Handwritten letter in Russian, from a Central Navy Archive, certifying Olga Schinder for her military service. Odessa, Ukraine, February 25, 1981.
Aron Mironovich (Meyerovich) Alter was born November 19, 1929, in Odessa, Ukraine to Meyer Kivovich Alter (b. Odessa, 1900) and Olga Schinder (b. Odessa, 1898). He also had a sister, Bela M. Alter. Olga Schinder worked as a pharmacist at a local hospital. On August 10, 1941, the family evacuated with his mother’s hospital on a boat called “Katovski” via the Black Sea. While in route to Chimkent (Shimkent), Kazakhstan, Aron was separated from his mother because she was sent to work at a military hospital in Sevastopol, Ukraine. The evacuation traveled through Crimea and Stalingrad (Volgograd) before reaching Kazakhstan. Aron, his father, and his sister spent the duration of the war in Chimkent (Shimkent), Kazakhstan. During this time Aron was in 5th through 8th grade. Olga joined the family in 1942 because she was wounded on the front. Many of Aron’s family members had their possessions looted and were killed by the Nazis in 1942, including his grandmother, Esther Isacovna Schinder, aunt, Clara Meyerivna Alter-Tsuperfin, and her husband, Jacob, uncle, Meyer Aronovich Schinder, and his family. After the war, Aron came back to Odessa with his family. Both of Aron’s parents passed away in Odessa: Aron’s father in 1961 and Aron’s mother 1985. Aron immigrated to the U.S on September 22, 1992, as a refugee. His sister lived in Odessa until she passed away in 2004.
