Anatoli Mikhailovich Rapoport

Update: Anatoli liked my post! He did say, however, that he would never personally identify himself as Russian, but he would say he's Jewish. He is not religious, though, and labels himself agnostic.

I asked Anatoli's permission to write about him, and he said "of course! Maybe I'll be famous someday!"

Anatoli was born in Odessa, Ukraine, when it was part of the Soviet Union. He was Russian, and his family was not particularly religious. However, they were racially Jewish. At that time, citizens of the Soviet Union had to register and hold an official state ID. On his ID, Anatoli was Jewish. Also, his last name was recognizable Jewish.

In Russia, most students try to go to college or university in their home towns because it is cheaper and closer to their families. However, in that time, there was still a lot of Antisemitism, and it was common for institutions to "discreetly" discriminate against Jews. For example, Anatoli's friend who was very gifted in math "failed" the entrance exam to his hometown university. He was Jewish. So, he went instead to a trade school in his hometown even though he was very smart. Because of this discrimination, Anatoli had to leave Odessa and travel to Tula (150 miles outside of Moscow) for his schooling.

There, he met his wife, Inna Abramova. They got married, and she took Anatoli's last name. Anatoli had to serve his mandatory military duty, so Inna moved to St. Petersburg (all this is kind of hazy for me, so it might not be exactly right). While Anatoli was away, Inna had a terrible time finding any work. Why? Because of her last name; Rapoport. On her passport, she was racially Russian, but her last name was enough for people to discriminate. She was running out of money, and Anatoli had to send her his stipend ("It was, like, peanuts! Nothing!") and her parents helped her too. They were worried they would have to get a divorce on paper to solve the problem. But, eventually, she decided to take her maiden name back. Also, Anatoli insisted that all his children take her last name so there was no chance of troubles like they had had.

Note: I had asked Anatoli why he and Inna's names were different, but he said he had to save the story for our lesson on multiculturalism. It was a long wait, but worth it! I had no idea that this kind of prejudice lasted so long.

When Anatoli was out of the army, he lived in St. Petersburg with Inna, and they had two children. It was still Soviet Russia, and Anatoli doesn't remember it very fondly. He described waiting in line for hours to receive the allotted food for his family. Every time he tells us, he remembers exactly what they could get (I don't remember the exact numbers, so this is and example): 5 grams of bread, 50 grams butter, some milk, and TWO bottles of vodka--"Doesn't matter if you are baby; you still get TWO bottles!" He also said that they bought a dog, a boxer, in hopes that it would provide some protection on the dangerous city streets.

He remembered how people often used a barter system. A shoe salesperson would keep the best shoes for himself, and trade them to get the better pants, or towels, etc. "We were so unlucky as teachers, what do we have to trade? Nothing!" He also remembers bringing home a lot of extra food in their suitcases when he and Inna visited his parents in Odessa.

Note: It took me a long time to work up the nerve to ask Anatoli if he like communism. When I did, he said, "I wondered when someone would ask me!" He said that he wouldn't describe Soviet Russia as communist, because communism is an ideal situation. He said he certainly didn't like having to wait in line, and no one was happy about that. When I said, "Communism might work if the world was perfect," he said, "Yeah, if everyone loved their neighbors and all that, but everyone thinks, 'I want to eat NOW!'" I guess that's the point.

So, in 2000, after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Anatoli got an offer to travel to America. He said that his friends would talk about "MAYBE traveling to England, but United States was like, 'yeah, right, who would let us go there?") So he did it. While he was here, someone at Purdue offered for him to stay and finish his schooling. He thought at the time that he was way too old at ~40 to go to school. He said after 35, NO ONE in Russia goes to school any more. But he decided to stay. And he stayed until today! He said part of the reason that he stayed was because Russian teachers are paid just ridiculously low wages. I can't remember the exact number, but when I ask Anatoli again, I'll let you know. It's not nearly enough to live on. -

Now, he's a newly-minted associate professor (he gave us his new business cards, haha) of curriculum and instruction at Purdue. His daughter still lives in St. Petersburg with her Russian husband, and they just had a baby! His son went to college at Illinois State, and now he lives in Bloomington and teaches.

And he lived happily ever after! (hopefully) :)

P.S. He knows everything about all kinds of history. It's crazy. He knows American history better than most Americans and he didn't even grow up here! But don't tell him this, because he would probably get an unbearably smug look on his face.

P.P.S Inna has a very interesting story too, but I haven't gotten to talk to her very much. Her father fought in the Battle of Stalingrad and still lives today! I'm REALLY hoping I get to meet him when we leave for Tallinn, Estonia, his (and Inna's) home country. Her grandfather and his family lived in Leningrad during the seige. Her uncle died of starvation (at age 10) during the seige, and her grandfather worked in a munitions factory and wasn't allowed home to see his family but one day a week.