On May 21 a traditional May meeting between teenagers, youths and a war Veteran Leonid Ysefovich Girsh took place in the Jewish Community Center Rimon. The event was proposed by Hesed Polina Director Inessa Chugainova. Inessa Anatolyevna introduced Leonid Yusefovich to the audience and added that it is one more chance to remember the Great Victory Day. Despite of a very large size of the audience, approximately 50 people, the atmosphere was very warm and homely.

Leonid Girsh told the guys the history of his life. He was born in the Ukraine, went to Ukrainian school with instruction in the Ukrainian language. It was a hard life but he had a big intention to receive a good education. He graduated from school and the war started. "How old are you?" Leonid Girsh asked the boy, Kolya Levyakov, who was sitting next to him, and the answer was "Seventeen". "I was also seventeen when the war began." Leonid Girsh is a participant of the Stalingrad Battle, went up to Berlin, liberated Prague. He speaks about the war in a very sincere manner, "yes, it was difficult, I was scared sometimes to the point that I wanted to hide. But every time we came over the fear and went to attack." He also told the story of a young nurse who pulled his comrades from a burning tank.

There were many questions. "Have you left your signature at Reichstag?" - "Yes, I have." "How Poland was meeting you? As liberators or as invaders?" - "As liberators, with flowers. But after the war when I served in the army in the Western Ukraine I remember the hidden war the bender movement was holding against us." The veteran said very important words to the guys, During the war we did not divide each other by ethnical origins. We were united. That is why we were able to win - we were doing one thing important to everybody."

Leonid Girsh told about his books. Recently issued "Alone with your Memory" and the other book written in cooperation with another author - "Through the Fire of the War". The young guys listened very attentively to the poems about solders that stayed at fighting fields forever.

Two hours passed but nobody wanted to leave. People were coming up to Leonid to thank him, to take pictures, and ask where they can take his books. "They are in our Jewish library" the veteran answered. The community youth wished Leonid Girsh many more years to live and have new creative achievements including poems, meetings, and books.

Viktoria Vlassova