Mark Epstein in the pioneer camp

This photograph taken in 1930s shows me in the pioneer camp in the suburb of Leningrad (Taytsy).

One summer I spent in the pioneer camp in Taytsy in the suburb of Leningrad. I keep a photo of me, where it is written on the reverse side 'During my stay in the pioneer camp I gained weight (300 gr), but at home I immediately gained more (2 kg).'

When a schoolboy, I was fond of reading fiction and liked to retell what I had read. That was the way I developed my abilities of narrator and later it became very useful for me (when I started working as a teacher).

For many years I have been engaged in military and patriotic education of schoolchildren and students of technical schools. [Technical School in the USSR and a number of other countries was a special educational institution preparing specialists of middle level for various industrial and agricultural institutions, transport, communication, etc.]

Boys and girls usually listen to me with great interest, especially when I tell them about the blockade of Leningrad.

The Centropa archive has been acquired by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC. 

USHMM will soon offer a Special Collections page for Centropa.

Academics please note: USHMM can provide you with original language word-for-word transcripts and high resolution photographs. All publications should be credited: "From the Centropa Collection at the United States Memorial Museum in Washington, DC". Please contact collection [at] centropa.org.