Evadiy Rubalskiy with his daughter Inna, her husband and friends

This is me, Evadiy Rubalskiy (left) with my friends. We got together on the occasion of my daughter Inna and her husband (they are standing) visiting from Israel. This photo was taken in my flat in Kiev in 2002.

In 1946 I went to work as a construction plumber in a construction trust. I made a big contribution into installation of gas supply lines in Kiev. There was my portrait on the board of honor of our trust. I was the best specialist. In 1978 I reached my pension age. Men in the USSR retired at the age of 60. I worked on engineer positions, was a foreman and then a site superintendent. I was valued at work and I stayed until 1986, when I finally retired.

I got married in 1947. In 1948 our daughter Ludmila was born. Our second daughter Inna was born in 1953. We had lots of arguments with my wife, till we divorced after living together 21 years. Since then I’ve lived alone. My daughters and I keep in touch.

Inna entered the Plumbing Faculty at the Kiev Construction High School after finishing school. After finishing it she was to continue her studies in the Kiev Engineering Construction College, but she failed to enter it and went to Lvov where she entered the Faculty of Land Engineering at the Forestry College. In this college Inna met her future husband Lev Sytnikov, a Jew. He was from Kiev and they were the same age. They got married after finishing the college and returned to Kiev. In 1978 their son Yevgeniy was born. Inna went to work as a plumbing engineer. My daughters moved to Israel. Ludmila and her family reside in Holon and Inna lives in Sderot. Inna works at a plant. She is deputy director for the product quality. Its' a good position and she is well-paid for it. My son-in-law also earns well. Inna's son Yevgeniy served in the Israel army 3 years and retired in the rank of captain. Now he is a 3rd-year student of the Polytechnic College in Beer-Sheva. He studies to be a mechanic engineer in the future. My daughters call and visit me. We keep in touch.

I visited Israel in 1996. Israel is a beautiful country and their standard of living are much higher than here, but it's still not for me. You cannot talk to anyone. In the morning everybody goes to work. In the evening they come home, we have dinner, talk for about an hour and then it's again time for them to go to bed since they have to go to work in the morning. Everybody works or studies and they have no time. Besides, the climate in Israel is not good for me.