(Wywiady dostępne są w językach angielskim i ukraińskim. Prosimy o wyrozumiałość.)
Odessa, Ukraine
Interview conducted in 2004 by Natalia Fomina
This is my family. This photo was taken in Odessa in 1993. From right to left: my wife Raisa Fihtman, I, my grandson Boris Fihtman, my granddaughter Svetlana with her nephew, my son Alexandr Fihtman, his wife Inna, my son Leonid’s wife Natasha, my son Leonid Fihtman with his son Ruslan.
This is me, Grigoriy Fihtman, reading my report dedicated to an anniversary of the Soviet army at locomotive operator school. This photo was taken in Odessa in 1984.
This is me, Grigoriy Fihtman (the first from the right) with my son Alexandr Fihtman, his wife Inna Fihtman and daughter Maya. This photo was taken in Mogilyov-Podolskiy town in 1973. This photo is taken on the 1 of May when we were walking about the town.
This is me, Grigoriy Fihtman (in the center) with amateur performers at the regional show of amateur performers. This photo was taken in Vinnitsa in 1966. I with colleagues from our school participated in the final concert of this regional show.
This is me, Grigoriy Fihtman with my wife Raisa Fihtman and our son Alexandr Fihtman. This photo was taken in Komargorod village of Vinnitsa region in 1952. This photograph was taken by a visiting photographer since we didn’t have a photo shop in our village.
This is me, Grigoriy Fihtman. This photo was taken in Orenburg in1946. In 1943 I was mobilized to the army. Young men went to the army at the age of 17 at this height of the war. This was 1943, when Ukraine was to be liberated and Byelorussia and there was a long road to go before the victory.
This is my Komsomol identity card obtained in Kurgan-Tubeh town in 1943. Before going to the army I joined Komsomol. It was mandatory for recruits to become Komsomol members since we were to be trained to go to the front.
This is my brother Abram Fihtman, sergeant of the Red army. This photo was taken in Brest in 1941. My brother sent us this photograph in one of his last letters few months before the Great Patriotic War began.
This is my father Samuel Fihtman. This photo was taken in Zhmerinka in 1940.
This is my mother Sima Fihtman. This photo was taken in Zhmerinka in 1940. This is the only photograph of my mother. It was made for her passport.
This is me, Grigoriy Fihtman at the age of five. This photo was taken in Zhmerinka in 1930. This was the first time I was photographed in a photo shop in the central street. I remember staring at the photographed as if he were a miracle. Before evacuating from Zhmerinka I grabbed this photo that was on the table and put it in my pocket. I had this photo during the whole time of evacuation. It is very dear to me. I show it to my grand children.
During the horrible famine in 1921, the interviewee’s parents moved to Zhmerinka, Vinnitsa region, where they ended up staying for 20 years. Born there in 1926, Mr. Fihtman fondly remembers how his maternal grandmother read him books in Russian as well as cinema being the main entertainment in his home town. The outbreak of the Great Patriotic War brought an end to this peaceful life and saw the family evacuate, moving from place to place.
In the interim, Mr. Fihtman’s brother Abram went to serve in the army as early as 1939, a month after WWII began, fought in the Brest Battle in 1941 and perished in Leningrad in May 1942. The interviewee himself served at the border with Afghanistan, fighting basmachi groups; in 1944 he was sent to Orenburg infantry school where he stayed for 14 months; in 1946 he was demobilized. After the war, he settled down in Odessa, founded a family and worked as a teacher of history. 12 photos, mostly portraits of family members.
