Author: Ilana Sobol

Avrum and Zilla Bazelyan lived in Zlatopol, a shtetl in Ukrain (you can read about the history of Zlatopol and see some photos).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They had 10 children, 2 of them died in childhood. They had six daughters – Roza, Klara, Polya, Rasya, Kutya and Basya and two sons, Leib and Meir.

Avrum had a small grocery shop in the village and held a duty of GABAY (manager of synagogue). Zilla was a homemaker.

The children grew up, most of them left the shtetl and moved to the big cities.

A few years before WW2 Avrum and Zilla moved to a village named Bakovka, in the outskirts of Moscow with Polya and Klara, that took care of them in their old age (over 70 by that time).

 

Basya, mother of Tula and Sofa (Sara). Basya was cruelly murdered by the Ukrainian police with Nazi support during WW2. Her husband and son Tula (only 14 years old) vanished and were murdered as well during the war.

 

 

 

 

 

Leib was the oldest son, lived in Kalinin, 200 km from Moscow. Fought in two wars – Soviet–Japanese War and the WW2. Leib two sons, Yakov and Leizer.

 

 

 

 

 

Rasya (Reyzl) did not marry, worked as a bookkeeper. In her later years moved in with Pola and Klara.

 

 

 

 

 

Klara was very beautiful  and kind woman, loved dearly, never married. Worked as a bookkeeper  and took care of her aging parents in their last years. During WW2 was evacuated to Kazan and eventually was buried there.

 

 

 

 

 

Meir was not drafted due to health problems and worked in a military factory during the war. Visited the Golbegs often. Got married to Katya and had one son, Edik.

 

 

 

 

 

Kutya got married to Avrum Altshuler and had one son, David. Avrum was not drafted to military service during WW2 due to health problems but was sent to dig tranches 200 km near Dnipropetrovsk. The Germans sieged the area and captured many. According to hearsay neighbors saw Avrum returning home, looking for his family that evacuated already. During this period Germans published signs on the streets commanding all Jews to gather in the square with basic belongings, warning that those caught later will be executed. All Jews were taken to be shot nearby and buried in a mass grave. Kutya and David survived WW2 but tragically Kutya died in traffic accident 3 months before the end of the war, being hit by a truck on her way back from work.

 

 

Roza was born in 1905, studied in elementary and high school in the shtetl. Married Yehuda Leib Golberg. By the end of 1920s moved to Moscow and razed their family in a basement apartment. Roza studied bookkeeping and worked in various jobs to support the family. They had three children: Anya was born in 1929 and died at the age of 3, Sara was born in 1932 David in 1935.

 

 

 

 

Pola was a happy and good natured woman. Lived in Kazan and worked in a factory. Married Roman Malinsky and had two children – Yura and Lusya. Pola had a long life and was nearly blind at the end, still insisting to write letters to family members. Died at the age of 94.