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My uncle Misha Rabinovich in his school uniform.
Misha was born in 1898 in Odessa. He finished Realschule at the same time as my father did. He was as talented as his brother Grigoriy, but he had a different character - he liked entertainment and was easy-going. He played the piano and sang. He was very handsome. My father liked to tell me the story of how Misha introduced him in 1919 to Vera Kholodnaya, a Russian mute film star that lived in Odessa. My father was a provincial man and felt very shy in her presence while Misha was quite at ease. Misha invited my father to his house where he met his sister Raissa, my mother. After finishing school Misha entered a shipbuilding institute in Nikolaev. Upon finishing the institute he began to work at the shipyard in Nikolaev. Misha made a career - he became construction manager at the plant. This position was higher than the position of the director of the plant in a way. Construction manager could directly contact the minister of heavy machine building of the USSR. Uncle Misha had to be a party member to hold such high position. One of big torpedo boats made under his supervision was called the Tashkent - it became the best ship of the Black Sea Navy. I remember uncle Misha coming to Odessa to attend the testing of this ship. During the Great Patriotic War uncle Misha and his family evacuated to the Urals where all defense enterprises were evacuated. After the war he continued his work at the defense plant. Uncle Misha died from stomach ulcer in 1962.
