Asya Barshteyn 's father was a purveyor and her mother was a homemaker. She attended a Yiddish school for six years, until her schooling was interrupted by the war. She survived the war in the Sharhorod ghetto. After the war, she completed her schooling by correspondence. She worked as a telegraph dispatcher and a switchboard operator at the post office, and later as a cashier at a barber shop. In 1983 she moved to Vinnytsya,where she is one of the leaders of the Vinnytsya Jewish Women’s Choir.
Other Interviews:
Home: One Small RoomRebbe, Reb Shneyer
Cantor Gaz
"as though God had baked it"
The Great Synagogue
Vinnytsya, Ukraine
Asya Barshteyn reminisces about Sharhorod's Great Synagogue. She describes the synagogue's activity during the war, the transformation of the building into a juice factory during the postwar Soviet era and today's absence of congregants to attend prayer services.
She then discusses how each occupation had its own synagogue, and reminisces about the guest cantors who would occasionally visit the shtetl from neighboring cities.