From left to right: my uncle Pavel Meyertal, my mother's brother, I and my mother Miriam Dobrysh. The picture was taken in Tallinn in 1960.
I graduated from the institute in 1959. For the last two years I combined my work and studies. My friend and I chose the topic on heating and ventilation for our diploma. There wasn’t any teacher specialized in that subject in the Polytechnic Institute, but both of us were knowledgeable about that since during studies we also worked in design institutes on heating and ventilation. My diploma paper turned out to be good.
I got a mandatory job assignment to Tallinn, to the construction project Santechmontazh - sanitary and technical adjustment works. The trust company gave me, a young expert, a one-room apartment. I couldn’t leave the job any earlier than after three years and I was also obliged to stay in the apartment I got.
At the institute I was offered to enter postgraduate studies in the School of Engineering and Construction in Leningrad and then come back to our chair to teach heating and ventilation. At that time other USSR institutions of higher education gave Estonia target postgraduate admissions. I wanted to quit trust without aggravation for the people who treated me well. I decided to enter the postgraduate studies in order to leave in a good way.
Uncle Pavel worked in the food industry. He was in Moscow during the war and worked at a confectionary. When he came to see him, he had a great deal of sweets and chocolate. Pavel got married while in evacuation. He met an Estonian lady on his way to evacuation and they got married. He married a Jew the second time.
