Vladimir Slopak and his wife Emma Slopak on a visit

My wife Emma Slopak and I. The photo was made at the summerhouse of my cousin Ilia in Odessa in 2001 when we were visiting him.

Ilia has a small house with a garden in the suburb of Odessa. We came there in the beginning of autumn for a weekend to rest a little. We walked at the seaside and the photo was taken on the beach.

I met my wife Emma Shkolnik in 1963. I was riding a motor scooter with my friend when I saw a pretty girl. She had long fair hair and very beautiful green eyes. I was young and talkative and it was no problem for me to get acquainted with her. We agreed to meet near the Spartak stadium, but she came to the Dynamo stadium and we didn't meet. Some time later I saw her again at the Polytechnic Institute. I believe we were destined to meet. We got married on 3 October 1964 in a civil wedding ceremony.

My wife graduated from the Faculty of Long-Distance Communications at the Institute of Communications. Upon graduation she worked in the design team at the Communications Department in Kiev for 3 years. She was homesick though and was looking forward to coming back to Odessa. After she returned to Odessa she got a job at the Communications Department. Later she was involved in the computerization of technical processes in the canned product industries. She is very intelligent and she always managed well at work. Her colleagues respected her and knew that she could accomplish any task. They knew they could rely on her.

I've worked hard my whole life. I was a breadwinner and had to support my family. I worked on electric equipment start-up. I believe, I've made my contribution in every enterprise in Odessa. I am 70 now, but I continue to work. I am supervisor at the laboratory of the electrotechnical center of the power supply agency. I am the only Jew at work. My colleagues respect me. They don't want me to retire. I can say that I've managed to live my life decently. I have 2 daughters and 3 grandchildren.