
One member, [A556] Anna Kaprove, survived by sheer good
fortune (See Chapter #105). Chapter 106
tells of her descendants leaving Russia in the late 1980s when the Soviet
government officially again allowed Jews to emigrate. Cousin [A558] Gene
Katzman recounts the stories told to him by cousins [A568] Anna (nee Kaprove)
and [A567] Yakov Berdichevsky.
Fig. 45-1: [A553] Yakov Kaprov
family tree
[A553] Yakov Kaprov (1860-1921) was one of the most
important (if not the biggest) horse traders in Podolia, near [C13] Kiev, and
one of the wealthiest families in [C02] the Sokolivka/ Justingrad village of the
1,000 Jewish families living there.
From about 1890 to shortly after 1910 and the beginning of
WWI, Yakov would travel annually to Russia proper, which was unusual, for Jews
were rarely allowed to move beyond the borders of the Pale. He first went to Tsaritzyn,84
which was the railroad terminus and biggest port on the banks of Volga River.
From there, he would travel about 800 miles to the east, and what is today’s
Kazakhstan. There in the prairie country, Yakov would purchase horses in the
hundreds. He would hire the necessary people to help him herd the horses back
to Tsaritsyn (Volgograd), where he would then have them loaded, having hired
the entirety of the whole railroad train. The train went to [C36] Uman, the
principal city some 30 miles south of Sokolivka. The Russian military itself
was, in all likelihood, the primary purchaser of the horses. However, once World War I began, the
military’s need for horses jumped, and undoubtedly, the Russian Army appropriated
most if not all of Yakov’s horses and his horse business ended. It is unknown
in what other companies Yakov had interests.
By 1914, Yakov’s oldest son, [A554] Samuel, had left for
the United States. Once settled in Philadelphia, he changed his last name to
Kaplan.
Yakov’s second son, [A555] Michael, was drafted into
military service when he was 17 years of age.
He was stationed in the region of Brody, an area about 40 miles
northeast of Lvov and for some time near the Russia/Austro-Hungarian border. During
a significant event in World War I, the nature of which remains unknown, he was
awarded a highlevel medal available to non-commissioned officers. Typically, it
would have been the Georgian Cross, but only Christians were allowed to receive
it.
A more chilling event occurred during this time. Michael
was at the Brody front when something took his attention. He heard a whispering
Hebrew prayer or a cry for help in Yiddish. None of his companions knew
Yiddish, and so had no idea that the enemy troops had Jews in their ranks. In
the dark without any of his compatriots knowing, Michael returned to the area
only to find the wounded Austrian-Hungarian soldier who was a Hungarian Jew and
who had been left alone. As befits a good Jew, Michael helped the fellow Jew by
giving him the medical care available to him and provided him bread and other
food. He also led him back close to Austro-Hungarian trenches. He knew that had
he told any of his Russian compatriots of his actions, he, himself, would have
been killed.
Toward the end of the war, [A555] Michael married [A555a]
Leah Grinberg, who came from Pliskov, a small town in the Podolia / Kiev
Gubernia. Leah’s family was in the milling business and far better off than
most other Jews.
But their life was soon to be torn asunder. After living in
Pliskov for more than a year, and Leah giving birth to [A556] Anna, they came
to Sokolivka in 1919 in time to die in a pogrom.
84
Tsaritsen
(1589-1925) was an early industrial city of Russia. After World War I its name
changed to Stalingrad (1925 – 1961). The
Soviets' Battle of Stalingrad and the invading German Army was one of the most
bloody and largest battles in the history of warfare. Since 1961, the city’s
name has been Volgograd. The city lies on the Volga River's Western bank and is
a major administrative center. It is strategically located close to the Don
River.
World War I had ended, but the civil war was beginning in
Russia, which ultimately led to the formation of the Soviet Union. During this
interregnum, would-be military leaders (a.k.a. Bandits) came and went, often
monthly. The worst were [A284] Zeleny and [A286] Petliura (See chapter #54).
The one theme all non-Jews shared, and that included many of the non-Jewish
neighbors, was: “Everybody hates the Jews.”
Michael Kaprov quickly became a leader of the Jewish
Self-Defense Group in Sokolivka/ Justingrad.
And then came the infamous pogrom of August 1919, where
Zeleny demanded 1,000,000 rubles, the sum of which was impossible to raise.
Zeleny rounded up about 240 men and locked them in a house. Finally, 200,000
rubles were raised, but still, it was not enough. In retribution, ten men were
murdered. Michael was one. When more money could not be raised, Zeleny killed
another ten. Finally, he and his men went to various homes, killing and
burglarizing at will.
Fig. 45-2: Grinberg-Kaprove family,
C1836 taken in Justingrad.
L-R Top: [A556] Anna Michalovna
Gilman (nee Kaprov), [A573] Chaya Kaprov, [A571] Belchik Kaprov;
Lower: Raizel Berdichevsky, [A568]
Anna Tokar (nee Berdichevsky), [A566] Ratsa Berdichevsky (nee Kaprov), [A566a]
Samuel Berdichevsky, [A567] Yakov Berdichevsky.
Fig. 45-3: Grinberg-Kaprove family,
1926 taken in Pliskov.
L-R Top: [A555a] Leah Kaprov (nee
Grinberg), Israel Grinberg, Basya Grinberg Ruvinsky; Middle: [A556] Anna Michalovna Gilman (born
Kaprov), Surah Chaya Greenberg, Laib Greenberg; Lower: Manya Greenberg.
Fig. 45-4: [A566] Ratsa Kaprov and
son [A567] Yakov Berdichevsky.
Fig. 45-5: Tokar family: [A568a]
Boris, [A570] Leonid, [A570a] Marina, [A568] Anna, and [A569] Aleksandra (1985
in Belaya Tserkov).
[A553] Yakov, [A553a] Hannah, and several tried to hide in
a crawl space beneath the home but were discovered. The problem when hiding was
how to quiet the small children. To silence those who began to cry, the parents
would stuff pillows into their mouths.
[A567] Velvel, who was then about 17 years of age, along
with about 100 other youngsters, were taken to a nearby ravine. All were
murdered when no money was forthcoming.
By the end of the pogroms, [A555] Michael and others in the
family had died (See
Appendix D). [A554] Yakov, [A554a] Hannah, [A555a]
Leah,[A556] Anna, and [A566] Ratsa survived. Leah, with Anna, had returned to
her parents and siblings in Pliskov.
Yakov and Hannah could not bear the death of their two sons
and soon also passed away. Ratsa and Belchik (who was then in Odessa) were the
only two people who survived from what was once the prosperous and happy
mishpocha that was called the Kaprov family.
Soon Ratsa and Samuel Berdichevsky married and moved to
[C43] Zashkov to his family. Zashkov, a small town in Cherkasy Oblast, is the
center of Zashkov district, located 10 miles north of Sokolivka. The first of
their two children, born in 1928, was named to honor her grandfather [A553]
Yakov. [A568] Anna, born two years later, was named to honor her grandmother
[A553a] Hannah Kaprov. Samuel’s father had built the home several decades
earlier.
[A571] Belchik graduated from one of the Odessa
universities with an engineering degree in making brad equipment. He married
[A571a] Chaya, who was Jewish and grown up in the local community. In 1937,
another [A572] Yakov entered the family. He was a full namesake to his
grandfather [A553] Yakov Kaprov.
Despite the promising beginning, ugliness followed. Someone
in Belchik’s company falsely accused him, and after a trial, he was imprisoned
for seven years in Siberia. Chaya and little Yasha (Yakov Kaprov) returned to
Zashkov to reside with the Berdichevsky family. In June 1941, the Nazis invaded
the western frontiers of the USSR, eventually pushing East. [A566a] Samuel was
drafted into the Red Army, dying in 1943 during the war. At the end of June,
Ratsa met a Sokolivkan Jewish neighbor, who, as a Red Army soldier retreating
through Zashkov, told her that as the Nazis come, the locals were clearing the
area for the Germans by rioting, burglarizing, and exterminating their Jewish
neighbors. Ratsa quickly ran home and let [A571] Chaya and Raizel Berdichevsky
(mother of Samuel Berdichevsky) know that they must leave immediately, and walk
East to leave Ukraine, and get to the Russian proper. Chaya and Raizel
refused.
With this new and alarming information, [A566] Ratsa, in
contrast to Chaya and Raizel, immediately took both of her children, [A567]
Yakov and [A568] Anna, and quickly left Zashkov, walking easterly. They covered
125 miles during the first month coming near Cherkasy. By chance, Ratsa saw a
horse, and being a horse trader’s daughter, knew well how to care for the
animals. Thus, during the second part of their journey, they rode rather than
walk. Soon they “rode” the next 200 miles to Kharkov where there was a train
station. By train, they soon were in Central Asia, and by October 1941, in
Samarkand, Uzbekistan, where they lived until early 1944 when Ukraine was Nazi
free.
Chaya and Raizal’s story ended tragically. The moment Nazis
entered Zashkov, the locals drove the Jewish families from their homes and
informing the German soldiers where to find the Jews. Some Ukrainians went
further. They, themselves, killed their Jewish neighbors. The local neighbor
who envied the house Samuel’s father built, came over, and killed both women
together, including the five-year-old, Yasha.
In 1944, when Ratsa with her children returned to Zashkov,
they found the neighbor with his big family occupying the house. He claimed the
house was his now, and “you Jews have the nerve to ask for it. You should be
happy you got your life. You do not know when to stop. And now you want the
house. What are you going to ask for next?” Ratsa left and found temporary
lodging before finding a permanent home several years later.
Yakov later graduated from school and moved to Kiev, where
he lived for some time before moving in 1973 to Israel. Ratsa joined him in
Israel a year letter. In the mid-fifties, Anna Berdichevsky married Boris Tokar
and moved to his town, Bila Tserkva, some 30 miles southwest of Kiev. In 1990,
with their two children, Aleksandra and Leonid, the family joined Yakov in
Israel. Ratsa died a half year before they arrived. Yakov, now 92 years old,
lives in Migdal-Haimek, located 3 km north of Afula, Israel.
Some good fortune ensued. Laib Grinberg (1875-1941), who
had become Greenberg, was [A555a] Leah’s father and Anna’s grandfather (not on
the Kaprov side); his other children later prospered. Israel Greenberg became a
well-known scientist specializing in physics. After having been admitted to a
prominent physics institute in Moscow and himself already now recognized as outstanding,
he led the other Greenbergs in the family to live in Moscow. [A556] Anna along
with [A555a] Leah, Basya, and Manya Greenberg, thus came to reside in Moscow.
Russia, from after the pogrom era, the revolution and
through the 1930s, became more
“friendly” to Jews, especially to those who were not openly
religious. During the 1930s, the
population of Jews in Moscow numbered more than 500,000, which was exceeded
only by New York City and Warsaw. Moscow had become a major Jewish center with
two important Jewish theaters, Hodima (Hebrew) and Goset (Yiddish), as well as
several Yiddish Schools and even several Synagogues. The Grand Choral Synagogue
of Moscow was the home of the main Rabbi of Russia and later of the Soviet
Union, which might be unique for the Atheist State. By 1939 Jews had become the
city’s principal ethnic group. The city’s population of Jews (400,000) was
second only to Russians.[1]
See Chapter #105, which recounts the most unfortunate
episode where grandfather Laib Greenberg (Grinberg), his wife Surah Chaya
Greenberg, and other relatives went to attend a funeral in Pliskov in Podolie,
just when on June 22, 1941 the Nazis invaded Russia during World War II. All were killed. Only Anna survived as she
had remained home preparing for exams at the Moscow Medical University.
#106
[A556] ANNA MICHALOVNA KAPROVE, AFTER THE NAZIS by [A558] Gene Katzman
[A556] Anna Gilman (nee Kaprav), in the early summer of
1941, began medical school at the Moscow Medical University. Her beloved
grandfather, Leib Greenberg, had just passed away in the shtetl of Pliskov in
Podolia (central Ukraine). The entire family, including mother [A451.4a] Leah
Kaprov Grinberg, plus her aunts and uncles and many cousins living in Moscow,
came to pay last respect and take care of their Grandmother, Surrah Chaya
Greenberg, planning for her to return with them to Moscow. Anna had exams and
was unable to go. Unfortunately, two weeks later, the Nazis invaded the western
frontiers of the Soviet Union, where Pliskov happened to be (150 kilometers
from the Soviet/Romanian border.) The family, trapped in Ukraine, spent their
last days in the [C38] Vinnitsa Ghetto. They all perished in a fire the Nazis
began and kept sustained by local sympathizers of Hitler’s ideas. Thus, Anna
lost her entire family in a single moment. She had already lost her father,
[A555] Michal Kaprov. In one of the many pogroms when she was less than a year
old. Now, not yet quite 21, she was utterly alone in a horrible war-stricken
world.
By the summer’s end, she was drafted to the medical train division
as a war nurse. She spent the next four years (1941-45) on a medical train
traveling to the front line to pick up the wounded from the places of battle to
then transporting them to the rear where it was safer. The picture dated late
fall 1943 shows Anna on the lower row, to the extreme right. [A828a] Yelena Bonner,[2]
who later married physicist [A828] Andrei Sakharov,[3]
is in the center next to Anna. Yelena became a famous human rights advocate,
and her later husband became known as the “Father of the Russian hydrogen
bomb.” He later became a prominent
dissident.
For her work, Anna received the medal, “For the victory over
Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.”
Kaprav Anna Mikhailovna
Award presentation
Rank: ml. lieutenant
Location: VSP 122
Record number: 1536453285
Fig. 105-1: Anna’s (Lower right,
front row) medical team. Center, front row, Yelena Bonner, future wife of
Andrew Sakharov, father of Russian hydrogen bomb and later dissident fighting
for human rights; Right: Medal “For the
victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.” English:
#
Full Name Army Rank Occupation Birth
Yr Nationality
Education
9 Kaprav Anna
Mikhalovna Jr Lieutenant Registered
Nurse 1920 Jew
Med Student
Place
birth Yrs in Red Army
& current place Characteristics
Ukranian SSR 11/20/1941 04/08/1943 Meet the expectations, performs Vinnitsa
District
dual duties as a nurse and Pliskov
supervises kitchen.
Fig. 105-2 Documentation associated with the medal.
Fig 105-3 [A556] Anna Michakovna Kaprove and [A556a] Yosef Salomonovich Gilman 1951.
#107
GLASNOST AND COMING TO AMERICA by [A558] Gene Katzman
[A558] Gene (Gennady – birth name) Katzman was born in 1971
in Moscow. His parents, [A557] Elena and [A557a] Konstantin Aron Katzman, were
two years apart in age (father born 1948, mother born 1950), and both had met
when they were college students. In the USSR, each major city had a single
University and multiple institutes organized by specialty, such as printing,
engineering, law, medicine, etc. Both parents were at the Moscow Polygraphic
Institute, which focused on large-scale printing. Konstantin’s training dealt
more with the engineering associated with big operational, highly complex
printing systems. Elena trained in accounting and economics. Their schooling
programs were five years long, and their degrees would be equivalent to a
master’s degree that one might receive today.
Gene was about five years old when he first learned about
antisemitism.
He lived near his grandparents, at Sokolniki, a
neighborhood on the northeast side of Moscow. Their home was in an apartment
complex where the typical buildings were uniform and five-six stories high.
Children from all areas would play together. There were no computers back in
the 1970s with which to play. Kids then would all hang out together for the
day. Homework from school would be completed, allowing the children to resume
play in the common area.
Their neighborhood was largely made up of children of
Russian background. His playmate, who was also about the same age, would call
out “Yid, Yid” to describe another child who might look slightly different.
Gene then did the same when he came home. Gene’s father asked him if he knew
what “Yid” meant, to which he had to say he did not. His father then told him
that the word meant Jewish and that he, Gene, was Jewish, his father was
Jewish, his mother was Jewish, his grandparents were Jewish, and so were all
his uncles, aunts, and grandparents. They were all Jewish. Gene was surprised.
The next question that came out of his mouth was, “So Aunt Sopha (Sophia
Davidovich, cousin of Konstantin Katzman) is a Jew?” The answer was
affirmative. Gene had another question ready. Was her husband, Uncle Gene
(Davidovich), a Jew too? The rest looked
like a ping pong match. Gene was shouting the names of the relatives and
friends of the family and was getting the defiant “Yes” back. It probably would
last forever, until Gene asked the last question. “So Aunt Olga’s (Olga Sorokin
– Elena Katzman sister) dog “Boruch” is Jewish?” Konstantin smiled and answered, “Do you think
someone would name a dog like this if it wasn’t Jewish.”
Gene came to understand that calling someone a “Yid” was
done purposefully in a most derogatory manner. It was meant to be hurtful. It
was meant to mean that you were different than all others.
In school, Gene also learned that many of the facts about
your life were not anonymous. The teachers knew much more about you than you
might have believed. The classroom list of students included not just your
name, but your religion or ethnicity and where you lived. Nothing was hidden.
Even if the student or the parents did not wish for the teacher to know, all
knew that the teacher did know.
Another story from Gene’s childhood describes the child’s
reaction to the Anti-Jewish and Anti-Israeli atmosphere dominant in Moscow
during the early to mid-1980s. Gene attended the elementary school in the
Southern Yuzhnoe Izmailovo neighborhood on the East side of Moscow. He was in
third grade. In his class was another Jewish child whom Gene befriended, Valery
Yazmir (now living in Petach Tikva, Israel), who has remained a good friend.
These two Jewish kids in a class of gentiles started to fill their real
identity, and their sense of Jewish belonging grew exponentially. Both learned
the Hebrew alphabet through an old textbook found in Val’s grandfather’s
library. An after-school activity was to beautify the school building and
surrounding territory. They were given a job to paint a playground located in
the school vicinity. The paint was blue. After the job was completed, and some
paint was still available, the two wondered how they might utilize it as
intended. Gene suggested,
“See the Boiler Room Hut, just north of the school?”
“Yes,” replied Val.
“What if we paint ISRAEL in big Hebrew letters on a wall of
the Hut?”
“Yes. It is a good idea. Let’s write it in Hebrew so no one
will know what it is and will not bother to clean it up.”
The two eagerly start painting the letters, filling a true
sense of their Jewish pride. Val then suggested a second idea,
“Let’s paint an Israeli Flag and wave it on my
balcony.”
“But you live on the 14th floor. Who
would see it? I live on the 4th, and it easily could be seen from
the street, offered Gene.” “Good idea,” Val agreed.
The moment they came to Gene’s apartment, they found
pillowcases in a linen closet. With scissors, they cut a big white rectangle
from it. Then using a deep blue paint, they painted the flag of Israel as best
they could. They found a hair dryer in a bathroom by which to dry the painted
flag. Several hours later, they raised the flag of the Jewish State from their
4th-floor balcony so it would wave over Moscow, the Soviet capital.
Soon after that, Gene’s father, Konstantin, came home from work and noticed
immediately the Jewish star and stripes waving on his balcony. Konstantin came
up with a wise decision. Let’s lower the flag from the balcony and express our
Jewish pride inside the Jewish apartment. All three of them, with dignity and
pride, went to the balcony and had a lowering of the flag ceremony. Gene and
Val blew Hatikva through their lips. Val was given the honor to hold the flag
in his room.
Gene’s mother-in-law (Ina Feldstein (Starik)) told a story
when the entire family was traveling to the Caucusus (Georgia) on vacation. A
young college student on the train asked her where she was from since she
looked more Georgian or Armenian than Russian. The person was surprised when
she said Jewish. He asked why was she being so harsh on herself. “I just wanted
to know what is your ethnic background, and here you are, shouting you are
Jewish.”
[A567] Yacov lived in Kiev, where antisemitism was far more
pronounced than in Moscow or elsewhere in many other regions of Russia. Just
the surname name could make it easy to suspect a Jewish heritage. Berdichevsky
sounded Jewish; without question, Katzman signified Jewish. Yacov was one of
the first family members who determined to emigrate and was speaking about it
with Gene’s parents early in the 1970s when he decided to leave. By 1973,
Gene’s parents had already decided they, too, would emigrate.
Throughout Gene’s teenage years, people did not hide their
feelings towards Jews. If you felt Jewish and not particularly Russian, then
you were asked when you were going home (meaning to Israel). Even though one’s
parents, grandparents, and earlier ancestors had already lived in Russia for
over 200 years.
To emigrate was not easy. One needed an invitation, which
generally meant from a relative in Israel. Having a sponsor was mandatory.
Yacov, by 1973, had already collected all of the papers
about the family history that would be needed for the authorities. The
organization to which one applied in Moscow was named OVIR (Office of Visas and
Registrations). In 1978, Gene’s parents decided definitely to emigrate and
turned in their documents to try to obtain exit papers. It was not until over a
year later that the Russian officials announced that they had reviewed the
documents and that the family definitely could not leave the country.
And that is when the real difficulties began. The Russian
officials would ask, “How could you want to go? Because if you’re a real
Russian, no Russian would want to leave.” But if you did wish to leave, then
you were a traitor, because only traitors would leave. [A557a] Gene’s father at
that time held a relatively senior engineering position in the printing shop of
the Moscow Academy of Science. Still, since he intended to leave, it was felt
there would be no reason that he should be allowed to continue in the printing
Institute, and so was fired. [A557] Elena, too, was deemed unworthy to hold her
job, as she too had become a traitor, and she was let go. To complicate this
period, grandmother [A556] Anna had developed cancer.
For the next year, life was most difficult as both parents
could only find the most menial jobs. Eventually, Elena got her old job back,
but not for Konstantin. Only after several years did he find a new more
substantial position, but with a different company.
Some of their relatives were also refuseniks.[4]
Gene Davidovich had had a Ph.D. in mathematics but was unable to find a job.
His wife (Sophia Davidovich), one of the first persons in the Soviet Union to
specialize in information technology (IT), lost her position and, for the next
decade, could only find a job as a mail carrier.
By the time Gene’s parents left in 1989, he was coming of
age and finally beginning to understand what antisemitism was, and all that was
happening. Friends got depressed when trying to leave. Starvation was to be
avoided, a difficulty without reasonable jobs. And the employers could be harsh
and would give any excuse conceivable except the real reason why good jobs and
promotions were so scarce. Being Jewish was an economic curse.
By the mid-1980s, many families had been refused permission
to emigrate, and their lives became exceedingly difficult subsequently. Gene’s
family just accepted that going would be difficult, but didn’t raise a fuss.
And that helped some; life was not as bad as it might have become.
In April 1987, their relatives, the Davidovich family,
announced they were leaving. Their son, Alex, was three months older than Gene.
By 1987 perestroika had begun.141At that time,
it was being said that only 6,000 people desired to leave, and since they were
all so vocal and making such trouble, it was thought, or so it was said, it was
just more straightforward to get rid of these dissenters and have quiet again.
Of course, the number that left during the coming years was about 2 million.
One piece of fortunate luck that helped Gene and his
parents was the visas they had procured earlier did not have an expiration time
limit. Thus, they were still active. During this period, acquaintances were no
longer friendly, but at least not overly hostile as before. The exit visas came
through. Gene’s family had choices. They had family in
141 Soviet
Pres. Mikhail Gorbachev, in 1990-1991 was the person single most important in
allowing
Russian Jews to emigrate. Leonid
Brezhnev, his predecessor (General Secretary, Soviet Union Communist Party,
1964-1982), began the practice of reforming the Russian economic and political
system in 1979. The changes truly came into full force when Soviet President
Mikhail Gorbachev promoted what was called “perestroika,” the policy permitting
greater awareness of economic markets, as well as ending central planning.
Perestroika lasted from 1985 until 1991. Its goal was to make socialism work
more efficiently. It was not to end the command economy. Gorbachev also
popularized “glasnost,” which meant "openness and transparency."
On December 5, 1965, a Glasnost
rally took place in Moscow, which was the key event leading to the emerging
Soviet civil rights movement. Specifically, early on, it allowed the public,
independent observers, and foreign journalists to attend trials in person.
Trials until then were closed to the public. As Chapter #105 relates. Andrei
Sakharov did not travel to Oslo to receive his Nobel Peace Prize as he was
publicly protesting about another political trial that was then occurring.
Gorbachev’s new policy or transparency now allowed the Soviet citizens to
discuss their system’s problems and potential solutions publicly.
Glasnost allowed greater contact between the Soviets and
Westerners and loosened restrictions on travel. Ultimately, this led to the policy
permitting Jews to emigrate to Israel and elsewhere. Reference https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Russia and https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/russia-fsu/1991-03-01/glasnost-perestroika-and-antisemitism. For additional
material about later emigration, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1990s_post-Soviet_aliyah
Israel, and the Davidoviches, who were now already living
in Chicago, were willing to act as sponsors.
Of course, nothing was simple, especially in comparison to
today. The exit visa was for Israel. It could not be for the United States. But
at that time, the Soviets and Israel had no formal relations, which meant there
were no direct flights between the two countries. Everything had to be
conducted through third parties. And the moment Gene and his family left
Russia, their citizenships were declared null and void.
Using [A567] Yakov Berdichevsky’s name and address in
Israel for exit visa purposes, on April 6, 1989, the family flew to Vienna,
Austria. As with other families leaving Moscow and coming to Vienna, few had
their own family there. What had begun with just an occasional family departure
now was numbering at least 100 a day.
Fig. 106-1: Exit visa from Russia
and Entrance Visas to Austria for [A558] Gene, [A557a] Konstatin and [A560]
Sarah Katzman.
The arriving passengers quickly met inspectors where
officials from Israel were also present (Austria had diplomatic relations with
Israel). Unlike today’s airports where ramps led directly from the plane to the
terminal, the passengers had to walk down the stairways and across the tarmac
to the building where the Viennese officials met them. The Israeli immigration
officials, who were there also, quickly determined whether the passengers were
coming to Israel or did they wish to go to the United States or elsewhere. If
to the United States, the family was shunted to yet a different line and taken
to meet with officials from the “Joint” (Distribution). This meant meeting with
officials from HIAS (Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society), a Jewish-American nonprofit
organization operating since 1881 to provide humanitarian aid and assistance to
refugees, especially Jewish refugees. To this new family, it felt like they
were on a conveyor belt, but an exemplary conveyor belt at that.
Gene’s family stayed in Vienna for ten days and worked with
the US Embassy to claim refugee status. The Austrians were clear that they did
not want Russian Jews in the country, and so the stay was restricted to 10 days
and not more. Other non-Jewish groups, it seemed, were treated differently and
more generously.
From Vienna, the family left by train for a transit camp in
Ladispoli, a seaside village about 10 miles east of Rome.[5]
The family was given a small cottage, a monthly allowance, and a
Russian-Italian Dictionary. Heads of the families were told to start looking
for a place to stay elsewhere. The time given was a week due to the growing
wave of Russian Jewish emigration. The cottage needed to be readied for another
group of Jewish immigrates who left USSR the week later. Konstantin Katzman and
Peter Sorokin (husbands of Elena and Olga) were given a difficult task. Without
knowing the language, culture, and the topography of Italy, limited money
(Italian liras) and a small pocket-size Russian-Italian Dictionary, find a
place to live for their families during what proved to be a three-month stay in
Italy. On the last day of their stay at the camp, the men found the place at
Nettuno (Italian seashore countryside 45 miles south of Rome), which precluded
them from becoming the “Italian Homeless.”
All monies given for a monthly allowance suddenly had to be
used for monthly rent. The deposit to the landlord meant there was virtually
nothing left for day-to-day survival, food, etc. It was tough. The food stock gathered as an
emergency supply back in Moscow (instant soup cubes, canned meats, and fish)
was depleting rapidly. Families wanted to hide their survival needs, but it was
impossible to do so now. The local neighbors, who were simple Italian farmers,
helped to determine the needs of the new people in their village. They did not
ask if they needed help. Just one day, baskets of fruits and vegetables, as
well as freshly baked home bread, appeared on the footsteps of their front
door. They wanted to help but also wished not to harm their feelings. They
preferred their help to remain incognito. The family received nominal monies,
but as it was insufficient to live, the men who could work found illegal, relatively menial positions. The family
had come in April 1989 and left on July 13, 1989.
The children enjoyed the experience and the new location.
They liked living in a seaside village, and as it was summer, the beach was an
attraction. It was different for the
parents. Not only did they need jobs to support their
family, but they also had to prepare for interviews and obtain the necessary
papers for immigration to the United States.
Then came the interview at the US Embassy (Via Veneto,
Rome). Sophia Davidovich (cousin of Konstantin Katzman) provided a letter of
sponsorship to the HIAS Italian office. HIAS purchased the family’s airplane
tickets to Chicago. The Katzmans and Sorokins soon came to America on a
TWA Rome–New York–Chicago flight. At 9:10 p.m., the TWA plane landed in
O’Hare.
Once there, Gene’s father got a job as a technician in a
printing shop, and by August
1989, Gene’s mother began work as an accountant. After
another four months (March
1990), Elena secured a new job involved with payroll
accounting. She later became a COBOL developer and stayed in that line of work
for another 15-20 years until she retired. Gene’s father had difficulty moving
from his role as a technician to finding a job as an engineer. Also, the entire
printing industry was changing tremendously due to automation. Gene’s father
continued working for the rest of his career as a high-level technician.
In March 1991, Gene entered the University of Illinois at
Chicago and four years later graduated with Bachelor in Statistics Degree. But
his career in actuarial science did not happen to be. Gene found a job as a
computer programmer, later becoming a database system analyst. He now is a
Database Architect at the Wintrust Bank. In 2002, Gene received a master’s
degree in computer science at Keller Graduate School of Business. On June 1,
2001, Gene married Stella Leyzerova, also a Russian Jewish émigré who came to
Salt Lake City, Utah, in 1995 from Donetsk, Ukraine. Aaron Katzman was born in
2008 in Park Ridge, Illinois, 19 years after the Katzman family left the Soviet
Union.
[A560] Sarah Katzman, [A557a] Konstantin and [A557] Elena
Katzman’s daughter, came to the USA at age 14 years. She started in 9th
grade at Ida Crown Jewish Academy, and after the family moved to the suburbs,
she continued at the Main East High School in Des Plaines. The school is famous
for its students, Hollywood actor Harrison Ford and First Lady Hilary Clinton.
Sarah then went to the University of Illinois in Chicago and graduated from its
Information System program. Since 1997, she has worked as a computer system
analyst and developer.
Fig. 106-2: [A558a] Stella Katzman,
[A563] Anna Sorokin, [A562] Jane Sorokin, [A557] Elena Katzman, [A560] Sarah
Katzman, [A564] Lisa Sorokin, and [A561] Olga Sorokin (an aunt). 2011.
Fig. 106-3 [A558] Gene Katzman
family. [A558a] Stella, [A558] Gene, [A559] Aaron.
The [A561] Olga Sorokin (nee Gilman) family, [A557] Elena
Katzman’s younger sister, came to the US in 1989 together with the group.
Olga’s husband, [A561a] Peter Sorokin, was a medical doctor back in Moscow, and
taking series of medical exams and completing the residency, he continued his
medical career as a physician in one of the Chicago hospitals. Olga went into
public health by obtaining a research position in the College of Nursing at the
University of Illinois at Chicago. She worked there until retiring. Their
daughters, [A562] Eugenia (“Jane”), [A563] Anna (named in honor of her
grandmother), and [A564] Elizaveta (Lisa), attended the Solomon Schechter Day
Jewish Schools and Stevenson high school at Buffalo Grove. After graduating
from high school, Jane and Anna got their medical degrees at the University of
Michigan at Ann Arbor and the University of Wisconsin at Madison, respectively.
Jane practices obstetrics, and Anna, neurology. Lisa obtained her degree in art
and then worked in one of the art museums in Minneapolis, MN. All three have
families.
[1] In 1993, [A031b] Marion
Robboy’s cousin by marriage, Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt from in Zurich became
the Chief Rabbi of Moscow. In addition to being the spiritual leader of
Moscow’s central synagogue, he headed the Moscow Rabbinical Court for all of
the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).
[2] Yelena Georgievna Bonner
(1923 – 2011), wife of physicist Andrei Zakharov, was a Russian human rights
activist. During her lifetime as a dissident, she was known for her great
courage and characteristic blunt honesty.
[3] Andrei Zakharov was the
father of the Soviet hydrogen bomb, but later opposed the Russian’s abuse of
power. In 1975, he was awarded the Peace Prize for his work for human rights.
Furiously, the Soviet leadership refused him permission to travel to Oslo.
Instead, Yelena Bonner received it on his behalf. Subsequently, Zakharov lost
all his Soviet honorary titles, and for several years the couple remained under
strict surveillance at their home in Gorki. In 1985, Gorbachev, now in power,
permitted them to return to Moscow.
[4] An unofficial term for
individuals, who typically were, but not always Soviet Jews, whom the Soviet
officials refused permission to emigrate, primarily to Israel.
[5] For Gene and his family,
this was heaven. But it was not always so for the Italians. Compromises had to be
made by all. See https://www.jta.org/2005/09/26/archive/first-person-a-camp-for-soviet-jewishrefugees-lives-on-but-only-in-peoples-memories,
https://www.jta.org/1989/04/11/archive/ladispolibulging-at-the-seams-as-soviet-jews-cram-seaside-town,
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-
02-19-mn-420-story.html,
and https://www.timesofisrael.com/why-189000-soviet-jews-fled-to-italy-rather-than-the-promised-land/.
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