Lev Lisits’s childhood in Petropavlovsk and family memory

In late August 1941, Lev Lisits’s family arrived in Petropavlovsk from Belarus near the front line. His father remained in the army; his mother, Chaya, travelled east with her young children and a female relative. Lev later recorded the family’s story using his own memories and accounts from his mother, aunt and brother. His text was published in Mishpokha magazine’s library. 1

Childhood in evacuation

In Petropavlovsk, the family was housed in a small room. Chaya worked as a cook, and the children attended kindergarten. Lev particularly remembered its director, Minzalda Abzaldinovna. In his recollection, she took care of the evacuated children’s meals. An older schoolboy from an evacuated Leningrad family lived in the same building and taught Lev to read. 1

His father’s letters came from the front. In spring 1943, the family received notification of Iosif Lisits’s death. His son remembered both the letters’ contents and the moment when an official notice arrived in place of another letter. 1

An object that survived the moves

Lev recalled trading some of the family’s bread with a prisoner of war for a spoon he believed to be silver. It turned out to be steel and stayed in the family. According to the author, it later reached his son in Ashdod, Israel. This small object connects wartime Petropavlovsk with the next generation’s life in Israel in his recollection. 1

In 1948, the family left Kazakhstan and returned to Belarus. In his account, Lev Lisits describes the journey into evacuation, help from people in Petropavlovsk, his school days and memories of his father. 1 2