Day in the history of the Jewish Autonomous Region
Photo: Regional Library
November 9, 1925
On this day, Honorary Citizen of the Jewish Autonomous Region Lev Grigorievich Toitman was born in Odessa.
In 1934, he and his mother moved to Birobidzhan. After graduating from school, he worked as a milling machine operator at a transport factory.
In October 1942, he was drafted into the Red Army and sent to study at the 24th district sniper school at the Lazo station in the Primorsky Territory, after which he was sent to the North-Western Front as a sniper. The first battle took place near Staraya Russa.
Lev Grigorievich was demobilized in 1950 and returned to Birobidzhan. His post-war career path was from the chairman of the Detal artel to the head of the supply and sales department of the regional executive committee of the Jewish Autonomous Region.
For a long time, Lev Grigorievich was the chairman of the council of the Birobidzhan Jewish religious community “Freud”.
Grand opening of the building of the Birobidzhan Jewish religious community. Photo: Regional Library
Lev Grigoryevich Toitman was awarded the Order of Glory II and III degrees, the Order of the Patriotic War II degree, medals “For Courage”, “For Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945”, “For the Liberation of Warsaw”, the Order of Friendship, and anniversary medals.
In September 2007, Lev Grigorievich passed away. A memorial plaque was installed on the building of the Birobidzhan Jewish religious community “Freud”.
November 9, 1912
November 9, 1912 is the date of birth of the future participant in all-Union, republican, zonal, regional exhibitions of the artist of the newspaper “Birobidzhaner Stern” (12+) Abram Petrovich Milchin.
Abram-Yankel Yudka-Peysakhovich (Yan Peisakhovich, Abram Petrovich) Milchin was born into the family of a poor Jewish musician in the city of Bobruisk in Belarus. Orphaned early, the boy ended up in an orphanage. The creative abilities of the future sculptor manifested themselves in the orphanage – it was there that he completed his first work – a bust of V.I. Lenin.
In 1930-1932 studied at the Federal Educational Institution of Furniture Makers, in 1933, after graduating from the Bobruisk Workers' Faculty, he left for Birobidzhan. And again studying at the Pedagogical College (1933-1935).
The fate of the future sculptor was changed by his acquaintance with Emmanuel Kazakevich. Kazakevich helped the self-taught artist get a job in the illustration department of the Birobidzhaner Stern newspaper, and in January 1935 he was invited to the Birobidzhan Theater as a performing artist.
In 1937, the regional department of public education sent Milchin to Moscow to study at the sculpture department of the All-Union Exemplary Art Studio of the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions. The first teacher and mentor was Vera Mukhina.
Since 1942, Milchin fought on various fronts. He was seriously wounded, shell-shocked, temporarily lost his memory, but returned to duty.
As part of the active army, A. Milchin reached Danzig. Awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree, medals “For Courage” and “For Military Merit”.
In December 1945, he was demobilized and returned to college, but his health did not allow him to continue his studies.
In the summer of 1946, he went to Birobidzhan on call. Again he worked as an artist in the Jewish theater and the newspaper “Birobidzhaner Stern”.
The sculptor had a cherished dream – to erect a monument to Sholom Aleichem in Birobidzhan. He presented a sketch of the monument at a regional art exhibition in 1947 and received high praise from spectators and professional artists. The sculptor returned to work on the image of the monument several times, but he never got to see the monument to Sholom Aleichem on one of the city streets.
In 1947, at the invitation of the Khabarovsk branch of the Union of Artists, Abram Milchin moved to Khabarovsk. In Khabarovsk, he immediately became the leading sculptor of the region.
In 1955, at the regional exhibition (12+) in Khabarovsk, the now famous project of a monument to the explorer E.P. Khabarov was presented.
On May 29, 1958, in connection with the centenary of the founding of Khabarovsk, a monument to the Russian explorer Erofei Pavlovich Khabarov was erected on the station square of the city. From a letter from the writer S. Borges addressed to the artist: “generations will fondly remember the name of the sculptor, the creator of such a work of art. Therefore, I am proud that you, Comrade Milchin, created a monument to Khabarov.”
In our region, several works of our fellow countryman have been preserved. In addition to the bas-relief of Sholom Aleichem, there are also known monuments to Lenin in the village of Smidovich and in the village of Leninskoye, and a bust of Vasily Blucher on Volochaevskaya Hill.
In 1995, a memorial plaque was installed on the house in Khabarovsk, where the sculptor lived in 1959-1994. The State Archives of the Khabarovsk Territory contains the personal fund of A.P. Milchin. Of the Khabarovsk sculptors, A.P. Milchin is the only one who went through the professional school of the famous sculptor Vera Ignatievna Mukhina. She called him “a sculptor from God.”
Despite the recognition of the sculptor's skill, he remained an unknown author of the most famous works in Russia.
Abram Peysakhovich Milchin died on October 11, 1994, and was buried in the central cemetery of Khabarovsk. The words from his notebook are carved on the monument: “…I didn’t take anything into the ground that belonged to the living on earth…”.
