In the summer of 1940, Germany invaded Latvia. I was married to Aaron Rusoinik who was in the Latvian army. During the chaos of the invasion, Aaron and I were separated. I fled with others into Russia away from the advancing Germans. I did not know what had happened to my husband and family.
I later became friends with a gentile family who hid me in a cellar of their farm. I contracted malaria, typhus, and lived in constant fear of being discovered. I lay in hiding in the ground in the cellar of the farm.
When the war ended, I returned to Riga, Latvia. I was later reunited with my husband and my mother and siblings, the latter who were in a labor camp in Russia. I learned that my father died at the age of 32 while serving in the army.