I, Sholom Rondin and my work crew with the railway station in Rovno on the background where we painted the walls and the ceiling. Photo made in Rovno in 1947. People liked our work and it lasted for many years.
After demobilization I went to Gomel. My son was 6 years old. When I was leaving he was just a baby and when I came back home he was about to go to school. Of course, the boy didn't recognize me when I arrived, but it took him no time to get used to me. My wife told him about me.
Gomel was significantly destroyed during the Great patriotic War. I didn't have work to do in Gomel - my profession is to do the finishing of a construction structure - and it didn't even occur to me to do other work than al fresco. I did my first job in Rovno. I went alone and my wife stayed in Gomel. I lied in a men's hostel in Rovno that was not a good place for a family. Besides, my son had to go to school. Rovno is a regional town in the west of Ukraine, in 800 km from Gomel. Our crew - I knew its members before the war, they also demobilized from the army - was invited to do the finishing painting of the railway station in Rovno. We enjoyed doing our work. We painted the railway station and the restaurant at the railway station. It was beautiful. Acceptance commission that came to accept our work said that they needed us to work in Lvov. I told them that I had a family and needed a place to live.
This was in 1947 when my wife was expecting our second baby. Our crew was a team. We got along well. There were 6 of us in the crew. Half of members of the crew were Jewish. I felt like continuing my education. I studied at an evening school after work. Such evening schools allowed people to complete their secondary education while working. I was 30 when I went to school again. It was difficult for me to study, but my fellow students were the same kind: they returned from the front and wished to complete their secondary education. After I received my school certificate I was appointed as leader of the crew. Our crew was like a family. We did a good job painting public buildings, restaurants, cultural centers, cinema theaters and houses. We were paid well for our work. Good job is worth paying good d money for it. I work hard, but I provided well for my family. My wife had no reasons to complain. She and our children always had everything they needed. So, there were two pupils in our family: Gennadiy went to the first form of primary school and I went to the eighth form of the higher secondary school.
