40 | OCTOBER 20 • 2022
Y
elena Lembersky was
11 years old when she
left Russia with her
mother, Galina, and entered
the Ann Arbor community.
Her grandmother’s arrival
in Ann Arbor preceded the
two, who had endured diffi-
cult times trying to go to the
United States. Eventually head-
ing for America, they wanted
to forget their Russian past and
make new lives for themselves.
While they were able to
establish those new ways of
living, they could not forget
what they had experienced
in the country of their birth.
Galina had been jailed for
what she describes as a falsi-
fied basis of arrest at the time
they were planning to leave
Russia.
The story of the incidents
leading up to the arrest and
affirming their desire to come
to America is now told in
the book they wrote together
that was published by Cherry
Orchard Books — Like a
Drop of Ink in a
Downpour: Memories of Soviet
Russia.
The book is the second
major writing project for
Lembersky, whose earlier book
is about her grandfather and
his work as an accomplished
painter. Published in 2009,
it is titled Felix Lembersky:
Paintings and Drawings.
The painter’s granddaughter
soon will return to a favorite
Ann Arbor center, Beth Israel
Congregation, to discuss the
personal content of her most
recent writing project and
other aspects of her family
initiatives. The program
starts at 6 p.m. Friday, Oct.
28, when she will discuss
human rights as they relate
to those close to her.
Part of her presentation
will be her earlier book
and her grandfather’s
artistry, displayed in
Michigan during the
1980s and capturing his
transition from realistic images
to more abstract pieces.
“My original intention was
to tell the story of my mother’s
trial,” Lembersky said about
her 2022 book. “We sat down
and recorded my mother’s
memories because I wanted
this book to be told in her
voice.
“
As we developed the book,
I wrote my side. That grew and
became my childhood mem-
ories of growing up in Russia.
Some of those memories were
very good and sweet because
of good, kind people.
“Part of the book is about
the Holocaust paintings of my
grandfather.”
The Holocaust paintings
take readers into Ukraine
and what had been the Babi
Yar memorial site. Several of
his paintings belong to the
Zimmerli Art Museum, part
of Rutgers University in New
Jersey.
Lembersky’s grandmother,
the painter’s wife, came to Ann
Arbor when her husband died
in 1970. She brought his works
with her and hoped one day to
have them in a museum.
“I attended the synagogue
where I will speak,” Lembersky
said. “Two days after we
arrived in the city, my grand-
mother, Lucia Lembersky, took
us to Beth Israel. She attended
for all the years she lived in
Ann Arbor.
“We love that synagogue.
When my grandmother was
alone here, this was her home.
“My grandmother lived
in Ann Arbor until [the end
of her life.] She didn’t want
to leave all her friends when
my mother and I went to
the Boston area. She was a
volunteer at the local Jewish
Community Center, and she
received an award for her work
as a volunteer.”
During Lembersky’s time
ARTS&LIFE
BOOKS
Author to speak about
her family’s history at
Ann Arbor’s Beth Israel
Congregation.
Memories
of Soviet
Russia
SUZANNE CHESSLER
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Yelena
Lembersky