MDV 538 · Belous

Chat in front of the community center. The team introduces itself and the project to Belous and others, and asks about elderly Yiddish speakers in Polesskoye. Belous mentions his father-in-law's aunt, and says in Russian that there are no very old Yiddish speakers. Belous says he learned Yiddish from lessons in Sovetish Heymland.

Adds the explanations of the project and Belous's search for old speakers.

Belous gives his addresses in Polesskoye and in Ovruch, where he goes every Sabbath for services, along with the street name and telephone number.

Belous gives his birth year (1962) and says he is not Jewish. He explains why he began studying Yiddish in 1981 and learned it from a journal and from older Jews. He talks about Yiddish schools before the war, which his father-in-law (Reichman) attended for two grades. He recalls the last two Jews in Polesskoye, mentions his subscription to Sovetish Heymland, and says he taught Yiddish at the yeshiva.

Adds Belous's motives for learning Yiddish, his non-Jewish Ukrainian origin and the last two Jews of Polesskoye.

Belous talks about the yeshiva where he teaches Yiddish and its lack of teaching materials. He asks whether Yiddish textbooks can be sent, and Kerler offers to send some. They discuss addresses and e-mail access.

Belous talks about his band, which plays at the yeshiva on holidays and for visitors. He tells a story about the Tsaddik of Volednik (Volenicker, name uncertain) and a childless couple. He says he visited the Tsaddik's grave so that his wife would become pregnant, and that he has raised his son from infancy in Yiddish.

Adds the Tsaddik story in full, Belous's visit to the grave, and his son.

Kerler asks how old Belous's son is (eight), then turns the conversation back to his work as a musician.

Belous describes playing at holidays, bar mitzvahs and recently a kosher Jewish wedding in Zhytomyr for one of his students. They discuss whether a badkhn performed at it, and the groom, who works as a baker.

Kerler asks about anecdotes of a Jewish wit, and Belous recalls something about a man killed in the war who gave three lashes. They also discuss who still speaks Yiddish. Belous says his second wife speaks and understands Yiddish but cannot read or write it.

Adds the question about local anecdotes and the language of Belous's wife.

Kerler asks whether Belous learned from the lessons of Shapiro and Sandler. They talk about Soviet Yiddish learning materials and how well they worked.

Katz and Kerler ask for interesting old Jews to record. Belous names an old man named Katsman, over ninety, who is the only Jew in Korosten' who still speaks the language, and gives his address. Belous adds that more Yiddish speakers lived in town fifteen years ago, and that he has Yiddish books and prayer books at home.

Adds the name of the old speaker Katsman and the decline of Yiddish speakers since the 1980s.

Kerler and Belous discuss Yiddish authors they know through Sovetish Heymland, among them Aleksander Belousov, Velvl Chernin, Mikhl Felzenbaum and Leo Barinski. They mention Moisei Lemster. Belous then talks about his work in Zhytomyr when emigration started and about the difficulty of commuting.

Adds the Yiddish writers and the move to work in Zhytomyr.

Kerler asks whether Belous has converted. He says he would have but the conditions do not permit it. He speaks of Rabbi Aharon, for whom he has worked for about eight years, and who was born in Holland and came from Israel.

Adds Rabbi Aharon and Kerler's request for a yeshiva information card.

The team gets a list from the community office and meets Sonia, an elderly woman, in the administrative office. They discuss old books and go through a list. Kerler asks how Korosten' was named in Yiddish, Sonia says her birth year and street address, and they begin the interview.

Adds the first questions on the Yiddish name of Korosten'.

Kerler asks Sonia for her address, whether she has a telephone and her birth year. Another woman says she is her neighbour.

Sonia talks about her name, which was given after her mother's mother Sarah (?), and about her parents, who divorced. Her grandmother Dashke raised her. Her grandfather Benyamin Futerman was a furrier. Kerler questions her about where she lived before the war, in Korosten'.

Sonia describes her evacuation to Chelyabinsk with her grandmother, father, aunt and cousin. Her grandmother cut wood and got milk from villagers, and her grandfather died in evacuation. She speaks about her family and her father's craft as a furrier. Her grandfather Benyamin's family came from Bykhi, and her grandmother came from Chopovychi. Relatives were lost in the war or emigrated to America. Kerler also elicits Yiddish words such as the verb peseyren, klirn (to think) and zun.