by Jill Huber
NJJN Bureau Chief/Monmouth

August 12, 2008

Because of her drive, energy, and desire for freedom of expression, Galina Ubogiy has achieved the American dream.

An accomplished interior designer, she is the founder of the Galina Design Group in Ocean, and helped design the Axelrod Performing Arts Center at the JCC in Deal. Her portfolio includes high-profile projects for Pharmacia & Upjohn, Rutgers Law Center, and the College of New Rochelle Library.

It is the kind of success, and opportunity, she could scarcely have imagined while living in Tashkent before the breakup of the Soviet Union.

Ubogiy, her husband, Arkadiy, and Michael, their six-year-old son, left Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, one of republics of the Soviet Union, in 1992.

With the assistance of the Jewish Family & Children’s Service, a beneficiary of the Jewish Federation of Monmouth County, they settled in Ocean Township.

But it was a long, arduous path that led Ubogiy to the United States.

Ubogiy always embraced her Jewish identity, but it was difficult to be a Jew in Tashkent. While living under the Soviet regime, practicing any religion was frowned upon, and those who chose to defy the Soviet edict risked losing their jobs and could be labeled enemies of the state, Ubogiy said.

“On Rosh Hashana, the tradition was to surround the temple,” she said. “But there were spies everywhere. You never knew who to trust. So my mother told me about this tradition, but we didn’t dare participate in it.”

Her father, Vitaliy, was a mechanical engineer, and her mother, Larisa, was a professor of linguistics at Tashkent University. Neither could risk losing their positions, so they told Ubogiy and her brother about their memories of Jewish culture, tradition, and celebrations. Sometimes, her mother or grandmother would cook a special meal on Passover or Purim.

As a child, Ubogiy joined several state-run youth groups.

“If you didn’t join, you could be condemned by the government, which could deny you the chance to go to college,” she said. “You would also be stigmatized by children in your grammar school. It was the same at summer camp. There were a lot of regular activities, but there was also a lot of propaganda. We sang songs about ‘Grandpa Lenin,’ and we really thought of him that way.”

But despite all this, Ubogiy said, her childhood was basically happy. She was friends with children of different nationalities in Tashkent, which had become a diverse place populated by people from other republics.

‘As a child, I always felt I had to watch what I said and where I said it.’

Anti-Semitism, however, was still a force to be reckoned with, she said.

“My best friend said I was too good to be a Jew,” Ubogiy said. “She heard her parents say this and she repeated it to me. There were no pogroms, but I could sense anti-Semitism everywhere.”

Although she was a good student, some of her teachers never gave her the high grades she deserved. Her religion stood in the way, Ubogiy said. She qualified for academic medals, but saw them distributed to non-Jewish students.

Nevertheless, Ubogiy attended Tashkent University from 1983 to ’88 and obtained a degree in civil engineering.

“As a child, I always felt I had to watch what I said and where I said it,” she said. “Even at college, there were very few political discussions. It was a closed subject. The newspapers we read were all slanted to the state’s philosophy. There was no choice but to live with that.”

Friends introduced her to Arkadiy, who was studying to be a mechanical engineer at a nearby college. Ubogiy knew she had met “the love of my life,” and they were married in a civil ceremony in 1989.

“We couldn’t have a religious ceremony, but I haven’t given up the idea of having a proper Jewish wedding,” she said. “Maybe my husband and I will renew our vows under a huppa sometime soon. If we do that, I’ll feel more complete.”

When the Soviet Union began to break up in the late 1980s, hatred and anti-Semitism increased in the Tashkent region. The homes of several Jews in a nearby town were burned. “When the Soviet Union broke up, there was anger among the people,” said Ubogiy. “They felt they had lost their identity and were looking for someone to blame. It was easy for them to blame the Jews.”

Ubogiy’s family had been debating whether to leave the city and immigrate to Israel or the United States. By 1990, a life-altering decision was made.

‘We would be safe’

Arkadiy’s brother, who had moved to Ocean Township, contacted JF&CS, and the planning began to bring Galina, Arkadiy, and Michael to America. The brother-in-law and JF&CS agreed to sponsor the family, but it took two years to gather and process all the necessary paperwork.

The family arrived in the United States in June 1992 and settled in Ocean Township, where they still live.

“When we arrived in America,” said Ubogiy, “I knew I was in a country where we would be safe, and where my son could have a future.”

Among other services, JF&CS helped secure them a furnished apartment, arranged for English-language lessons, and helped them obtain employment. The family also joined Temple Beth Torah in Ocean, where they still worship.

In 1993, Ubogiy attended Rutgers University and received a master’s degree in civil engineering. But she had become interested in architecture and design and in 1994, she was accepted at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. She began attending classes there two weeks after her daughter, Jessica, was born. Ubogiy graduated with a degree in fine arts.

By this time, Ubogiy’s parents and brother had come to Ocean Township, again with the assistance of JF&CS, while Ubogiy was busy working in showrooms, working as an assistant to established designers, and exploring commercial design. In 1997, she became an American citizen and began her employment with a large architectural firm in Princeton.

She began to do freelance work in 2001 and in 2003 founded the Galina Design Group.

“I never thought I could achieve such things,” she said. “Here, we’ve studied Jewish history and my children became bar and bat mitzva. There is opportunity and incentive in this country. Sometimes, the transition was very hard, but all the pent-up energy I had in Tashkent helped me to adjust.

“My family and I are American citizens who pursued our American dreams.”

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