Overview
- Interview Summary
- Bettya Maysaiva Kurkis, born May 5, 1939 in Chernovtsy, Ukraine, describes her life in the region of Vinnytsia; her father's wartime involvement in Finland; the birth of her younger brother; her father's draft into World War II in 1941; the ghettoization of Jewish villages in the Vinnytsia region; Nazi acts of violence in her town; her family's forced evacuation from their home after the Nazi occupation of her village; the numerous bombings; the lack of access to formal education during the war; her postwar enrollment in school; and her immigration to the United States in 1993.
Michael Kurkis, born in 1933 in Moldova, describes his prewar life in the town of Kishenev; the beginning of the war in 1941; his family's escape from Kishenev towards the Dniester River; crossing the Dniester River; relentless Nazi acts of violence and murders throughout their travels; his family's arrival in Rostov, Russia and their struggle to survive; his father and older brother being forced to participate in the army; their evacuation from their apartments in Rostov and escape into the forest; the family's torturous barge ride on the Caspian Sea; their arrival in Astrakhan, Russia and travels towards Uzbekistan; further hardships the family faced in their attempt to survive; their journey back to Moldova; the ruinous state of postwar Kishinev; his schooling; and the return of his father from the war. - Interviewee
- Michael Kurkis
Bettya Kurkis - Interviewer
- Sara Yufa
- Date
-
interview:
2011 January 23
- Credit Line
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Mott Community College
Physical Details
- Genre/Form
- Oral histories.
- Extent
-
1 DVD : MPEG-4.
Rights & Restrictions
- Conditions on Access
- There are no known restrictions on access to this material.
- Conditions on Use
- No restrictions on use
Keywords & Subjects
- Topical Term
- Bombing, Aerial--Ukraine. Jewish ghettos--Ukraine. Jewish refugees--Soviet Union. Jews--Moldova. Jews--Ukraine. Violence--Ukraine. Violence--Moldova. World War, 1939-1945--Atrocities--Moldova. World War, 1939-1945--Atrocities--Ukraine. Men--Personal narratives. Women--Personal narratives.
- Geographic Name
- Chernivets'ka oblast' (Ukraine) Chișinău (Moldova) Dniester River Estuary (Ukraine) Russia. United States--Emigration and immigration. Vinnytsia (Ukraine)
- Personal Name
- Kurkis, Bettya, 1939- Kurkis, Michael, 1933-
Administrative Notes
- Holder of Originals
-
Mara Jevera Fulmer
- Legal Status
- Permanent Collection
- Provenance
- Mara Jevera Fulmer, on behalf of Mott Community College, in partnership with Jewish Community Services of Flint, MI, donated the January 23, 2011 oral history interview with Bettya Kurkis and Michael Kurkis to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Oral History Branch in December 2011.
- Special Collection
-
The Jeff and Toby Herr Oral History Archive
- Record last modified:
- 2023-11-16 09:21:04
- This page:
- https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn45449
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Also in Oral history interviews of the Mott Community College collection
Oral history interviews of the Mott Community College collection.
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Oral History
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Oral History
Leonid Litvak, born near Odesa, Ukraine, describes his prewar childhood; his father's involvement in the Communist Party; his father's forced relocation to Vladivostok, Russia in 1934 due to his communist ties; his escape, along with his mother and brother, from their forced relocation to Vladivostok; living with his aunt near Moldova; his father's imprisonment in 1937 by the KGB; his experiences during Nazi bombings; the Nazi-mandated evacuation of everyone in the village; his brother's job identifying Nazi spies for the Russian Army; and his mental breakdown after a near death experience during the war.
