In the USSR family of nations—

Sholem Aleichem’s ‘Kasrilovka’
is today s rejuvenated Berdichev

The following story appeared
in the pamphlet, “In a Close-
knit Family of Nations,” Novos-
ti Press Publishing House, Mos-
cow. It is about the town of
Berdichev in the Ukraine today
a town which was called Kasri-
lovka by Sholem Aleichem who
described it as the centre of the
notorious Jewish pale.

By S. NOVICH

“My. parents speak of their
home town almost every day. I
don’t go into raptures over what
they tell about their Berdichev.
I get the impression that it is a
kind of Jewish Harlem in Rus-
Sia or, still worse, a ghetto. But
from a distance one’s homeland
always looks better, in the:same
way that with time some great
misfortune is sometimes _re-
mmembered as an_ insignificant
misunderstanding.

“I have no intention of mov-
ing to Berdichev with my par-
ents, but it would give me
pleasure .to read something
about that town. What is it
like? It would be a fine gift for
my mother and father and, I’m
sure, for many others who lived

- there.”

A letter received by
the author from New York.

“They were packed as tight
as sardines in a tin and were
told to multiply.” This was the
description of Berdichev, then
the centre of the notorious
Jewish pale, by Sholem Alei-
chem, classicist of Jewish litera-
ture. He christened the town
Kasrilovka. “The town, you un-
derstand, stands on a hill,” Sho-
lem Aleichem wrote, “and be-
neath the hill are countless
shanties huddled together as
gravestones in an old cemetery,
as dilapidated, black monu-
ments.”

Evidently, this is the picture
stored away in the minds of peo-
ple who lived in Beredichev be-
for the Revolution.

Mendele Moiher-Sforim, grand-
father of Jewish literature, has
this to say about life in Berdi-

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—FRIDAY, AUGUST.6) 1971—PAGE 4 i

chev: “You hear the voices of
many broken hearts, of many
unfortunate Jews. It is the voice
of poor folk—needy artisans and
‘downtrodden people, who are
strangled as though they were
cats and given no opportunity
to lift their heads.”
Interview on Wheels

The town. was asleep. The
light from the street lamps
flooded the asphalt of the square
in front of the railway station.

“You want the hotel? I can
give you a lift. It will be a
pleasure, especially as I’m going
the same way,” an elderly man
offered. “I can see at once that
you’re a stranger here. You
have to hurry to catch a taxi
here. But you’re lucky that I
didn’t go to bed early tonight.
I've just taken my daughter
Anna to the railway station. She
and the children were visiting
with me.”

The driver wag in a good
mood and we talk“all the way.

“My name,” he said, “‘is Alex-
ander Krinfeld. A lot of people
here know me. I’ve been a driv-
er for 30 years, and my father,
his name was Samuel, was a
cabby. But in his day there were
more cabbies in Berdichev than
passengers. He’d wait for hours
for a passenger, and often he’d
return home with empty poc-
kets. His horse was a bag of
bones, and we lived in fear that
my father would one day come
home dragging the cab after
him. On Saturdays we frequent-
ly had herring instead of meat.
But the old man had a keen
sense of humour and on such
occasions he’d say: ‘Thank God
it’s never any worse’.”

“How’s life treating you”?

“T’ve got no complaint,” Krin-
feld smiled. “I’ve set up my chil-
dren in the world. Anna is an
engineer and her husband’s an
engineer: they have two chil-
dren. They live in Riga. My son
Zakhar is a captain in the Soviet
Army and at present he’s study-
ing at a military academy. My
wife and I are delighted with

our grandchildren. Last year I
turned sixty and I went on pen-
sion. Here’s your hotel. It’s the
best in town.”

“How many have you got
here?”

“One, but it’s the best in all
Berdichev.”

Interview with the Mayor

The first person I called on
was -Valerian Demidenko, Chair-
man of the Executive Commit-
tee of the local Soviet. A man
with vast experience of life, he
is extremely popular in the
town, evidence of this being the
fact that for many years in suc-
cession he has been elected
mayor. :

“In our town the nazis de-
stroyed 440 dwelling houses,
and -all the factories, schools
and hospitals,” he told me.
“When it was liberated, Berdi-
chev resembled a cemetery, with
nothing but ruins everywhere.

“Today, as you can see for
yourself, Berdichev has become
a lovely town with new streets
and tall apartment houses. For
example Karl Liebknecht Street
bears no resemblance whatever
to its predecessor, the former
Belopolskaya Street. Or take
Lenin Street —nothing of the
former Zhitomirskaya Street has
remained. The former Makhnov-
skaya (now  Sverdlovskaya)
Street can only be recognized
by the tall water-tower.

“We have restored all the fac-
tories, but their production ca-
pacity has been increased sev-
eral times. Today Berdichev pro-
duces modern equipment, the
latest types of automatic lathes,
clothes, knit-wear, leather and
shoes, building materials, food
‘and many other items.

“The standard of living has
risen side by side with the
town’s growth. This is convinc-
ingly illustrated by the fact that
last year the deposits in the
town savings bank amounted
to over six million rubles. With
their savings the people of Ber-
dichev have in recent years built
nearly 3,000 cottages.”

“The coat was sewn to the
but 99

The “Progress” Factory stands
where there once were the pri-
mitive workshops of a firm spe-
cializing in the repair of equip-
ment for sugar refineries. The
only surviving reminder of these
workshop in a small premise
round which huge factory build-
ings fitted with modern plants
sprang up.

“It’s as though the coat was
sewn to the button,” laughed °

Yegeny Melnikov, the factory
manager. “We employ several
thousand workers, engineers
and technicians, 25 times more
than there used to be in the old
workshops.”

The factory produces machin-
ery for chemical plants, much
of which ‘is exported to Poland,
Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, India,
Egypt, Indonesia, Rumania, Iraq,
Vietnam, Ceylon and _ other
countries.

“Are young people eager to
work at your factory?”

“I should say so,” put in the
production department chief
Samuel Pasternak, who was
present at our talk. ‘‘We’re a
big enterprise and there’s good
future for our employees. Many
young people come -to work
here after finishing secondary
school or after completing the
local engineering technical
school.”

“Have you got many Jews
among your workers?” :

Melnikov looked puzzled.

“I don’t know,” he = said,
“what many and few means.
What I can tell you is that we
have people of different nation-
alities in all our departments.”

Benjamin Mikunis, chief of the
pilot shop, spoke about himself.
His father, Lazar Mikunis, was
a harness maker in the little
town of Polonny, Zhitomir Re-
gion. Benjamin and his team
design machinery that is put in-
to serial production at the fac-
tory.

In the assembly shop near a
huge drying drum made for
Bulgaria, I was introduced to a
thin worker in oil-stained over-
alls.

“My name is Alfred Pawlow-
ski, and I’m the team leader
here,” he said.

Pavlovsky himself is a Pole,
and his team consists of men of

different nationalities:
ians Ivan Pokolevsky;
Kokhanovsky and Boris“
Jews Yuzik Troyanovep
Vladimir Smolyar, POU. 9
browski, Russian Af ;
ryad, and others.

“We are a close-in
"Alfred said. “We have a. 4
interests and are fe
only at the factory. hiss. wo

other at our homes aft
ing hours.” :
While talking to Pay,
my notice was attract
tall, heavy-shouldered
“Who is he?” I a5®”
lowski.
“Wulf Vovk.” la
“Do you operate this ©
I asked Vovk. 4 am
“No,” he replie vee ha
foreman here, but werd!
pressed at the momeD’ | ig)
taken over this lathe 0"

Ki
Ana
A)

i
Fs

1)

my mates.” work
Wulf Vovk has bee? is,
at the factory for 35 a he
started out as a Wor and *
became a team-leader mal
recently promoted ford) 44
has trained more thee pis
workers, and many. ory:
tives work at the fac 3 fa
He might organize in WO
team. His elder son t
in the modelling depa!
daughters Roza a” d '
are technicians. Ly!
ban is a turning lathe
and Vovk’s youngest
is an electrician. ry

“Come around (0. it
this evening,” VOV i
“and I'll introduce Sy
We'll get the 14 F
and face a talk. All righ fi”

Vovk’s wife Eva ss at
my .plate, saying yj
song Yiddish they SP"; al
dichev: “‘Alevai af V@""
er, gotenyu!” do’
: “What has God go mite
it,” Vovk laughed iy Wy
moved far ahead, 2 We |
flourishes and PYOV" the Bi
dragging after us ia us by”
They seem to come
heritance.” :

Berdichev wees 1 ts
The knit-wear fact com ;
ed next cannot be an
with the giant ease
tory. But the: ™ f
Dikman, is proud
knitted gloves.

ot Ne