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Family Is All That Matters 124 first. Soon aer, her sister and father were also discharged. With the influence of Ida and Rosa, the family was able to return to its apartment in Moscow. As peace returned to Russia aer the war, Inna began to her studies at the pharmaceutical college and received a degree as a pharmacist, preparing for a job she would hold for the next 35 years. Inna had always been a pretty girl and while at college she grew into a beautiful young woman. She was used to young men trying to meet and date her, but she didn't give them much attention. Fellow students equently asked her for dates and she always said no. Men on the street or the underground Metro approached her—she always ignored them. That is, until she became aware of a very shy young man on the Metro who was bashfully watching her and trying not to be noticed. Inna liked what she saw and wished that he would approach, but he never did. Inna did notice that the young Below le: Inna, Alex, and Elena Moldavsky vacationing at the Black Sea, in Sochy, 1955. Below right: Inna, Alex, and Elena Moldavsky at the Black Sea, 1955. Facing page: Sasha (Aleksander) Moldavsky in Moscow, 1949. man timed his own commute so that he would board the same train car that Inna regularly took. When Inna emerged om the Metro on her way to school, she noticed the young man walking shyly behind her. In this way, a courtship went on for some weeks. One day, Inna emerged om the Metro as usual on her way to school. The young man was, as usual, walking behind. In ont of the school, Inna encountered two fellow Jewish students and stopped to talk to them. The young man waited at a distance, pretending to inspect something in a shop window. When Inna went into the school, the young man approached the two boys who had been talking to Inna. The young man knew these boys too, and asked a very strange question. "How is it that you know this shiksa?" he asked, referring to Inna. "Shiksa" is a Yiddish term that refers to a non-Jewish woman. The boys were astounded. "Who's a shiksa?" they yelled. "Inna Volsun? You must be crazy. Inna is not only Jewish, she comes om a very religious family!" The young man was astounded. He asked the

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