I, Yefim Volodarskiy with my younger son Alexandr Volodarskiy. This photo was taken in Akko, Israel, in October 1995. One of our numerous relatives, whom we were visiting and whose name I don't remember, unfortunately, decided to make gefilte fish for dinner. My son and I decided to make our contribution to this meal and went to a market to buy fish. I must say, there was a big choice and we were dazzled. Our relatives didn't know what to think about where we were. They even sent one of my numerous nephews to find us and he took this photo.
I've visited my relatives in Israel twice. I was with my wife Anes in the first trip. They welcomed me there and wanted me to stay. I liked the country very much, but my age, I was, I could say, in a pensioner's age. I refused. I haven't done anything for Israel and I don't want to be a dependent and receive money! If I were younger I would move there, but I don't want to live on this money that I haven't earned. For this same reason I do not join any Jewish organizations and do not accept help from Hesed. Of course, I identify myself as a Jew, but I don't want to take anything from the people when I cannot offer something in return. I visited Israel for the second time in 1995, with my son. I introduced him to our relatives for him to know them.
My younger son Alexandr Volodarskiy was born in Kiev in 1954. After finishing a Ukrainian secondary school he entered the faculty of Journalism of Kiev University. He worked as a journalist for newspapers in Kiev. Now he heads the humor column in the daily newspaper 'Kievskiye Vedomosti' and performs on TV. Alexandr has a Russian wife. They have a daughter. She is my granddaughter. They live in Kiev. My son's family does not observe any Jewish traditions. They do not speak Yiddish either.
