Anatoliy Iosifovich Batsko is a client of Hesed Polina Day Center, war veteran. He is 87 years old. We were surprised to learn that he still works as a teacher at an evening school. And he is a very good teacher! The Director of the school Gulnara Mambetovna Akhmetova told us that students love him and attend his classes with pleasure.

Tolya Batsko graduated from high school in 1941 in Odessa. He was 17 years old, his school-leaving party had just ended, and he had many plans for the future. But in the morning the war started… His father, a career officer, sent his family to the East, to Almaty. Thus 17-year old Tolya became the head of the family consisting of his mother, elder sister and three nephews. In Almatyy Tolya was earning some money in the Opera and Ballet Theater (in Odessa he took choreography classes). In half a year, at 17.5 years old, he went to the war front. After the war he graduated from university. He had been always working to support his mother and sister with two small children. During Soviet times, he was a Director of one of the best schools. And today Anatoly Iosifovich still teaches his favorite subject - chemistry. He was very proud to show the school honors board with pictures of well-known alumni. There are many famous people - Gani Kasymov, Bulat Ayukhanov, Igor Vovnyanko…

Anatoliy Iosifovich says that he does not like to wear his war medals but he made an exception in honor of the 65th anniversary. The great holiday is celebrated with admiration and respect by adults and children. In Almaty School #2 students and teachers organized a holiday meeting with veterans. The school children made a parade, performed a celebration concert, and organized a roundtable where war participants could share their memories of the war. The Great Patriotic War affected every family and today the memory of it is very important to us. We express our great gratitude to the veterans!

Lyudmila Starodubova