ATTACHMENT #29

SONYA'S TALE: RUSSIA, TZEDAKAH, KVETCHING & IMPOVERISHED DESPAIR

Discussed in conversations of Barney R. Radov and Clare Levin

ThoseleftbehindinRussia–havingsurvivedstarvation,WorldWarI,civilwarandpogroms–facedlifeinaUkraineunderincreasingattackbyStalin,whoinstigatedsomethingofagenocideagainstthoseunhappywithcommunistrule.ThecivilwarwhichfollowedtheRussianRevolutionleftover1.5millionpeopledeadintheUkraine,theGreatFaminekilledanother3.3million,andtheTerrorofthe1930skilledanotherthreequartersofamillionUkrainians.(ItisironicthattheGreatFamine,acombinationofgeneralcropfailure,expropriation,Stalinistterror,andbanishmentormurderofthosecomplaining,oftencalledtheHolodomor,issometimesblamedonJews.BecausesomeJewswerecommunists,asweremanymoreRussiansandUkrainiannon‐Jews,Jewswereblamedforafaminetheythemselvestypicallyfellvictimto.AsSnyderrecountsinBloodlands,anewspaperreporterforPravdaresidinginMoscow,whoseJewishfamilylivedinUkraine,receivedaletterin1933fromhisfather:“Thisistoletyouknowthatyourmotherisdead.Shediedofstarvationaftermonthsofpain.”HerlastwishwasfortheirsontorecitetheKaddishforher.Blamingthemanyforthesinsofthefewisatthetraditionalheartofanti‐Semitism).

TheOldJewishMillinRichelsdorf,

perhapstheFalkenstein’s.

Passers‐bynolongerpayingattentiontothecorpsesofstarvedpeasantsonastreetinKharkiv,Ukraine,in1933.

HolodomorMemorialinKiev.

Tragically,hardlyanythingisknownofthelifeofthefamilyleftbehind.AlittleinformationdoescomefromaletterfromLuba'smotherandhersisterSonya.Theletterisanappealformoney,onesuggestingdirestraits,andinterestingly,itreflectsthetoneofasimilarletter,alsoaddressedtoLubaandherhusbandMorrisRadov,fromthosewhohaditmadeout,butwereliving,ifnotinpoliticalterror,ineconomicsqualorinBrooklyn,namelyChernaBassandherfamily.

Thetwoletters,lostfordecades,werefoundin2013.Thefirst,below,isatypicalpicturepostcardoftheoldtype:namely,notdisplayinginterestingscenes,butmoreliketheholidaygreetingscardsoftoday,showingapictureofthefamily.MorrisisreferredtobyhisHebrewname,Moshe,andLubabyherfullRussianname,Lyubochka.

 

TheenvelopeshowsaRussianreturnaddress,withtheErie,PennsylvaniamailingaddressshowingthatSonyahadbeenmarriedtoanE.Belostotskyandhadmovedwithhermothertoanewcity.ShewasthenlivinginKrivoyRogat35KarlLiebknechtSt.Whatevertheattractivenessor,undoubtedlylackofit,ofthatresidence,today,perGooglemaps,thecurbappealhaschangeddramatically.

TheOldJewishMillinRichelsdorf,

perhapstheFalkenstein’s.

 TakenonSep,25.ForlastingmemoryTodearchildrenfromyourmotherandsisterSonya.ToMosheandLyubochkaand kids. 

Снималися25сентябряНадолгуюпамятьДорогимдетямотвашейматериисестрыСони.МосеюиЛюбочкеидеткам.

35KarlLiebknechtSt.

KrivoyRog,attheconfluenceofthe IndustrialKrivoyRogInhuletsandSaksahianRivers

KrivoyRog(nowKryuyiRihinUkrainian)isneartheEkaterinoslavoftheRadovs,nowDnipropetrovsk.Itwasfoundedinthe18thCenturybyaone‐eyedCossacknamedRih.Despiteabeautifulriverfront,itisugly,industrialandplaguedbyStalinistarchitecture.Today,coveringalengthof80miles(thelargestinEurope)andhaving660,000people,becauseofabandonedmines,oldfactoriesandterriblepollution,itisconsideredtobealmost unlivable

MapofModernUkraine MoreIndustrialKrivoyRog

HeroesMemorialatKrivoyRog KrivoyRogSynagogue ItissaidinJewishfolklorethatpeopledietwice:firstatthetimeoftheirphysicaldeathandagainatthetimewhenfamilyandfriendsceasetospeaktheirname.WiththerecoveryofSonya'spicture,herseconddeathisnowerased.

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JewscametoKrivoyRogunderpressurebyStalin,whodeclaredittobeaJewishNationalAdministrativeRegionin1928.TheearlierJews,whohadbeentheresincethe1860s,weregenerallycraftsmen,whilethosewhocameinthe1920sand1930sweremainlyfactoryworkers.Oftheapproximately13,000JewsinKrivoyRogwhenW.W.IIbegan,theGermansmurderedover7,000.HowevertheCentralDatabaseofShoahvictimsforKrivoyRogshowsonlyoneBolostosky,IsaakYitzkhah(b.1900).Jewsremaininthecitytoday,withasynagogue.

OfthemanyYiddishletterssentamongthefamilyfordecades,then,theonlytwosurviving,apparently,arethepairfromSonyaandhermotherinRussiaandanotherfromCherna(Jenny)BassinBrooklyn.TheyweresenttoMorrisandLubaRadov,ataboutthesametime,around1934,andonlyrecoveredwiththedeathofBarneyR.Radovuponsortinghiseffects.BothChernaandSonyaindifferentwayswereexperiencinggravedifficulties.Theyhadaskedbefore(and,atleastinCherna'scase,oftenaskedagain)formoneyfromMorris,who,byallaccounts,regularlycontributed,althoughhardlyenjoyingexcesswealthwhilerunningascrapyardinErieattheheightoftheDepression.Thelogicofthesecontributionsconstitutedsomethingquitedifferentthancharity:insteadtheywereareligiousduty,thetraditionalJewishobligationoftzedakah.ThewordinHebrewliterallymeansjusticeorrighteousness,notcharity,andinthatbothSonyaandChernaaskforthemoney,theyremindMorrisofhisobligations,eveninascoldingandchastisingmanner.

Cherna(Jenny)LenaCarolSmithRadovBass

MorrisandLubaRadov

Thattone,calledakvetchorkvetching,referstofindingfaultwiththepersontowhomakvetchisaddressed.Therelationshipherebetweenthekvetchandtheinjunctiontodoone’sobligationhardlyseemsagoodpsychologicalorpersonalstrategytogainsuccess.Thekvetchservesasareminderofthelistener’sweaknessso,oncecriticized,theycanbemoregenerous.AswecanseeinCherna'sletter,shescoldsMorrisfornotinquiringadequatelyofthehealthofLeika(thatis,Lena),aboutnotunderstandinghissilence(notwriting),andsaying"perhapssomethingbefellyou"inanovertlysarcasticway.Shethencontinueswitha

moregeneralcriticismofthefamilyatlarge,writingthatshehasnot"receivedaletterfromanybody.Ikeepthinkingaboutit."Afterremindingthemthatsheis“veryaloneand“Iamasforlornasastone,”sheadmitsthatshealreadyhaspromisedtorepaythemoneybuthasnot.Thatsaid,shegoesontheoffensiveyetagain,claimingthatherdifficultieshaveunfairlycausedhertobelabeled"notareliableperson."

March19DearYissachar,Regardingourhealth,bynow,it’s–thankG‐d.IwrotetoyouaboutLeiki,andyouhaven’teveninquiredabouthowsheis,aftershe’sbeensoill.Ican’tunderstandyoursilence.Perhapssomethingbefellyou.Writetome.IalsoaskedyoutonotifyZusieandCirka,andwehaven’treceivedaletterfromanybody.Ikeepthinkingaboutit.Writetomeaboutwhathappenedbyyou.NowIaskofyou,Yissachar,Ican’tgethelpfromanybody,becauseIamveryalone,Iamasforlornasastone.Iaskofyoupleasekeepmealiveherewith50dollars.ItisErevYomTovandIsitherewithoutanything.I’mcertainlynotareliablepersoninyoureyes,becauseof(themoney)Ihaven’tyetreturnedtoyou.Butit’snotmyfault,I’vebeenthroughverydifficulttimes,andLeikiwasanadditional(burden)forme.NowthatIaskforassistance;whenthingswillgetbetterI’llreturnasmuchasIcan.Ifyou’llbeabletosend,Iaskyou,pleasesendviatelegraph.Fromme,CharnaBassWesendyouallbestregards.Leikiisstillinthehospital,butisfeelingbetter.PleasewritetomeCirka’saddress

TheYiddishinbothSonya’sandCherna’slettersistraditionalUkrainian‐Yiddish,extremelydifficulttodaytofindanyonetotranslate.AmericanswithYiddishhavegreatlymodifiedit,andnolongerrecognizetheEuropeanoriginal.PerhapstheonlyreliablemethodofrecoveringoldYiddishistouseYiddish‐Translation.comwithRabbiSchmuelElbingerinIsrael.

ThetoneoftheletterfromSonyaandhermotherismuchthesame.Itbegins"howlongwillIhavetoaskyouwritealetter?Itiscostingmemyhealth.ThiswinterIalmostdied.”Dutyisthenbroughtout,remindingthat"allthedarlingchildrenshouldwritetome."She,likeCherna,reportsherhealth“Iamalreadyoldandsick."

DearChildren,HowlongwillIhavetoaskyouwritemealetter?Itiscostingmemyhealth.ThiswinterIalmostdied.Ihad“grip”threetimes,inthisoneyear.Itwasaverydifficultwinterforme.Darlings,Iaskofyou,pleasewritemeletters.Allthedarlingchildrenshouldwritetome.Tellthemtheyshouldknowthattheyhaveabubba[grandma].OtherpeoplegetletterfromtheirchildrenandIhavenoluck.There’snonewshere.Iamalreadyoldandsick,Iwouldatleastwanttoseeyouallonce,andthendie.Dear,deardaughter,ifyoucouldsendmeonepasilke[postalpackage.]Darling,whateveryoumanageIwillneverforgetit.Yourmother,whomissesyouverymuch.Replyquickly.

MorrisandLubaRadovdidsendmoney,oftenandgenerously,(ascertainlydidothers,asforexample,Muni’son‐goingbail‐outsofBillCarol).ZusieandCirka(JoeandSarahRadov)hadbeentheearlybenefactors,spendingalltheirmoneytogettherelativesoutofRussia.MorrisandLubasupportedmuchofthefamilyfordecades.Inasmallerway,moneywaslentorgiven(typicallytherewasnorealdifference)tomany,oftenresultinginsmallgrievances,insults,andunrelentingsarcasm,butneverinanybreakinfamilyrelations,anyshunningorpushingaside,andhardlyanylordingoverbythosewho(usuallytemporarily)hadafew

TzedakahmotifonaJewishgravestone.LocatedinaJewishcemeteryinOtwock,asmalltowninPoland.

dollarsasopposedtothosewhodidnot.Thestrategyofinsultingsomeoneasapredicatetoaskingthemforhelpisdifficulttofathomtoday.It,perhaps,couldonlybeunderstoodinthetraditionalreligiouscontextofthemeaningoftzedakahasrighteousness,fairnessorjusticeand,asareminderfromthoseaskingtothosegivingthatitisreallyafavorconferredonthewealthierbytakingtheirmoney,asitiswell‐knownthattzedakahisoneofonlythreeactsonecanperformtoovercomealessthanfavorableheavenlydecree.