Welcome To

Family Is All That Matters 114 years later; the soldiers around her treated her with the utmost respect and watched their language in her presence. She insists she had no idea of the realities of life and was totally innocent when she got married. Return to Moscow Return to Moscow Rosa's influence had made it possible for Shlomo, Hava, and their family not only to survive the treacherous journey to Tashkent in 1941, but also to return to Moscow in 1945. Though she and her sister Ida worked together to aid the family's return, Rosa remembers sending a letter to Stalin herself requesting help for her parents. A beefy officer was dispatched to visit the family in Tashkent. Aer that, things went much more smoothly for the Volsuns. To make the move possible, they needed supporting documents that they were parents of an officer in the Russian army. On this basis, they could reoccupy their old apartment, which was by then inhabited by another family. Thanks to the certificate provided by another letter the sisters wrote, Shlomo and Hava had their old apartment returned to them. Shlomo and Hava were also still in possession of the dacha they had begun building before the war. Shlomo had poured a foundation and erected the walls before the family was evacuated. When he returned to Moscow, Shlomo found that everything was looted. The building materials were all gone, the walls dismantled. There was nothing le but a hole in the ground. He was not surprised. During the war, people were desperate. Aer a year of enduring the rigors of military service in the field, Rosa wanted to return to the relative stability of Moscow, where her parents now were. She wanted a transfer, but how? Everyone wanted to get away om the ont. She needed a plan and Rosa, with her ingenuity, calculated a clever way to obtain her transfer. There was a new superior officer on her medical team who had requested permission for his girliend to be assigned to the same hospital. The request was denied because the hospital was fully staffed, so Rosa went to this officer and requested a transfer to Moscow, pointing out how such a move would create just the opening for his girliend. Rosa's application for transfer was immediately accepted. Within a few months, Rosa was in Moscow enjoying a joyous reunion with Shlomo and Hava. In Moscow, Rosa's determination helped the family survive. For example, Rosa helped her father recover some stolen property. There was a very nice chandelier in the apartment at the time the Volsuns were evacuated to Tashkent. When their apartment was returned to them, the chandelier was missing. Rosa tracked down the previous tenants. Instead of calling the police, she simply barged into their apartment and saw the Volsun chandelier hanging in the center of the room. Silently, daring anyone to stop her, Rosa cut down the chandelier and le the apartment. No one said a word. Rosa's strength had always been a godsend for her family, but her sister Inna remembers that Rosa, too, was exhausted and sick aer the war. She entered a health sanitarium for a few weeks to recover. Once healthy, Rosa got a job at a hospital near one of the large train stations in Moscow. Next to the hospital was a university, and she started taking classes in English. Even then, she knew that one day her life would lead her to an English-speaking country. It was at this time, in the year aer World War II ended, that Rosa reunited with a next- door neighbor om her childhood home in Gorodok. His name was Gregorivich Udler, but he was better known as Moisey. A skilled artist and painter, Moisey made a big impression on Rosa. Aer a short courtship, they were married in Moscow on July 30, 1946, in a full Jewish wedding, complete with a huppah. Moisey had been draed right out of art school and entered the war in Odessa. There, the 18-year-old private fought his first battles. He received a serious wound in his stomach. Top: David Udler in Moscow, 1969. Above: Yakov Udler in Toronto, Canada, 1991.

• Cover