Dimitri Kamyshan's grandmother's nephew Konstantin Umanskiy and his daughter Nina Umanskaya

My paternal grandmother's nephew, Konstantin Umanskiy, and his daughter Nina in 1926 in Moscow. Nina was shot in 1937 by a 16-year-old boy that was in love with her.

My grandmother came from a rich assimilated family. Her father must have been a merchant of Guild I or a doctor. Many talented people that contributed to the Russian Empire - and later to the Soviet Union - came from such families. Her brother Alexandr Umanskiy had two sons Konstantin and Dimitri. My grandmother's nephews had higher education and knew several foreign languages. Dimitri worked at the Sovinformbureau. Konstantin wrote a book on artists called 'New Russian Art' in 1920. It was issued by a big publishing house in Germany. During the Great Patriotic War he was Soviet Ambassador to the US and made an important contribution to the development of Soviet-American relationships - he made great efforts to arrange for US military assistance in the struggle against the Germans during World War II. The US assisted the Soviet Union with tanks and planes, clothing and food. In January 1945 Konstantin was killed in a plane explosion in Mexico. It may have been arranged by Stalin, because as ambassador he had much authority. The book 'History of Diplomacy' contained quite a few pages about him. Erenburg and Mikhoels were his friends. He was also a member of the Jewish anti-fascist committee.