My father grew up in a suburb of the city of Lyubertsy about forty minutes from Russia's capital, Moscow. He lived in an apartment with his parents, brother, and grandmother. The apartment was built with a courtyard in the center, so he could play with his neighbors. They were the only Jewish family in the building, and when his grandmother would call him in for lunch "she spoke with a very thick Yiddish accent and when she called me from the balcony of our apartment, I would feel so embarrassed". However, he said it was a good childhood because he was always surrounded by friends.

Stores were often completely empty, or only had a few items. There was consistently not enough food produced for everyone, so many went hungry. It was difficult in the city. Some people had family in villages who farmed for themselves, so they were able to get food from their relatives, but my father's family did not. My father and his friends resorted to stealing potatoes and other vegetables from the local farm. It was dangerous, as they could be caught and arrested, "we had to get as many vegetables as we could before the guards came". They often preserved whatever produce they were able to get in order to make it last until they could get more.

Antisemitism was common. Russia already had a long history of antisemitism before it became part of the Soviet Union. After the Cold War started in 1947, Joseph Stalin planned to target Jewish people for his purges. Jewish people were often associated with the United States because of its large Jewish population, so they were often thought to be less loyal to the Soviet Union. However, Stalin passed away before he could go through with this, "but the sentiment remained". My father and his family dealt with both interpersonal and institutional antisemitism. People would harass them on the street; "I remember a man walked up to me and said 'oh, too bad the Germans didn't kill you all', and then just walked away". When it was time for my father to go to college, he had two options because only two colleges in Moscow accepted Jewish students.