Liubča

Photo notes

Audio notes

Conversation with Alena Paulauna Novik (Grytskevich), born in 1927. (Voutsa village, Karelichy district)

A village nurse, who lost her sight in old age, tells about her life, childhood in Voutsa and Karelichy, how people lived under Poland and what was going on in 1939 and during the war. How the children loved seeds, because there were no candies. About the Jew Gitsko Bruk who kept a shop in Voutsa and brought those candies so that she would no longer say bad words about Jews. About the miller, whose descendants later came to look for his mill. About Etka  who sewed a gorgeous coat. About what the Jews were occupied with. About a giant at the fair in Raitsy who advertised a chocolate shop. Lives in Lyubcha since 1964.

Частка 1

20:30 – mentions Jewish shops and hiding places for goods from Jewish shops. About 25 min – how she refused to join the Komsomol and how her acquaintance died non-party. And before that, about Easter and the brass band.
32:30 – the Poles installed a telephone line in the village.
33:15 – there were four forges in the village, a fire station, a school, a shop... (Ksenia asks if there were Jewish shops) … It started with a Jew and ended with a Jew, answers the informant.
Частка 2

00:00 – the owner of the mill was a Jew Gordzin Nohim. … and the mill burned down in 1968.
05:50 – I had to see how the Germans shot my neighbors.
17:46 – and where was Gordzin? (Siarhei asks) ...and Gordzin was in Navahrudak, in the ghetto.
21:30 – what was sold in the stores in Voutsa? (Siarhei) … kerosene, sugar, salt. Seeds. And I was in trouble, I thought my mother was going to beat me. You know how the children are. Belarusians are tykes, Poles are lyakhs, Jews are pars (and more about Easter and matzoth).
26:00 – were there many Jews in Voutsa? (Siarhei) … two families. (what did they do) … and in Karelichy? (Siarhei) … the whole center. Tailors, shoemakers.
35:00 – and I have a question, did Bella have fresh oranges in her store? (Siarhei) … fresh. There was halva, herring. They ate herring, poor people.
36:14 – what about fairs or festivals? (Siarhei) …on the Savior Feast Day, the 19th of August.

July 2021

Location – Lyubcha.

Language – Belarusian.

No translation.

No subtitles.

Recorded by Siarhei Lisitsa.

Duration 1 h 22 min 09 sec.