Microsoft President visited his ancestors’ motherland - Pinsk

• 29.10.2007, 18:52

President and Executive Director of Microsoft Company Steve Balmer visited Pinsk (Brest region) - the town where his mother’s father and grandfather lived.

The businessman came to Pinsk with his sister, chairperson of Pinsk Jewish community Iosif Liberman who accompanied S.Balmer told BelaPAN. The trip was Balmer’s gift to his sister’s 50th birthday.

The unofficial visit of Microsoft President to Pinsk took only one day - October 25. Blamer and his sister visited significant places of the Jewish history of Pinsk, the museum of the Belarusian Palessie with an exhibition of paintings by Jewish artists. A Pinsk historian showed the honorable guest his great-grandfather’s grave. Steve Balmer and his sister saw the building of the bakery that their uncle used to own. S.Balmer also visited Pinsk synagogue where he talked to Rabbi Moshe Fima and lit candles commemorating his ancestors.

According to I.Liberman, a special menorah brought from Israel, with the words “In honor of grandfather Shloma Dvorkin, mother Beatriche and 6 millions of Jews who died in Holocaust” was presented to S.Balmer together with souvenirs, books and paintings of the town of Pinsk and Pinsk district.