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

