O/T The immigrant notes

[Fig sign]

Hi , All !

 

In a week it will be 12 years as I repatriated/immigrated to Israel .

I want to share my very personal impressions of what it means to be an immigrant and try to explain

what pushed me to it .what came out of this and how I feel myself now in Israely society .

I can tell a bit of my life story :

How I served as a tank commander in the Soviet army

What it was to be a Jew in the USSR ?

Who and what pushed me to immigrate ?

My working experience there and here .

What it means to be an immigrant ?

Why they are hatred ?

What immigrants think about natives ?

And more things that are coming to my mind when I look on this 12 crazy years .

 

If you are ready to this and are capable to understand my English , I will start to public it and I have what to say .

 

 

I am waiting for your input

 

Iskander teh unknown writer

 

[ 11-14-2003, 08:18 AM: Message edited by: Iskander teh Lazy ]

[mayday]

Didn't know you where from the USSR Iskander

The furthest I have imigrated is 1/2 mile from where I grew up to where I built my house

We here in the states seem to only hear the bad things that go on in Israel. You like it there?

sounds like a scary place to live after watching the news reports.

It's always interesting hearing storys from around the world

[TimHollis]

Iskander, do it man!!!!!!

 

I'l make 1 comment, when I got into that van, at 5am that morning, leaving my dads house, on my way to boot camp, I had the impression that the world revolved around my home town.

 

Years later, I relized we were just a pimple on it's xxxx.

 

It a big world, and it takes all kinds to make it go round.

 

 

Fire Away!!!!!

 

Tim H.

[Harryman]

Thank you for your generosity in sharing the story.

[George_Gerhard]

Iskander

I always wanted to ask you what its like living in Israel, but felt maybe you did nt want to speak about.

I have lived in Japan and Korea

[Dan Schnars]

Iskander, I ride home at night and listen to the news and hear about all the things happening over there, and I have wondered what it must be like for you... I'd be really interested to hear your story also.. .

[Thad]

Iskander,

 

It sounds very interesting and I look forward to hearing "your story." Spill your guts.

 

Thad

[gcode]

Iskander- love to here your story.

 

My father was in the oil business and I grew up

overseas. I was 16 the first time I lived in the US. All I can say is that your average American

has no freaking clue just how good we've got it here.

I would guess that Isreal, for all its troubles is a big improvement on the USSR.

[robk]

quote:

---

All I can say is that your average American has no freaking clue just how good we've got it here.

---

+1 Gcode

 

Iskander,

I am very interested in your story also. I have been to most of the European countries during the early 80's. That includes the countries behind the Iron Curtain. My parents had homes in Austria and Poland and my dad traveled a lot. I have been to USSR a few times and find it very fascinating (from the outsider's point of view). Granted I was only a little squirt back then, but those memories will stay with me forever.

I would love to hear about Israel also. What a long and colorful history that country has.

 

Rob

[F. JAVIER]

One thing about that (immigrant experience) is that the experience can enrich your life, makes you feel that you could write a book about it. This is no time to hijack your thread, Iskander... We are all ears..

F. Javier

[Rick Damiani]

quote:

---

You like it there?

sounds like a scary place to live after watching the news reports.

---

I spent two weeks in Haifa in '94 after my ship finished helping the US Army leave Somalia. Haifa was a facinating and lovely city, set in an area that looks somewhat like Southern Californa. Haifa was one of the most interesting and enjoyable port-of-call I made while in the service.

[beav700]

I would like to know what it's like for Russian immigrant in Israel. I'm from Poland and we had some poeple that lived next to me moved to Isreal. I lost contact with them, but often wonder how they are doing. Tell it like it is. Please.

[Marty A]

IsKander

 

waiting to read and be enlighten

can't wait.

 

marty

[pip]

Go for it Iskander.

I have emigrated from England to Switzerland, so I would be interested to hear your points of veiw.

[Lars Christensen]

Iskander,

Can not wait to hier your story,

 

I moved from Denmark to the US 4 years ago and recieved my papers last week that I am aproved to be a ligeal lawfull permanent residents of the US,

 

Lars

[SledGeek]

My wife wants me to build her a library, i think i'll just point her here. Can't wait to read,Iskander !

BTW, congrats Lars ! Let me welcome you as a permanent citizen in the good old U.S. of A. !

[A-ron1286490684]

The first time I read a long post by you Iskander I wondered what language was your first. I mean no insult by this but I would see Israel as your location but as I read it and listened to it in my head I kept thinking of this Ukranian guy I used to work with named Constantine Foxman. (A good guy and an awesome machinist) You write exactly the way he used to talk and after reading in one of your posts that you were from the Soviet Union it all made sense.

 

He had many interesting stories of the Soviet Union where he and his family did some very hard living.

 

I'd be very interested to hear more...

[Camdude®]

Iskander,

at 15 years of age i emmigrated from the great white north to the U.S. of A. even though we are right next door to each other the move was total culture shock. Learned real fast not to say "eh" at the end of my sentences. fought alot in school

as i was the new kid who spoke and dressed funny.

by funny dress i mean dress slacks and button down shirts instead of jeans and "T" shirts. i finally convinced my mom she was giving me a death sentence by not allowing me to where the jeans and "T" shirts. like everything else though things got better as i learned to adapt.

[Fig sign]

Thank you ,guys !

 

You`ll see the first part in a couple of hours .

Stay tuned .

 

PS1 .

Lars , my congratulations!

Du gik meget iginnem ?

 

PS2

A-aron !

quote:

---

You write exactly the way he used to talk and after reading in one of your posts that you were from the Soviet Union it all made sense.

---

Yes ,I know it .

But anyway can you give me some examples ,that

disclose in me the Russian language speaker ?

J/C

[Brendan P]

Iskander,

I too also wondered how you can live there with all the stuff that goes on,but was afraid to ask.

I mean,I'd be afraid to get on a bus with my son for fear of us dying that day.

Is it really that bad?

 

Why does it have to be this way?

 

I am very interested in your story.

Congrats lars.

[Fig sign]

The Immigrant Notes .

 

 

I dedicate this notes to the memory of my

grandfather Iskander(Alexander) Yakubovski,

grandmother Vihna(Vera) Yakubovski and

my father Vitalli(Haim) Shkolnikov .

 

 

Part one . Preface

 

I want to warn everyone that what I write here is my personal esperience , recollections

and opinions .

I am not pretending to be always completly correct and sure my political and historical vews

can not and not intended to be politically correct .

I only promise to be sincere and honest .

 

I think that a task close to impossible is to explain , what it was the life in USSR .

Not because it was bad or good ,it was completly different from what the man from West

tend to immagine it .

To understand it you must be from the USSR too !

It is not only about USSR being the communist country with strange and not always clear past.

It is because Russia always was this , too different from all the other world and immigrants from

Russia were always too much different and separated from other immigrants and natives of any country.

Russian literature of 19-20 centuries are full of examples !

As they used to say there Russia is a country of unpredictible past and unpredictible future.

I will talk about Russian histrory later too .

Russia is a country were the communist regime invented the term the Soviet nation but was using

terms nation and nationality completly different from the western way of understanding it .

The bitter truth was that it used nationality to divide people to class A citizents ,Class B

and so on .

Not only authorities but common people regard you different according to your nationality .

Who are you - Russian ,Ukrainian or Jew is one of the most important things in life .

It was the same before communists , when the monarchy was but I think it was more fair , no lies

about equality and brotherhood .

 

A bit about myself .

 

 

My grandma Vera used to say I was very lucky to born alive at all , I catched 1 chance from 100!

And I always answered her that it was even greater luck to born a Jew !

And in such a family !

If you were looking for the strange people here we are - "My family".

My grandmother Vera was born in the poor Jewish family -7 children she was a youngest daughter and

they always were hungry !

The funniest thing in life was her name Vihna .

Noone ,even her parents ever used it ,except a Rabbi ,that gave her father the document about the

birth of the 7`th child 2 monthes before she really born !

And guessed right the sex and gave her the very rare name Vihna !

There was the first world war going on and with the 7`th child the man were free from enlistment .

So her birth date was 2 monthes before her real birth .

Well , she was born just before the revolution and when she was 18 she met my grandfather

Iskander on the preparation courses to the medical institute .

He was a Belorussian Tatar and from the nobleness too.

The Tatars from Crimea were the old enemies of Russians ,they were conquered one of the last ,

they burned to ashes Moscow a couple of times ,they were brave ,fearless and ruthless, always

in the warfield ,sometimes taking side of Poles ,sometimes Russians ,sometimes fighting against

everyone .

When Poles took them prisoners ,sometimes they stay to live there and Belorussia

was then a part of Rzesc Pospolita .

My grandfather Abraham from the father`s side when he was 17 ran away to fight in the Red army First

Cavalry army as a horsemen get with it a addicted communist , to much even for the communist authorities .

Both my grandfathers not returned from the second world war and I even don`t know where they are burrried ,very common thing for the USSR .

Fall a hero in the battlefield they used to write.

What I have from my grandfather Iskander is his last letter he had not managed to sent home with his blood spilled over it from the german shell splinter from somewhere

near Kursk .

This detonating mixture of Jewish and Tatar blood turned our family to the set of rather strange personalities and was a cause of numerous troubles in life .

 

To be continued

 

[ 11-14-2003, 08:00 PM: Message edited by: Iskander teh Lazy ]

[Fig sign]

Part 2 .

Crazy .

 

My family raised me on principles that all the man are equal, you must always be fair ,

strait and honest , respect and loyality - in two words ,

 

Beeing a Harry Potter type boy ,weak but fearless , it was a shock for me to find that the

real world not the same my parents

explained

And with understanding that the real world is cruel ,unfair and merciless came the bitter

disappointment .

Many other boys in such situation get used to it without problems but not me .

I went the family tradition road .

Beeing a weak but with detonating temper I was mixed in 3-4 fist fights a day .

I was starting to discover what it means to be a Jew and having a pride I

was not ready to voluntary step to the category B or C people.

The school I went was for the privilleged children of the high-ranked party

bosses and their servants .

I went to it only cause our house was 100 meters from school and they can not refuse .

When I was 11-12 I knew from my own experience that what they tell you is BS , nobody give you a

damn except your family and a couple of real friends

everybody hates you only for funny name and being a Jew .

I can say that the hatred was mutual and everywhere I was going was a fight in 10-15 minutes .

I was always wondering how other Jewish boys lived complely different ,peaceful life ?

I was a constant problem for the teachers too .

Only at the age of 16-17 the life started to change .

But I was believing nobody and pessimist , I thought that the communism was a good

thing in principle but the implementation was perverted .

 

Crazy sergant .

 

I started to understand that USSR was doomed in the army .

I serverd as a sergant , T-72M main combat tank commander and our crew nick was "Three times not

Russians" and my officers called me crazy sergant and the guys "rough"

The army was a real shock for me.

I wanted to be a tanksman all my life and it was wonderful.

Only I thought that the army is the last place that some sort of order remains and found it sorta

one big disorded brothel and it was a blow

When I served in combat union I hardly can recall a day when I was completly sober

and our officers were sobber less !

No wonder when we were on the shooting drills the left flank tanks were shooting the right

flank targets

the totally disordered center sent shells everywere .

Our platoon was a constant pain in the xxxx of our batalion and our batalion was the same to our

brigade .

Our captain Ivanov was a good guy but a drunkard and my squad commander was not drinking saddistic

son of the bitch ,who used to humilate people for a pure fun .

Our platoon when sober was doing wonders (the best shooting results ,and so on ) but it was very

rare occasion .

Other time no one give a damn to what `s going on .

We were always taken to the military tribunal sessions when some guys from

our 1`st Tanks Corps were messed with something .

I was in a stockade a couple of times may be 7-10 days but there were guys that spent there

monthes .

Well ,having a bad school experience and the same temper I had a couple of fighs but we were

except a couple of SOBs all friends and it stopped rather fast .

I must say that to be a tanksman it was for me.

We all were the same : Crazy ,lazy and not giving a damn .

And asking sometimes question WTF is going on ?

How we`ll fight against 1`st german tank`s division and americans I

couldn`t give an answer !

The answer came later :

It was always the same , there was a better discipline ,but nothing changed all this years ,

I imagine that if USSR started or would become involved in some conflict with germans or

americans we would loose the 60-70% of tanks and personell in the first clash .

The survived would learn to fight on their own experience .

MY squad commander was a Russian German and was not only antisemithic SOB ,but the saddist.

I don`t know what Uzbecks and Jews did him in the past life but we all knew that he hated

them more then others and our crew was his squad first tank: 2 Uzbecks and a Jew .

It was an everyday challenge .

His manner to tell dirty stories and jokes about Jews blew up my temper and I simply told him

that he is a SOB

and I don`t care what he tells about my people when i am not near but when I am he better keep his bloody mouth shut .

He thought it was sorta funny challenge and started to punish me for every possible thing that came

to his saddist mind .

He was in a good mood .

Not only I was punished but all my crew cause a punnishment was mostly a duty of some sort and the duty was for crew .

It was a long story but once I found the good safe way to return a blow:

I executed all his orders liturally ,in the strict sence .

This bloody sob was disordered and humilated in a week and I got a vengeance .

He got to conclusiont that I am a crazy sergant and it is for his own better to stay away from me and my crew.

But once he was disturbed and publically shout to me :

Get down to your bloody Israel !

Now I would say :

Aye ,sir ,can I proceed now ?

I was too drunk and too furious to do it .

The guys caught me and kept from punching his nose .

 

To be continued

Iskander teh crazy sergant

 

[ 11-15-2003, 05:00 AM: Message edited by: Iskander teh Lazy ]

[Marty A]

hi InKander

 

sat. morning great reading buddy, keep it coming.

i'll even get on at home to read. have good day

 

 

marty

[TimHollis]

This is Great Stuff Iskander!!!!

 

It takes allot of courage to put what's in your heart & mind, both good & bad, up on the net, for the world to see.

 

I applaud you!!!

 

Your Friend across the pond.

 

Tim H.

[MichaelJ]

Iskander and Tim this is good stuff to read keep it comming.