Golda's story

This is my grandfather's sister Golda. She's the woman on the left with the hat. She looks beautiful and chic, walking in the streets in Riga

with a two friends. The handsome man on the right with the cigarette in his hand is her husband Michel. Here she is around the time she got married to him in 1938. Even in a passport photo, she looks beautiful.

Golda was born in Skrudalin, Latvia in 1915. Her father was a tailor who made military uniforms. Her mother ran a small grocery store. She was one of eight children. Here she is between her two parents, looking boldly at the camera.

Her father died when she was about six years old, and in 1924, the widow and the five children still living at home moved to Dvinsk. A few years later, the family moved again. This time to the capital city of Riga on the Baltic Sea at the mouth of the River Daugava. The family were happy there, and with four sisters working, they were financially comfortable. In Bella’s letter she says: ‘We had enough to live on, and we made some good friends. At home it was always cheerful and pleasant. Mama was always hospitable, and we lived in a good cultural environment.’

Here they are, in 1935 with Dora on the left then Nechama in the middle and Bella on the right. Sitting in the front are Pessie on the left and Golda on the right. In 1935, three of the sisters left for Copenhagen, Moscow and Palestine. Golda and Bella were left behind in Riga with their mother. Before they all left, the family in Riga sat for a photograph, including her mother Gnesia and her brother Abram. Golda is standing behind her mother.

A year later, Golda was arrested, and jailed for for carrying communist literature. Bella writes: ‘They found her guilty, and she spent three years in a women’s jail with other female communists. I stopped studying when I was sixteen; I worked and studied in the evening to bring her food every two weeks. There were thirty women [in jail], and we all knew who was bringing what; they lived communally, and they were not forced to work. In 1938 she was freed from the prison and married a very educated, handsome, kind man, who was also a big person in the communist circles and was an engineer at a large bicycle factory. ‘

This is Golda and her husband Michael Shmushkovich in 1939. In 1940, they had a daughter whom they named Kira. In early July 1941, Hitler invaded Riga and immediately began hunting the Jewish population of Riga. In my family, those that fled survived the Holocaust. Those that didn't leave were killed, including Golda's mother, brother and his wife and almost all of their young children. I don't have much information about how Golda survived. The next piece of information I can find about Golda is this refugee card from Tashkent, Uzbekistan in 1941. Name: Gol'da Shmuchkovich or Gol'da Borisovna (her father’s name was Baruch/Boris) Gender: Female Age: 27 Birth Date: 1914 Evacuation Date: 1941-1942 Evacuation Place: Riga

The translation says that she is from Riga and her pre-war occupation is listed as tailor. She was settled in the Fergana region, and it also says where she was allocated to work. On the second page are details about her daughter Kira who is then one years old. She survived the war in Tashkent with her daughter Kira, but her husband Michael was killed fighting the Nazis as part of the Latvian division of the Red Army. She never married again. Her niece Daniela thinks that Golda was sent by the Russians to a working camp in Siberia with her sister, Bella, and that's why they survived the war. I don’t know. She was probably first sent to Siberia and then to Tashkent. But she did survive and retuned to live in Riga with her daughter in 1945.

Here she is in Riga with her sisters and her daughter, Kira. After the war, they lived on Sarkanarmiyas corner of Avotu, in the courtyard. Here she is living in Riga with some of her family that survived. She’s on the right bottom row, with her nephew’s young son on her lap. Her daughter Kira is behind her on the left with the white collar.

Masha Ginzberg remembers those days and she says: ‘Every friend of my mom was my other mother. They all had only each other and their friendship was priceless.’ Here is Golda with Masha’s parents, Pesya and Isak Kopelevich, and on her other side is her nephew Boris and his wife Mina.

In the 70s, she left Riga with her daughter Kira and her granddaughter Sabina, and went to live in Israel. Here she is in Israel with her sister Pessie on the left and Bella on the right who were also living in Israel. My grandfather is there visiting from South Africa. They look very happy.

Here is my grandfather with Golda in the middle from the same time. I remember meeting Golda in Jerusalem before she died. I wish I had spent more time finding out about her life.