Here I am with my brother Georgy Fridman 1952 in Leningrad. Georgy and I were so attached to each other that he visited me in Leningrad on vacations. This picture was taken on such an occasion.

In Moscow after the war, our uncle couldn´t care for both of us. It was decided to dispatch me to Leningrad in agreement with dad’s sister Tsilya, and Georgy remained in Moscow. By March 1945, I had already moved to Leningrad and went to school there. My aunt persuaded the school to accept me into the seventh grade, as I was grown-up enough. Having lived for many years in a Belarus environment, I made an incredible number of mistakes in Russian at first. But after a month I wrote quite correctly.

I completed school more or less well. Then I entered the Food Industry Technical School. It was the only place where they accepted my documents. I studied for three years and after an incident at practical work I decided that such a study was not for me. We did practical work at the distillery. Our task was to determine the type and age, and other characteristics of wines by smell and by taste. But the wines were very delicious. And we drank wine as it was our duty. And we drank as much as we liked – we were young. And one morning, I woke up and said to myself: “This isn’t for me!” And shortly after, I left and found another job.