Radio Script First Draft
Track: *Keyboard Typing/Work Station Sounds* My mother, Anzhelika, sits at her work station in the home office, now nearing 30 years since she moved her family to America. After diving into the Russian community of South Brooklyn in my previous story, I decided to learn more about why my family settled in Dyker Heights as opposed to Brighton Beach. Growing up, I knew that there was a different view point that my parents held, but I decided to sit down with my mother and her mother as well to ask a few questions about their experiences. Coming here at 22 years old with my 20 year old father, a two year old baby in my brother Yuriy, her parents, and maternal grandparents who were holocaust survivors, to build a new life could not have been easy. I began by asking what the deciding factor was that lead to her and her family leaving the Soviet Union.
Act: Anzhelika: “Well there were multiple reasons, the biggest one of them was of course that throughout the years the country suffered with big Anti-semitism. Me being raised in a Jewish family and then married to a non-Jewish person created bigger problems for us, raising a child from a mixed marriage. More issues were coming with the breakup of the Soviet Union, when the economic conditions were absolutely horrible and raising kids was impossible. But it all started in 1986 with [the] Chernobyl catastrophe. I was living in Belarus in the 30Km zone, and that’s why the first conversations of leaving the country started.
Track: The process of getting to America wasn’t easy or quick.
Act: *Airplane sound* Anzhelika: So the process was not easy, from the start of the process to us landing at JFK it was two years approximately. We started filling out the papers when our child was not born, when we came here our child was two years old. It took a while, bunch of paper work, a lot of checks, including medical procedures. After the vetting process was completed we came after two years. The immigration story is a long story but the first couple of days were absolutely shocking to us. We didn’t know English, we didn’t have money, we didn’t have anything with us except the family and a kid.
Track: She went on to state that the first year in America was the toughest year of their lives. I asked what they decided to do as a couple to start settling in and figuring out what to do.
Act: Anzhelika: We obviously reached out for advice to whomever we could, getting the best advice honestly helped us to understand how to become Americans in this country. So the decision was made to go and get an American college education.
Track: As the trajectory of their lives changed, I wondered how they approached raising American kids and acknowledging their new American lives.
Act: Anzhelika: Well, honestly, I did not approach it differently. I still wanted to bring home country values to the kids, definitely bilingual education. They both started learning Russian first then English. We are all bilingual and I believe it helps, so I cant really say that they are Russian vs. American. They are American kids and so are we American parents but with a little bit of culture left to make certain decisions maybe a little different.
Track: This felt like a perfect opportunity to ask the question about the neighborhood in which I grew up, and why they decided to avoid Brighton Beach.
Act: *Russian grocery store advertisement playing* Anzhelika: Well reason number one, again we were young and we wanted to know the country, we wanted to become true Americans. Citizenship was our number one priority. Since we went to college, I guess we got accustomed to American culture sooner than other people who did not approach the education from American institutions. Honestly, we didn’t have Russian television, Russian newspapers, we wanted to learn the language as soon as possible. We knew if we moved into a Russian community we would not be able to do it as successfully as we have done.
Track: For my grandparents, the experience was much different. They had more experience being Jewish in the Soviet Union, and no reason to stay behind while their daughter left to a better land. I asked my grandmother what it was like being a Jew in Belarus.
Act: Sofia’s voice plays in Russian with my translation: It was bad. They called us kikes, insulted us. We were able to get work but moving up and getting promoted was difficult.
Track: I asked her if she had experienced anything of the sort in America.
Act: Sofia’s voice plays in Russian with my translation: In America I haven’t seen any of that. We went to school to learn the language, two or three different schools. Getting work wasn’t hard, I found a job quickly. Basically as soon as I wanted to I got hired. Your grandpa too, he basically worked from Day 1. My parents were old but they got SSI right away and everything was okay mostly, it was hard obviously but it was okay. Not knowing the language was hard, but it’s okay. We had nostalgia at first, that first year.
Track: When asked if she feels like an American now, she gave a resounding yes. My mother seconded that thought.
Act: Anzhelika: We feel at home. Seriously, after 28 years, we basically spent more of our lives here than back in Belarus. We do feel at home, and I believe we are successful, both us and the kids who are getting great education here. Professionally, financially, I think we are doing great.
Track: While our past is unforgettable, and we will always hold on to that bit of our culture, my parents feel every bit as American as I do having been born here. It has been an eventful few decades, but the roots have dug deep and we can only move forward from here. Reporting for Baruch College, I’m Denis Minchuk.
