Raisa Turovskaia was educated at a Yiddish school for four years and later graduated from a Ukrainian school. During the war, she evacuated to a kolkhoz in the Shekhmanskii region. She and her family evacuated further to Siberia. She moved to Ovruch in 1944 and worked as History teacher later on.
Other Interviews:
Seeking Help From the Valedniker RebbeAvoiding Conscription
Childhood Memories
Openhanded
Ovruch, Ukraine
Raisa Turovskaia describes in this clip her mother’s chief role in collecting charity for the sick, poor, and community members in trouble. Raisa particularly remembers that her mother sent foodstuff to a sick woman in Valednik, as well as collected money from the community.
The Jewish communal support system in the prewar shtetl or village was often the only welfare system Jews in Ukraine and other places in Eastern Europe could count on. Before and after the war, charity constituted a central role to guarantee the continuation of everyday life.