The Inspired Intermedia digital book collection
Issue link: https://inspired.uberflip.com/i/1543795
Part Two: The Braverman Family 97 "They never considered institutionalizing her," Boris says. "Putting someone in an institution in Russia in those days was little more than a death sentence," Esfira says. Iosif and Lyubov, well aware of this fact, did everything they could to keep Yeva healthy, happy, and at home. "In the United States, you can go to a medical supplies store and buy a wheelchair and other equipment needed to care for handicapped people. But not in Russia." Lev Laber, Esfira's brother, and his brother-in-law Boris watched in amazement as Iosif built his daughter a wheelchair om household parts. "Iosif called me and said, 'Oh Lev, I need some wheels and other hardware,'" Lev Laber recalls. "I invited him to come to my work place where he could find wheels and other materials." Iosif used these materials to build Yeva's wheelchair. Yeva's condition was just one reason that Iosif thought about leaving the Soviet Union and going to the West, and in the late 1960s he formulated a long-range plan that would take more than 10 years to be realized. One thing that life in the Soviet Union taught people was how to be patient. There were endless lines for everything: bread, milk, shoes. Most people waited years to be able to buy a reigerator or get a telephone. A popular joke in those days involved a generic Boris, a man who wanted a telephone line installed. The clerk at the "Wolf ticket" is a literal translation of the Russian language term волчий билет, a colloquial expression to denote a document that restricted employment and other privileges to the bearer. In the Soviet Union, a wolf ticket was a very serious impediment to one's career. Most doors were closed to individuals with a wolf ticket on his or her identity card. Originally the term was used in Imperial Russia to denote a document issued in lieu of the passport to persons who were given a half-year postponement of "exile for settling personal affairs." Later it denoted a limited certificate for completion of studies. Unlike a regular diploma, it merely stated that the studies were completed, but the student was not allowed to take exams for reasons of poor study or improper behavior. Figuratively, the term remains in use in many of the countries of the former communist bloc, usually to denote any kind of blemish against one's character. Wolf Ticket