Lidia Lieberman and her future second husband Naum Balan

This is me, Lidia Lieberman, and my future second husband Naum Balan. This photo was taken in Odessa in 1949.

In 1945 my mother, maternal grandparents and returned from evacuation to Odessa. In late 1947 we received an official notification that my father was missing in action. We had our apartment given back to us. We had two connected rooms back, and a separate room was occupied by a Russian woman. We got along well with her. My mother went to work at a haberdashery shop where they manufactured brooches, buttons, clips, etc. She earned 600-700 rubles. I went to study at the 8th form in school for girls #36. In the 9th form I joined Komsomol, but I never took an active part in the public life. On holidays our teacher of physics invited boys from the artillery school where he also taught physics, or we went to parties in their school. I also had friends. Once I met my friend Rita's acquaintance Naum Balan. He was a student of the Communications College. Many years later he became my second husband. We got together for parties: we played lotto, danced and had fun. Naum sometimes accompanied me home. He lived in the hostel of his college near my home. However, there was not a sign of a romance between us. We didn't see each other for months. Then he showed up in Rita's company again. Naum had a camera and we have quite a number of photos where we are together.

After finishing the 9th form my friend Galia, a Jewish girl, and I decided to go to study at the Dentist Faculty in medical school. Galia's father was regional chief rontgenologist. He explained to me that there was high competition for this faculty and the course of studies was 3 years. He advised me to try the Prosthodontic Faculty. I did and received a diploma of a dental technician. I got a job assignment in Novaya Vorontsovka, Kherson region. I went to the Medical Equipment store in Kherson to buy the equipment I needed, but there wasn't much on sale. I came to an agreement with a shop assistant and he informed me when I had to come to the store to get what I needed. I traveled to Kherson a lot. Sometimes I had to spend up to 10 days there. I could stay with my aunt's friends, it wasn't quite convenient. I often went to Odessa on these days. Sometimes I met Naum Balan there.

In the 1953 I got married for the first time to Grisha Gaber. I divorced from my first husband in 1975. In 1982 I resumed relations with my acquaintance, Naum Balan. He lived in Soroki town in Moldavia. Rita Reznik wrote him about my situation. Naum wrote me a letter and then came on a visit to Odessa. Naum cared about me: he visited me on all Soviet holidays - 1 May and October Revolution Day, New Year and on my birthday. I also visited him in Soroki. He was an engineer in the operations department in a construction company and went on numerous business trips. I joined him when I had few days off at work. Naum has always been fond of theater and cinema. We've been to all the theaters in the town. We often went to museums and art exhibitions. In 1995 Naum and I decided to live together.