Anna Dremlug with her Institute friend

This photo was taken in 1940s in Leningrad. Here you see me and some of my Institute friend.

In 1944 I went to Leningrad to apply for the Medical Institute. My friend Rebecca, who entered the philological faculty earlier, during the evacuation, she said that she doesn't advise to enter this faculty: 'It is necessary to read a lot, and you have a bad sight.

Now people are after the War, there are plenty of injured, you should go the medical faculty, and you would always have a piece of bread, and that is useful job'.

I obeyed her, entered with no exams (I had an excellent school leaving certificate), they even wanted to admit me to the dentist faculty, but I decided to apply for the medical one. That one was also in Leningrad.

The dentist faculty was situated on the street, named after Peter Lavrov [one of the oldest streets in the city, today it has its pre-revolution name Furshtatskaya], in the very beautiful building. And I went to the seventh November [day of October Revolution] Ball.

I had some dress, hair grew a little, girls helped to curl them, using pieces of paper and made a haircut. I had my mother's shoes; father bought her those shoes just before the War: they were very beautiful, grey, with the cut heel, and the net, something like open-toe sandals, and 'ducky noses'. Mom also gave me those shoes and piece of the grey crepe de Shine, which they sew a 'sun-flared' dress in the atelier on Gorky Street from.

I've also been to the New Year Ball in Teachers' House. There were light effects, balloons, and mirrors. I, after all, danced very well; I even got a prize for dancing some years earlier, studying at Bologoye.

We had mainly girls in our Medical Institute, and we, from time to time, united together with some college, for example, the highest technical engineering college, and organized dance evenings. In Institute I had both Jewish, and Russian pals, we went on very well and gathered together for many years. The last time we met, was forty years after our graduation.

I studied in Medical Institute for four years (part of that time I lived in the campus of that Institute, and later I got married and lived at my husband's), and then my son was born, and I had to take a year pause.

Then, after I came back, I had to pass two extra exams, for The Institute changed its status and turned to Sanitary-Hygienic one.

The first year after graduation and diploma I didn't work, but then I was sick of staying at home, and they sent me to the Sanitary epidemiological station [such sanitary epidemiological services excited in all parts of the city, they controlled the cleanness and hygiene in different organizations] of Dzerginsky district, where I was a head of school sanitary department.

When I studied on the third course of Institute, in 1946 father bought a voucher to the health resort "Shirokoe", voucher, happy from all points of view. They settled me in a club, called 'monkey place'.

And my future husband Valentine Dremlug lived there too. We married in January of 1947. First there was a wedding without any registration, and then we went to ZAGS and registered our relations.