My name is Tamara Slobodskaya and I am 84 years old. I was born in Kremenchug, Ukraine in 1935.  My father was a doctor, and Mama was a student at medical school. But she never finished schooling because of World War II. I lived with my twin sister and my parents.

     But, when the Nazis invaded Ukraine in 1941, I moved to Middle Asia. Which was Uzbekistan. During the war, my father go to the Russian Army. It was very difficult to escape the Nazis in Ukraine. First, we took a horse to the train station. I was 6 or 7 years old and I do not remember easily. But, I do remember it was very hard. The train took us to a city, and from there we walked to Uzbekistan. When we came to Uzbekistan, the people were so nice, but we were still very scared. I cried because we came from our house with nothing but the clothes on our back. We thought we were going to come home. But, we never did. Ukraine and my house were bombed. 

     Our life was very bad in Uzbekistan. We were always hungry. We were given a small piece of bread for the entire family each month. Everyone was hungry. There was a system where you had a card and in return you got a piece of bread. There was a flea market to buy food, but we had no money. My Mama worked as a technician and earned a very small salary, so it was difficult to buy food. I looked like a skeleton. I would look for seeds in the fields and eat anything I found. I went to school with my sister, but we had very bad clothes and got made fun of. 

     I remember when I was in Uzbekistan. I went to take bread from the cart. Once a month I got bread from my card, and I stood in line. When it was time to give the card for bread. I put my hand in my pocket and I could not find my card. Without the card, I get no bread. Somebody had stolen my card when I was in line. I came home and started crying. What will I eat, no bread, no food. I cried for so many hours that I could not see, my eyes were so swollen. When my mother came home, she looked at me and said not to worry. She said, she had a tablecloth and a few things that she could sell at a flea market. My Mama then exchanged the items for rice. We had very little rice, but it was enough to get by for the month. We were very happy then. 

    My father was a surgeon, during World War II. He would help soldiers with their surgeries. He would  take off their legs or arms to save their lives. He did everything. When the war was over, he came to Uzbekistan, and knocked on our door. My mother opened the door and asked who the old man was. She did not recognize my father, because he had worked so hard and aged so much. When my father told my mother who he was, she collapsed. Both because she was happy to see him, but also in shock on how different he looked. 

   During the war, I remember sleeping on the floor, because my mother gave my bedroom to a sick baby. My parents always told me that I am here to help, even when you having nothing to offer you can always offer your kindness. 

    I lived in Uzbekistan most of my childhood because my house in Ukraine was destroyed. In Uzbekistan I went to school for finance. My aunt was already living in Latvia and I wanted to be close to her, so I moved there as well. My aunt then introduced me to my husband.

    In 1996 I immigrated to America because Latvia was a mess. I cleaned and babysat children, but it was very difficult because I did not know English. I now help out at the JCC of Canarsie. I have been volunteering for 20 years, and I love it. 

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