Life of Eva Fainsilber ( Eva Goldscheider )

1920 - 1925

I was born in Warsaw, Poland on 5 Gzybowskie Street On 1924. There were two courtyards in the building, housing 100 Jewish families. The owner was also a Jew. Occasionally, he would evict people for not paying their rent by throwing all their belongings out onto the courtyard. There was one non-Jewish Polish family who had a son who learned to speak Yiddish. I lost my father ( Avraham Goldscheider ) when I was 5 years old. My father was a teacher. As well as teaching Yiddish, he taught the children Hebrew. He was an intelligent and good human being. He often invited young people to study with him and also for dinner. Our family consisted of 4 people: my mother ( Reizel Goldscheider ), my sister ( Cesa ), my brother and me. My mothers' side had a big family: 5 sisters and one brother. Each one of them had 4 or 5 children and grandchildren. On my father's side were 4 brothers and one sister and each had 7 children and grandchildren.

When my father passed away, we had to move to a smaller apartment because our apartment cost 80 zloty a month. This was the average monthly salary for one person. At that time, unemployment was very high. We lived on the second floor and my mother's sister lived on the first. My aunt lost her husband early in their marriage. She had a son with him who went to live with his grandparents because they had a house. My aunt remarried a pious man who had his own 5 children, 3 daughters and 2 sons and then later had 2 sons with him. It was lively at their place and I often went to play with them. We played in the courtyard and late in the summer evenings. When it was dark in the hall, I would call my mother to come and get me. Petrol lamps were very dim and cats would run out of the basement. I was the youngest in the family, my brother the oldest and my sister was the middle child. My brother worked at making boxes for chocolates which was seasonal work. He was the main provider of the family. My mother was a seamstress and my sister was a salesgirl at a store selling kitchen ware.

After elementary school, I started to study bookkeeping but I do not remember why I stopped taking classes. My cousin asked me to work for her, making artificial flowers. These flowers were very expensive, from 50 groshy to 2 zloty (almost 1 day's pay). This work was also seasonal. In the summers I would spend 2 months with my Aunt and cousin (mother's sister) who had orchards. It was very enjoyable to be there in the fresh air among flowers and fruit trees. The food was cooked outdoors on a woodstove. When it rained, we went to a shed with a straw roof and tar paper. Inside, there was a big bed, big table and chairs. We slept one beside the other on a mattress of straw. My Uncle worked at home. He had machines and presses with which he made face powder cases and hair pins. Once in awhile I would return to Warsaw.

1925 - 1930

I went to a Jewish girls' public school. Initially, it was difficult learning in Polish because I spoke Yiddish at home but I got used to it. The school uniform was a black tunic with a white collar which always had to be clean. On a monthly basis, the students' hair was checked for lice. The school had a large gymnasium which had ladders to climb on the wall. 2

In third grade, we learned history and geography. In the fifth grade, Botany and French which I really liked. In Botany I had work books with nice illustrations and experiments that we made. We sometimes would be taken on outings to the movies, opera, theatre and museums. At the end of the school year, we would have an out of town outing. I had three close friends. We belonged to the Democratic Cultural Organization. We had the opportunity to go there every evening and use the library, play chess and ping pong and also go on many outings. Boys and girls came there and then for walks and had a good time.

1937

In 1937, I finished 7th grade and they had a graduation ceremony and an evening dance. There was a lottery and I won the biggest box of chocolate. Then we went on a 5-day trip to the port cities of Gdansk, Gdinya and Hel on the Baltic Sea. Gdansk was a "free city" for Polish and Germans. In Gdansk, there were wide streets, big window shops and in the store windows hung swastikas. All the girls wore navy blue skirts and white blouses. In the streets, we saw a lot of Hitler Youths. They looked and pointed at us and seemed to recognise us as Jewish children. We visited important places. In Hel, there was a resort and beautiful villas and greenery. We stayed at the resort for a few nights and ate Wienner Schnitzel and chocolate pastry at a restaurant. It rained for the first 4 days of that outing and on the fifth day it was sunny. We sat along the sea shore all day. I got a sunburn and stayed in bed for 3 days when I returned home.

1935 - 1945

On September 1, 1939, Germany attacked Poland. They surrounded Warsaw for 3 weeks and there were barricades made of buses and street cars in the streets. The city was bombed in the day time and there was artillery at night. The Poles defended the city heroically. The water works were bombed and so there was no water to put out the many fires. We hid in the basements, running from one to the other. All the streets were burning. People ran between firs, throwing away their belongings. The Germans bombed on Yom Kippur, knowing it was a Jewish holiday and the prayers did not help. After 3 weeks of bombing, it was quiet. We did not know who would enter the city, the German or Russians. For 3 days it was quiet, then the Germans hung up notices that Warsaw should be cleaned of the barricades because they will be marching in.

Through a small gap in the front door at Grzbowskie Street # 5, where my friend Sheva's parents had a stationary store, we watched the Wehrmacht Army marching - infantry and cavalry with a marching band. That march took 2 hours. From the start, they confiscated everything from the stores to send to Germany. Then they took out the Jews, who had stood all night at the food lines, for labour work. The food was rationed. After 2 weeks, my brother and sister left Warsaw to Bialystock which was occupied by the Russians.

There was no work in Warsaw. A friend and I bought goods that remained, i.e. threads, scarves and other small items to sell on the Nalefky Street. The Germans came to buy. Sometimes, there were with Polish girls who said "don't pay the Jewish girls" but they paid, sometimes more money to show they were nice people. But in a short time this "business" ended. There was no work. My friend and I were planning to go to Bialystock (on the Russian side). At this time, my sister came back from Bialystock to take some duvets blankets and some clothing. We wanted to take mother with us but she did not want to leave. The older people said that in such a time it was not good to leave home. They believed that the war will finish and everything will be back to normal (like World War I). But in this war they 6 million Jews and other nationalities during the six years. Hitler killed innocent people, the elderly and children just because they were Jews. This was his policy. First Jews, then other nationalities and then to take over the world. It's true, that the Germans were cultured people but in 1933 Hitler released criminals from prisons and they supported him.

My brother was still in Bialystock when my sister and I came there. There were thousands of refugees, sleeping in synagogues, schools, store and empty buildings. There was a Russian recruitment office which would send people to places where labour was needed. We were sent to Magnitagorsk, in the Ural Mountains, on the Ural River, the beginning of Siberia. From Bialystock, we travelled for 3 weeks on a freight train for a distance of 6,000 km. When we arrived, it was -40 C and some people had frostbite because they did not have enough clothing. Magnitagorsk consisted of people who had resisted collectivization of their farms (Kulaks) in 1929 and they built the city. They had no rights, no identification cards. They were very good workers.

There were 4,000 Polish refugees, mainly Jews, living in huge unfinished dormitories in one building, a chemical laboratory, which they were building at the same time. They were given quilted clothing to keep them warm while they worked. In the dormitories there were families, 32 beds in one room. We were allowed to rest for 3 days and then sent to do very difficult work. I worked in construction, carrying cement and bricks while walking on planks. We had to sign a one year work contract and if anyone failed to go to work they would have to serve time in jail. If someone went to the doctor complaining about the work, they were told "You'll get used to it and if not you'll die." I worked there for half a year and then went to work in a government-owned factory. I crocheted clothing for babies.e. sweaters, hats, gloves and slippers, white and trimmed in pink. I also crocheted at home to get food such as potatoes, bread and sugar. Everything was rationed. We received 600 grams of bread and watery soup at a restaurant. Some products were available at the black market. We could only dream about meat, fish, vegetables and fruit. Carrots were a treat.

At the end of 1940, a friend and I moved to Byela Cerkov a city in the Ukraine. It was 100 km from Kiev. This city had lots of parks and greenery and the bazaars were full of products to buy, i.e. meat, butter, honey, etc. When we got off the train, a woman asked if we needed a room. She lived in one room which we would share with her and in the second room lived her sister, sister's husband and their daughter. They gave us a double broken bed and we had to pay 30 rubles each. In the Ukraine, the people had wood stoves and were

able to cook "chulent" and it kept the room warm. Then the landlady took out the chulent of potatoes and kasha and asked us to pay for that. My friend was upset and told them " May you have the same fate as we - to lose your home/family and escape all over the world." I am not sure how it happened but they did have the same fate when the Germans invaded Russia. After a couple of days, I got a job in a factory which had knitting machines, making sweaters, stockings and yarn. The manager was Jewish and a good person. He gave us blankets and invited us to come to his house and gave us bread. The food was rationed. Later, my girlfriend moved to Minsk (Capital of Byelorussia). She had friends who were studying at the University there and she also wanted to study. In Byelo Cerkov, there was a group of us, men and women, who spent the evenings together. In 1941, my sister Cesia came to live there and lived with me. I introduced her to my manager and he gave her a job.

A couple of months later, June 22, 1941, the Germans attacked Russia. They marched in quickly, bombed cities and villages from the sky and thousands of people died. In the radio, we heard that the Germans were coming close to the city. They announced that freight trains were waiting and we are to evacuate deeper into Russia. At the station, there was chaos - noise and spies ( Germans prepared the "5th column" all over Europe before they occupied a country). Cesia and I were taken to a "sofhorz", government controlled farms near Stalingrad. We worked at digging potatoes and vegetables. They were almost frozen. All the men were mobilized at the front. The work was very difficult. We were 6 girlfriends (older and younger sisters and 2 who were not related. We decided to escape from the sofhorz. In the morning, 5:00 a.m. My sister did not want to leave. We decided to return to Magnitagorsk because we had friends there. We woke up early and went to Stalingrad and from there took a boat on the river Volga. Stalingrad looked beautiful - green and with parks. On the Volga, we met thousands of people released from labour camps laying on the ground. These people wanted to go to Middle Asia where the climate was warmer. When we came on the boat, we heard lots of crying and confusion. There was not enough to eat - we received one soup and 200 grams of bread. After 3 days we came to a big city, Kazan, where the Tatars lived. There was a University there. We bought bread at the black market and took the train to Magnitagorsk.

When we arrived, my friends went to live with their families and I went to friends of my brother. They were very hospitable and we slept in the same bed for a couple of days. Afterward, I went to live with an acquaintance who had a 2 year old son. Her husband was in the Polish army. She did not work but made business in the black market. I went to work crocheting in a factory. In 1942, I met my husband, Hershka, through a friend of my roommate, Goocha (Gittle). She was a refugee from Volkovisk where he was from. In 1943, we registered at ZAKS and were married and lived together. He worked in the steel mill and was able to get better food which he brought home to share. In 1945, Tova was born. During a pregnancy, a woman was entitled to special food. The baby was given diapers and blankets which was very unusual to receive. My husband made a cradle from fuel wood brought by a lady who lived with us. Tova was born in a big hospital and the doctor was Jewish. Afterwards I did not have to work . For babies, extra food was given at special stations.

The war ended on May 8, 1945. There were rumours that Polish citizens including Jews were able to return to Poland. In February 1946, we went back to Poland and came to Walbrzych (Lower Silesia) which had been German territory before the war. We were given a big room in which lived an elderly German woman who was forced to move out and share a room with another elderly lady. They did not allow her to take her belongings, only what she could carry. She came to beg for some of her things, occasionally. We did not find any relatives in Poland. All of them had been brutally murdered in gas chambers or other ways. My husband did not want to stay in Poland and the Poles had helped the Germans a lot.

During this time, the Zionist organization started to organize Jews to the American Zone in Germany. UNRA, United Nations Relief Agency, provided displaced persons camps and food and clothing supervised by the Americans. In 1947, a delegation from Holland arrived. The wanted to assist the refugees. They took 50 families who were sponsored by wealthy Jews. They mainly needed tailors but also needed metal workers like my husband. When we arrived in Amsterdam we were welcomed at the railway station by the Jewish community. They brought us to a house in which was an orphanage and they gave us a section of a large room. Amsterdam was a big city and had lots of restaurants. They brought us from the train station in streetcars in the middle of the night and served us a large meal. Every family received a set of dishes, warm blankets and beds with mattresses and linen. My husband went to work in a factory manufacturing hardware for curtains. The wages were low. A week's wages went for a room.

In 1948, a Jewish state was established in Palestine. Ben Gurion was the head of state. When the first occasion arose, we went to Israel. They took us to a Beit Olim, Ben Yam, transit camp. Every family received a room and food because no one was working. We stayed there for 7 weeks and then were sent to Ramle. Ramle was a town that was taken from the Arabs in 1948 when the Arabs attacked. The town was empty of people. Some people took possession of the homes and stores by themselves. No one had money and there was no work. My husband and 6 other men went to the government office and applied to have a metalwork shop. They were given a workshop in a side street. There were no customers. Two left immediately because they found jobs elsewhere. They were left with 2 and still there was not enough work. Food was rationed. One could buy products at the Black market if you had money. In 1953, my second daughter, Shoshana was born. Because we lost our families in the Holocaust we decided to go to the Kibbutz, Kibbutz Einat which was close to Petach Tikva. It was a very nice Kibbutz with a swimming pool and movie theatre. It had lots of greenery and flowers. The parents worked, small children lived in the childrens' house and at 5:00 pm the parents would take them. At 8:00 pm the children were brought back to sleep. Older children lived separately and had their own dining room and came home when they wished. The kibbutz had 700 members, 350 children and 350 adults. My husband went to work as a plumber after a couple of days. He rode on a bicycle throughout the kibbutz and repaired all kinds of things. I stayed at home with my younger daughter for 3 weeks. Afterwards, I was sent to work in the kitchen because that was the regulation.

Newcomers had to work in the kitchen for one year. My youngest daughter was put in the nursery which had a playground next to it. I worked in the kitchen for half a year and then went to work in the dining room. This was more enjoyable. We worked in two shifts, from 6 to 2 in the afternoon and from 2 until 9 in the evening. After work we socialized with friends who had arrived to the kibbutz at the same time as we. Every Saturday evening we had parties – dancing, coffee, cake. We ahd a nice well furnished rowhouse. We bought new furniture, pictures and carpets. Every Friday a movie was shown. We would often go to Petach Tikva to see a good movie or theater. During the holidays, entertainers (dancers, singers) came to the kibbutz. We also went to the theater and concerts twice a year in the city. When Tova grew up, she did not want to be in the kibbutz. So we wrote to my sister in Canada to see if we could come there. The answer was yes. We waited several months until everything was arranged, I.e. Medical examination.

In October, 1960, we went to Canada. We hardly had any money, only $40 pocket money, because in the kibbutz we did not get paid. We had been provided with a home, food, clothing and medical care. In 1960, there was high unemployment in Canada, Tzvi found a job as a laborer carrying heavy radiators in high rise construction sites. Tzvi found a job in 2 weeks. In the mornings, it was dark and wages were very low so I started to look for a job. My first job was in a shoe factory, then a sock factory, then curtain factory and then packing stockings. This was a piece of work and I came home very tired. We stayed with my sister for 3 months where we paid a high rent. In January 1961, the winter was severe and we went to look for another place to live We found a flat where the owners, Mr. and Mrs. Kates, lived on the first floor. We shared the washroom with them and they had to pass through our flat. They were two older people but they still worked. They used to go to work, Then go to the restaurant and come home and watch TV. The landlady would not let my children have friends visit. She would say that her husband needed quiet rest after work. We lived there for 2 years. Then we moved to another flat The landlady was older but much kinder, Tzvi worked in construction for ½ a year. Through connections, he got a job as a painter for National Management (later Cadillac). During the first years the wages were low. Tova went to High School but after 3 months she stopped and went to learn a trade, hairdressing. It cost $480 for an 8 month course. Shoshy started to go to public school. So went the years – cold long winters 8 months a year. Sometimes it was too cold to go outside. The summers were short and sometimes very hot.

In 1966, we bought a small house “Up North” in North York. It had a big backyard and fruit trees. After a while, I stopped working because it was too far to travel. Later I found a job at Baycrest old age home. On the 3^rd floor lived people who were unable to move on their own and lost their memory. I took care of a woman in a wheel chair. She lost her speech after having an operation on her head. She had a big family – 3 daughters and 2 sons. One was a rabbi and the other was a doctor. All of them had 5-6 children and also grandchildren. She had 50 grandchildren. This was in 1980. This family was religious, wealthy and kind, They respected me a great deal because I took good care of their mother. I spoke to her and sang songs which helped her a lot. With time, her speech improved a little. During the holidays. I would get many presents from them. I worked with her for 8 years, 3-4 hours a day (1976 – 1984). I sat with her until the last moment in the hospital in intensive care until she closed her eyes forever. From that time on I did not work and had many problems with my health. I had 3 operations which left me with scars and pain. I had to go for check ups to the doctor every 2 months.

In 1969, Tova married Alan, an American. He had been in Israel for 3 years studying at the University in Jerusalem. The wedding was held at a very nice hall – the Murray House in Steels. There were 160 guests. Even though we did not have many relatives, it was a nice wedding. Afterwards. Tova stopped working as a hairdresser and went to study at the Seminar to become a Hebrew teacher. Instead of 3 years. She completed the program in 2 years because she knew Hebrew. Then she started teaching at Holy Blossom School. She worked part-time because she had a 2 year old son. My first grandson, Ayranne, was born on July 28^th 1972. The second, Oren, was born on December 5^th 1973.

At this time, the Jewish Agency was organizing people aged 25-35 who were interested in settling in the Negev. Tova and Alan were interested, All of the people were well-educated. It took 2 years before they moved to Israel. Prior to being accepted they had to meet with a psychiatrist because living in the desert was difficult. They had to contribute $10,000 initially and those who did not have the money had to borrow it. In the Negev, they built nice homes – 3 bedroom homes with 2 greenhouses. Because it was so hot (110 F), They either worked very early in the morning until 09:00 am or at night. Their income was low because the harvest was not always good because of the heat. The tomatoes were sent abroad. They lived there for 7 years and then moved to Beersheva for better opportunities. Tova attended the Seminar (teachers collage) again. Then she taught Grade 1 and Alan worked at the Post Office. They were under financial pressure because both their income was low. So Tova decided to have her own day care center with children aged 2-4 years old. The work was hard but she enjoyed it. She suited this work very well. She hired a helper who cooked the meals and assisted her. Now her income started to improve but she also had expenses and payments.

Tzvi worked at Cadillac for 22 years. In 1989 he was laid off because they sold the buildings which were converted to condominiums. He was unemployed for 1 year. Now he is working in the same building under new management.

Shoshana finished high school and one year of University. She traveled and then worked at the biggest library in Toronto for 5 years. Then she decided to take a course in Rehabilitation. Now she is a counselor. In Toronto, there is a program for unemployed young people 16-24 years old. Shoshy is very delicate and good and that is why it was hard for her to find friends but now she is well settled. We see her almost every week.

About friendship, we have some friends, older people who do not like to go out but we go to visit them. In the last couple of years, we have been members of the Israeli Club. We meet every Wednesday from 7:30 – 9:30. We watch Israeli movies, play bingo, folk dance, have lectures, sing songs and speak Hebrew. We feel very comfortable there. In the holidays we have parties and in the summer we go on outings.

This script was compiled by Eva's daughter Shoshana and posted on the web by her Grandson Ayranne.

Life of Eva's husband, Hersh, can be found here:
https://hershfainsilber.blogspot.com/