Alfred Liberman and his wife, Frida

This is a picture of me and my wife, Frida taken in our flat in Kiev in 2000. I got married at the end of 1944 in Kiev, which had just been liberated. I returned from evacuation together with my parents and my bride ? Frida Isaacovna Khatset. We met in Buzuluk , the town where my parents stayed during evacuation; Frida was working at a military plant. My wife's parents were very good, wonderful people. They received me very warmly and made friends with my mother. They were born into very poor Jewish families, in Kiev. My wife's parents were religious, kept all traditions, and went to synagogue. But Frida, like me, was a Soviet child.... My wife is five years younger than I am; she was born in 1919. Right before the war she graduated from the chemical department of the Kiev University. In 1946 our son Georgy was born. After the war, Frida Isaacovna worked as a researcher at one of the institutions of the Academy of Sciences. When she was left jobless in 1952, at the peak of Stalin's anti-Semitic repressions, she used her 'idle time' to great benefit: she wrote her Ph.D. thesis. But it was only with great difficulty that she was able to defend her thesis, and it was only after the anti-Semitic wave had passed and she could return to work in her research institute. Georgy graduated from the same Construction Institute as I did and has the same profession as I do. First I helped him and we did some work together, but then he would help me when I had problems working. He is married. His wife is Russian. In 1970 their daughter Yelena was born. I retired on a pension in 1999, when I was more than 85 years old. Even after my retirement people continue to turn to me for consultations and references ? both my former colleagues and those who read my publications. Only lately have I begun to read Jewish newspapers. I pass on the most important things to my son. I also watch Jewish TV programs. We are also often invited to 'Khesed' and I use its library. We are also subscribed to Ukrainian and Russian newspapers. I do my best to follow the news, listen to the Voice of America and BBC. But we certainly spend more and more time on medical problems now. Regrettably, we at all do not know Jewish traditions, do not know how to celebrate Jewish holidays, do not know Yiddish. Our parents did not teach us this; it was not accepted and not fashionable. It hurts that this is the way things are, but at this point, it's impossible to change.