Michael Galin

This is my son Michael Galin, director of Uzhgorod Hesed Shpira, in his office in Hesed. This photo was taken in Uzhgorod in 2003. My son finished school and we thought where he should go to continue his studies. It was next to impossible for a Jew to enter a college in Ukraine due to strong anti-Semitism. It was also very hard to get job for Jew. My father's brother Naum advised Michael to go to Lipetsk. In Russia there was no segregation regarding nationality. I went to Lipetsk with Michael. My son entered the Machine Building Faculty at the Institute of Steel and Alloys. He passed his exams with excellent marks and became a student. After finishing this institute Michael got a job assignment at the machine building plant in Uzhgorod. He was an engineer there. During perestroika the plant was closed. Michael got married to a Jewish girl in 1980. His wife Inna, nee Rozenbloom, was born in Uzhgorod in 1958. Her mother, Tsylia Rozenbloom, is a doctor and her father, Moisey Rozenbloom, is a teacher. Inna finished the Mechanical Faculty of Optical Engineering College in Leningrad. She got a job assignment at the machine building plant where she worked as an engineer until perestroika. Now Inna works in the department of culture of the town administration. Michael and Inna have two sons. Leonid was born in 1982 and Dmitri was born in 1988. My older grandson is a 4th-year student at the Medical Faculty of Uzhgorod University. My younger grandson is at school. When Michael lost his job he had a hard time. He couldn't provide for his family and we couldn't help it. At some point he worked for an entrepreneur. When Hesed was established in Uzhgorod in 1999 Michael was offered to become its director. Since then he has worked in Hesed.