My family. Standing from left to right are I, my brother Boris and my other brother Vladimir. Sitting from left to right are my father Shoil, my older brother Leo and my mother Sosia. This photo was made in Tulchin in 1940. We were photographed on the occasion of my and Vladimir’s coming home for the vacation to Tulchin.
Vladimir worked in the printing house and studied in a trade school for workers. He finished it when he turned 17. In 1937 he entered the Faculty of Chemistry of the Dnepropetrovsk University.
Leo was recruited to the army in 1937. He was sent to the Far East where the Japanese army attacked the USSR in 1939. Leo's unit was not far from military operations sites and our parents were very concerned about him. Leo brought a photo camera from the Far East. He also participated in the Finnish war. Fortunately, it wasn't long and Leo returned home in the winter of 1940. In the winter of 1941 he married Rachel, a student from Bratslav.
I finished school in 1938. I didn't have any preferences as for my future profession. Some of my classmates decided to continue their studies in Odessa. Three of us: Kalmen Kreitchman, Kolia Sherban and I entered the Institute of Sea Transport Engineers in Odessa. We lived in a dormitory. Our parents were very happy for their children. I received a stipend and sometimes received food parcels from home. I shared this food with my roommates.
In the summer of 1939 a Russian secondary school was opened in our town and Boris went to the 9th form there. Boris attended an aviation design club at the district technical center for schoolchildren. He was also secretary of the Komsomol organization in his school and a member of the Komsomol district committee. Boris was awarded a tour to Moscow for his Komsomol activities. He told us lots of stories about what he saw in Moscow. Boris finished school in 1941.
