This is a photograph of Haya Lea Kats and her sister, Hava, dressed in costume for Purim. The sisters lived in Rovno, Poland (present-day Ukraine). The costumes, which were handmade by the sisters, consist of vests, skirts or trousers, head pieces, and belts. The sisters are both carrying jugs. In her oral history, Haya Lea relates that her family celebrated all of the Jewish festivals and attended services in the large, beautiful synagogue in the centre of the city, near to their home. She attended a Tarbut school and joined the Hashomer Hatzair youth group. In 1938, Haya Lea moved to a training kibbutz in Poland to prepare for moving to Israel. A year later, Rovno was occupied by the Soviet Union and she decided to return home. Soon after, she was arrested by the Soviets and exiled to Siberia for her involvement in Hashomer Hatzair, viewed as an anti-Soviet organisation. In 1939, the Germans captured Rovno and Haya Lea’s parents and brother were murdered. Her life was spared due to her years in Soviet prison camps. In 1957, Haya Lea was declared rehabilitated by the Soviets and free to live anywhere within the Soviet Union; she moved to Leningrad (present-day St. Petersburg).
When Haya Lea was young, she gave the photograph to her friend Sara Shenfeld, who later moved to Israel. On the back of the photograph Haya Lea wrote: “For eternal memory to my good friend Sara from Hava and Haya. 1932.” In 1989, Haya Lea visited Sara in Israel and Sara returned the photograph. Haya Lea was delighted since no other photographs had survived the Holocaust, making this the only one she had from her childhood.
