Mikhail Ryzhevskiy

This is my elder brother Mikhail Ryzhevskiy. He sent this picture from Leningrad, when he studied there at the construction engineering institute. The picture was taken in 1935. In 1932 my elder brother Mikhail left for Leningrad. He finished ten grades at school and entered the Leningrad Engineering and Construction Institute. He lived in the institute dormitory. My brother graduated from the institute, so in 1941 he was sent to the combat engineering platoon. After WWII Mikhail he lived in the vicinity of Moscow, in Kuntsevo. The general-commander of the combat engineering troops, where my brother served, filed a request, asking to send military engineer Mikhail Ryzhevskiy to the Moscow military circuit for further military service, as he was experienced in military consultation and was involved in the construction of military aerodromes. My brother was given a room in a two-room communal apartment in Kuntsevo and enlisted for the Moscow military circuit. This happened before the war was over, in April 1945. Though, my brother's service began with building a dacha for that general. Then my brother was demobilized and employed by a construction trust as an engineer. He married a Jewish girl, Anna. Their daughter Tatiana was born in 1949. In 1950 my brother died tragically. He was on a business trip in Karaganda in Central Kazakhstan. He was called there for consultation. Mikhail was supposed to return by train. But on that very day he turned 36. Mikhail refunded his train ticket and went home by plane to see his family in Moscow. There was a plane accident: the plane exploded in the air. Nobody survived; there was nothing left from the passengers. After my brother's death, I stayed with his widowed wife and daughter.