Interview: Irina Melekhina
Title
Interview: Irina Melekhina
Description
Irena Melekhina recounts her experiences growing up in the USSR, earning a degree in dentistry, and then seeking refugee status along with her husband prior to immigrating to the United States in 1991. She recalls a sense of being brainwashed by the Soviet government, yet still feeling a loss at the collapse of the Soviet Union. She and her husband and 2 month old child arrived in New York City in August 1991, just as the August Coup was taking place in the USSR. The interview recounts these early years of adjusting to life in the United States, resettling in Philadelphia for better job opportunities, and raising their family in Northeast Philadelphia. Toward the end of the interview, Irina shares a series of photographs and memorabilia from the Soviet Union.
Rights
Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries
Identifier
2019oh0147_irw0078
Interviewer
Janneken Smucker
Interviewee
Irina Melekhina
Sort Priority
0028
OHMS Object
Interview Keyword
Jewish ethnicity
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR)
Soviet Union
Russia
Assimilation
Religion
Jews--Identity.
Physicians
Military education
Traditional dance
Republic of Crimea
Kiev (Ukraine : Oblast)
Indexed By
Kayla DiPaolo
Files
Citation
“Interview: Irina Melekhina,” Philly Immigration, accessed November 29, 2023, https://phillyimmigration.nunncenter.net/items/show/1058.