Ferdinand Chernovich

This is me. This picture was taken for the board of veterans at our work to commemorate jubilee date of the Victory Day.

The picture was made in Moscow in 1975.

In 1950 I graduated from the Moscow Institute of High Chemical Technologies named after Lomonosov, the faculty of chemical engineers. I was given a mandatory job assignment to the closed plat of ministry of defense, located in the outskirts of the city.

The plant was 60 km away from Moscow and I had to take a commuter train to get to the plant. I could not go back and forth every day and I was given a room in the hostel by the plant. I had worked for three years at that plant.

My job was very interesting. Besides, I got the opportunity to acquire quite a good qualification.
I longed for coming back in Moscow.

In 1956 I left the plant and came home. It was hard to get a job. I had been to over 40 places before I found a job as an engineer at a design institute.

My salary was much lower, but I was in Moscow, at least I had home and in the evenings a loving person was waiting for me, cooking dinner and doing laundry for me.

I had worked for 10 years in design institute. I was very slowly promoted in position because of my nationality. At the end of the 1960s I began to work for the design bureau by the ministry of chemical industry.

They treated me very well and I got a promotion. Shortly before retirement I was the chief project engineer. I had worked there until retirement. I retired in 1983.

I got married in 1958. Our family life was very happy. The only thing that made us sad was not having children. At home we marked birthdays of our family members and such soviet holidays as May 1, November 7, Soviet Army Day, Victory Day, New Years Day. New Year's day and Victory Day were our favourite holidays.

On the 9th of May my wife and I went to the tomb of Unknown Soldier, to the monument of eternal flame. We brought flowers to the tomb, met front-line soldiers. In the evenings we went to see some of my front-line friends or invited them to our house.

We had drinks to commemorate those who perished, sang war songs. There are very few front-line soldiers Moscovites left. One of two of them is bedridden, another one cannot talk as a result of apoplectic stroke. I do not know anything about front-line soldiers from other cities.

The rest of the holidays were taken by us an extra day off. We had the opportunity to invite friends and have fun. Mariam's parents were atheists like my mother. They did not mark Jewish holidays at home.

My wife and I often went to the cinema, and to the theater. We liked to go to the seaside on vacation. I was often given vouchers to the sea resorts for being disabled.