Employees and clients of the 'Jewish Health Organization' in Kishinev

Employees and clients of the Jewish Health Organization, where my father worked before 1940. The one with the mustache and wearing a tie in the center in the background is my father, Moisey Wainshelboim, beside him is my mama, Nena Wainshelboim, with me and my sister Rahil, and my aunt Riva, the 1st from the left holding a girl wearing a white dress. Around my father there are mainly Jewish mothers with their children: they were clients of the association. This photo was taken in Kishinev in the mid-1930s.

My father was born in 1895. He graduated from the Medical Faculty of Iasi University in 1924. Around this time he met my mother, Nena Selewskaya, and they got married.

Though we observed traditions and celebrated holidays, my father gave the priority to science and education. My father belonged to the progressive Jewish intelligentsia. He worked in the Jewish Health Organization, this organization was financed by the Joint. My father worked as a children’s doctor there. I remember staying in his office at times. His visitors were children and their mothers. His work was much needed and so was the organization supporting poor Jewish families and mothers in Bessarabia. Mothers were provided with consultations, baby food and medications for free.

In summer children went to special camps and recreation houses in rural areas. My sister or I didn’t go there. My father would have never taken advantage of his position to arrange for his children’s recreation. Mama and we rented a room in a village for the summer. My father visited us once a week. He spent all his time at work. Besides his medical practices, he collected statistical data related to death rate among Jewish children in Bessarabia. In 1937 my father was delegated to the Jewish Health Organization congress in Paris where he made a report. I adored my father and could watch him working for hours. When I grew older I often went to his workplace and the Jewish Health Association. It was probably then that I decided to become a doctor.