I was born in 1927, not far from the Nezar farm in Yurovichi. Before the war Yurovichi was a large village, not like today. There was a large church and square, where our house stands today. The Germans burned Yurovichi during the war. Only one house remained. …

I well remember what it was like before the war and at wartime. Across the street from our present house lived a Jew, a shopkeeper named Michael Levine. He had a family: a wife and a child, a little girl, so cute. I often went to Michael’s store. He sold candy. I would beg my mom for half a dozen eggs and go to him. He would give candy for that handful of eggs. … — Валентиной Ильиничной Хоткиной, 2009