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European Places The family history discusses homes in six European cities. Two, Makarov and Ekaterinoslav (also called Yekaterinoslav or Dnipropetrovsk), sit outside the great metropolis of Kiev. Kiev itself restricted the size of its Jewish population, but undoubtedly the family lived there at various times. Berdychiv was a Jewish town with French writers, centered in the Ukraine, owned by Polish nobility, located in Russia. Fastov was a railroad boom town, the Russian link that connected Paris with Shanghai. Seven of the twenty seven Attachments give a glimpse into Jewish life there: the bleak and desultory Makarov and Ekaterinoslav, whose Jewish population often ended up living in America or dying in Babi Yar; the elegant and cosmopolitan Kiev, or at least its unique synagogues; the mystical market town of Berdychiv; and the nouveau and commercial Fastov, with life centering around its train station. Many in the family escaped Russia across the Dnieper River to Romania and Bucharest, from there to France and Cherbourg, and then to America. There are also Attachments on the former Hapsburg capital of Bucharest and its American consul, the standing port of Cherbourg and its ships, and the Dnieper River itself.
To see the full family history, please read the full Radov Chronicles, available in three sections: |