Boris Iofik and his 2nd wife

This photograph shows me together with my 2nd wife on the day of our wedding.

It was taken in Leningrad in 1952.
Here I’d like to tell you about my life after the end of the war.

In 1951 I was promoted to the rank of junior lieutenant and sent to construction troops at the Ministry of Internal Affairs. We built military units. It is interesting that we knew nothing about the constructions we worked on. It seems to me that they belonged to antiaircraft defense. I was a commander of platoon, and later I was appointed deputy chief of the staff.

In my platoon there were guys from the Western Ukraine and Belarus. They were illiterate, but kind and dutiful. And in the other platoon there served soldiers from the Caucasus, and there happened murders and other troubles. Buildings we constructed were situated near Moscow.

Therefore I decided to enter the Moscow Academy at the Ministry of Internal Affairs. I passed through all entrance examinations, got excellent marks, but was rejected for medical grounds. A pretext was my poor eyesight, but in fact the reason was anti-Semitism. I got very angry and started writing official reports to authority about my demobilization. Not to waste time, I entered the Leningrad Construction College (correspondence course). At last (in 1955) I was demobilized.

After my demobilization I came back to Leningrad (to our communal apartment). I found job at the ELECTRON Research Institute (they worked out new models of TV sets). I started as a technician. In 1958 I graduated from my College. At the ELECTRON I worked many years (till my pension in 1992).

Soon after my graduation I became an engineer, later - the head of the group and the leading designer. My work was very interesting, creative. I often went on business trips, most often to Moscow.

I always worked with pleasure and got on with my colleagues well. We met not only at work, but also at home. In 1960 I got ill with arthritis. I felt very bad and had to undergo an operation. After operation I could not bounce back: my teeth started dropping out.

Doctors told me that it was necessary to change the climate. Our Institute had got a branch in Odessa (Crimea), and I was moved there. There I worked a year, living in a hired apartment.

I regained my health. I liked the city very much: cheerful southern seaport. There lived many Jews, but certainly not so many as before the war. Then I returned to Leningrad.

During my work I came across no manifestations of anti-Semitism. I was suggested to join the Communist Party, so that I could fill a higher position, but I refused: my position suited me fine.

In 1955 I got divorced. Tsilye got married for the 2nd time, and her husband took her away to Riga, where she lives at present. We are still on friendly terms with her.

I also remained single not for long. A year later I got married for the 2nd time. My 2nd wife's name was Sofia Shmuklerbaum. She worked at some building company, but hadn't got any special education.

In 1957 our son Yosef was born. But our marriage did not last long. My son graduated from some technical college in Leningrad (I do not remember what college exactly).

Approximately in 1978 my son emigrated to the USA. There he acquired a profession of the programmer and got married. I have a grandson Michael. Yosef settled in the new place and invited his mother to live with him. At present I almost lost touch with her.

I liked to spend my spare time in museums. Each day off I visited a museum. I preferred to go there alone. In our city there is no museum I failed to visit several times. I guess I was able to guide through the Leningrad museums myself. Certainly, by now I don't remember that much.