Возвращаясь на круги своя (СИ)

"Yes, you are correct in that respect - indeed majority of communists were Jews. Why? I don"t know - why. Maybe because Jews were more educated. Or maybe because they were more oppressed than others. In Smetona"s time Jews in Lithuania were second-class citizens - they were discriminated and constantly abused by the authorities. Officially Jews had the same rights as native Lithuanians did but unofficially they were barred from many important positions and fields, like from taking top administrative posts in the government or military or police. Jews wanted to change such unfairness; they wanted to be equal as all other citizens in their country. That was probably the main reason. I guess. Besides, young man, communists were fighting for the rights of all people, not only for the Jews. They wanted to give freedom and equality to everybody. You might be mixing something up... These were Zionists who fought exclusively for the Jews. We, Lithuanian communists, Jews and non-Jews, both, on a contrary, did not accept such backward and racist ideology and fought Zionists the same way we fought all other nationalists, including those Lithuanian fascists who are now gained power in this country."

"Oh - the other brother? The other brother was Moishe-Boruh. He was a completely different apple. During time of Smetona regime he became a merchant. He operated the wholesale business, buying flax and wheat from peasants and then reselling those items. He was famous in our town for his enormous cupidity - he was afraid to lose even a penny. During market days, when farmers were bringing produce into the town, he was waiting them on Gymnasium Street, stopping their carriages and inspecting. If he would see the flax he would ask a farmer to pull his carriage over to the Moteyaus Pozela"s yard and then he examined its content even more carefully, from the close distance: he would take bundle of flax and scrutinize it from the different sides and angles, strike it and sometimes even lick. As soon as he would make his mind he would start bargaining. The process usually would take very long time, with a lot of screams and scolds from both sides, until both of them, Moishe -Boruch and a farmer, got sick and tired of each other. Sometimes a farmer could leave the yard even without selling anything and then Moishe-Boruh would run after him offering a lower price. He was such a character. When we were kids we often followed him - it was a lot of fun for us to watch how he quarrels with farmers. Is he the one who you are looking for? "

"Possible? Well, I could feel nothing but sorry for you if he was your distant relative. But what can we do - right? We don"t choose relatives. Besides, they all, good and bad, right and wrong, old and young, communists, capitalists, liberals and conservatives - all, without exception, were murdered by the criminals, who are now glorified in Lithuania as national heroes. Let their souls rest in peace."

"Yes, young man, that is true. Lithuanian partisans murdered all the members of my family, except me. Not Germans, not Nazis but Lithuanian fascists. The same thing happened to the Kohanskis family and almost every other Jewish family in our town."

"Yes, yes, of course, I almost forgot. One of the Dovid"s children has survived - family of Lithuanian peasants saved him. His name was Aaron but we all called him - Aronchik. He was the first son of Dovid and I remember how happy was his father on the day his son was born. After the war, we tried to send the boy to a special orphanage camp for the victims of holocaust but he, with the help of local Zionists, escaped to Israel."

"Oh, so he is the father of your uncle? That is interesting. How did he get from Israel to USA?"

"Oh, I see. And how did you, or your parents, get there?"

"Very interesting. They were deported by the Soviet authorities to Siberia! Now I can understand why you were interested in the fate of that capitalist Perelman. But see - there is Russian proverb "there is nothing bad without something good". Being in Siberia during WWII actually saved your family from annihilation - right? In retrospect, you should thank NKVD, not to blame it, because that is why you alive now!"

"So, what you are interested in Kohanskis family? Not family? Did I again miss something? We have been spoken for almost an hour and everything not about the thing you came here for! That is ridiculous! I guess my old age must be blamed. And loneliness perhaps... I am sorry"

"Oh, the land of Kohanskis? Of course, I remember. Is that why you came here to visit me? Yes, yes. Oh, silly me. You should say this right away. But.... Yes, I remember the estate. Of course. In the fifties a factory was built there. On your property. And later - a complex of several apartment buildings. Wait a minute... I have an old picture how your property looked before the war. Here, wait, I will bring it to you"