Leo Fink

This is my uncle, my father's older brother Leo Fink (Leib Mistetskiy before he moved to USA). He had this photo taken when he returned to the USSR and gave it to my mother. It was taken in Kiev in 1940. My father had several sisters and brothers, but I only knew two of them. Aizik Mistetskiy, the oldest of the children, was born in 1878. After the Revolution he moved to Kiev. I think, Aizik dealt in trade. He was married, but I didn't know his wife, and had two children: Mikhail, born in 1920, and Lisa, born in 1922. Aizik was an atheist. I also knew a second of my father's brothers: Lev, whose Jewish name was Leib. My father, Fridel Mistetskiy, was born in 1885. I don't know how religious my father's parents were, but his two brothers were atheists. After the Civil War life was hard. My grandfather and grandmother and my father's sisters and brothers were rather poor and they decided to move to America. In 1925 the family was ready to leave and we joined them. I was just a baby at the time. Mama's parents didn't want to go with us. We boarded the train, when mama's father Froim came onto the platform. He started telling mama to stay and think about her old parents. Mama burst into tears and got off the train holding me. My father got our luggage off the train and we stayed. My father's family left. We had no contact with them: this was dangerous during the Soviet period. I only have information about my father's brother Leo Fink. He was a student, grew fond of communist ideas and joined the Communist Party. He became a trade union activist and organized strikes. He was taken to prison and when they released him, he decided to come back to the USSR. Since he was a communist and was oppressed for his ideas the Soviet Government allowed him to return. In 1934 Lev left the USA. He was single. The rest of my father's family stayed in USA. Lev lived with his older brother Aizik in Kiev. I don't remember what he did for a living.