Helping Max (16) from Ukraine – the youngest prof. antiquarian in world

UPDATE Oct-11, 2022: My young colleague Max (aka Maksym), 16, together with whom we have offered all of you unforgettable memories from times gone by, is going to be admitted to Dusseldorf University Clinic for children and youth, specialized in oncology, immunology and hematology next week.

We would like to thank all people who have supported us during the last weeks.

Max has had recurring lymphaedemas during last year (the last one removed here in Germany two weeks ago), anemia, arthiritis (inflammation of walls of arteries), weight loss of 8 kg (18 lb) in two months, depression, etc.

We have been incontact with two Professors and Head Doctors of immunology / hematology centres who say Max most probably has a systeme disorder (possibly autoimmune disease when body fights against its own cells), and they are ready to diagnose and treat him.

Germany has a "solidarity" insurace system, i.e. everyone pays % of their income towards health insurance and when they get sick, they get free treatment. Due to influx of 900,000 war refugees from Ukraine, the funds of AOK are running out, and they have started to decline payment requests from hospitals concerning Ukrainians. Iin order ot get addmission letters for hospials, I had to sign a personal guarantee for EUR 20,000 toayin case AOK refuses to pay.

Still, this is not a main problem for us at the moment. As we haven't been able to work with photos, neither I have had zero time to work on two new projects, it's just that we probably wouldn't make it to taking Max to hopital in Dusseldorf, as we will run out of cash before that due to housing, transport and living costs - most going to housing expenses.

Bochum, NRW, Germany, Sep-21, 2002

UPDATE March-09, 2022: Max and I are out of Ukraine, but planning to go back there to support Ukraine's economy and people, as soon as possible. During the last four days, we helped Max's mother and younger brother (Roman) to get out of the country. They took their Exodus via Moldova to Romania, and are safe by now.

We are refugees, as 1.7 million people around as here in Europe. The war of last two weeks made several million people homeless. What you see in Western news, that's true. The city of Mykolaiv lived in is surrounded by Russian troops. We do hope that there will be peace in Ukraine soon, but no-one can predict.

We do not have problems with any nations, and so do not have Ukrainians. It's not the war between two nations, it's a war between evil and good, between freedom and suppression. It's important to understand - I lived in Ukraine for 2+ years, and there were NO conflicts between Ukrainians and Russians living in the country. It ws a country full of people looking to their furure. Now it's in ruins.

Glory to Ukraine! - Слава Україні! - Слава Украине!

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THE MAIN STORY OF THE CAMPAIGN, STARTED IN 2021 - Hello, my name is Tom and I am a travelling antiquarian. Probably the last nomad of the kind, spending half of my time on road and searching for old forgotten images in Tirana and Thessaloniki, Amman and Athens, Beirut and Belgrade – just to name a few.

It has been a while, when I updated this page - and almost a year passed from time we created it. We would cordially thank all of you, who have supported Max during the Covid pandemic. And now the main news: Max has successfully finished the 9th grade (compulsory education in Ukraine, comparable to Junior High). You can see his grades on blue screenshot - the ones below the red arrow go to his diploma.

It's quite a step for a young man, compared to the situation he was in two years ago. Take a look at his old marks in the 7th grade, taking into account, that 12 is the best mark in Ukraine, and 1 is the lowest. Besides doing his schoolwork, Max has done almost a half of our work, and he is especially good in choosing the photos (but also in scanning, packaging and communicating with buyers).

Max has decided, as his compulsory education is over, to join me in my travels and become my apprentice - like all good craftsmen had young apprentices sometimes... umm.... 150 years ago. But, taking into account his perspectives in Ukraine, it's probably the best decision, supported by his mum and grandma - unfortunately, if a young person living in Ukraine, and not having rich parents, wants a brighter future, then the only possibility is to look somewhere else - to West, to South, to Southwest, it doesn't matter.

We are planning to re-locate to somewhere in the Balkans and travel out of there in search of good photos, old documents and other curiosities. If you support Max now, you support his development and ability to learn new things in new environment. (And he has not buried his dream to become an artist - but, "I will work couple of years with you, and then we will see," he says.)

Starting a new life in new place, especially during the time we have now in the world, is a great challenge. But neither Max or I are afraid or it. Or, let's be honest - there is no other possibility for us.

All gifts for donations will arrive... it just takes some time. We have been both physically and psychologically exhausted from fighting to stay above the "red line" financially, and getting Max to end his school work. Thank you in advance for your donation - even if you spend five dollars on Max's future instead of buying a coffee on Times Square, it will make a change.

We will hit the road soon. With a little help from you. THANK YOU!

You can alternatively support us by buying photos in our stores:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/photonicum

https://www.ebay.com/str/allegorium

If you save one soul you save mankind.

Written on May-24, 2021, somewhere in Ukraine, when the world is opening up again.

And this is the old (original) story about Max, written back in 2020, where the world was closed due to the first wave of Covid:

I like telling stories about my travels and people I met there (many of my customers know, that I can sometimes chat through the night about my day's adventures somewhere in dark cellars of Istanbul, side streets of Tirana or slums of Cairo).

My today's story is about Maksim (aka Max) – the next “last nomad” of the tribe of antiquarians, who could as easily become a professional "bad guy" if our ways wouldn't have drossed.

Max is 14 now, and he has been helping me to choose and buy photos for almost a year now (and he is really good at this – there are professional collectors, who specially ask for Max's choice in their orders).

Max was too unlucky to be born in a run-down small town in south of Ukraine, which was a “secret city” during the Soviet period. When Ukraine became independent, most factories were closed, people lost their jobs – and who were able, left the town or even the country for better life.

Max is a grandson of one of my childhood friends (yes, I lived in Estonia and she lived in Ukraine, but back in 1980's it was one big happy Soviet Union). We hadn't met with Lena for many many years until I was in Ukraine for work last summer, and came to see her town.

And, as said by the President of Ukraine, the town where Max and his family live, is the most “criminal” town in the country. No surprise that by the time, when Max was 12 (last summer) he had been engaged in bad company, had several encounters with police, was drinking alcohol and smoking (80% of kids in this town do) and stopped learning at school few years before.

All prerequisites existed that he would sooner or later end up in juvenile detention centre (and he was totally aware about this himself, but he had lost all hope for better life). Until, one day when he was visiting me, he became interested in my boxes of old photos, which I was scanning for my web stores.

That's how it all began, with Max becoming a godson for me, and spending all time free from school with old photos in my apartment, reading about the history of photography and searching for old photos on flea markets and antiquarian stores.

Concerning all other things – he was like a Mowgli from a jungle. Perhaps it's not possible to understand for people not living in Ukraine, but this kid with high IQ (as it came out later), who knows much too much about history, biology, medicine, and everything else which interests him, had only “one's” on his school report (with 12 being the highest grade in Ukraine and 1 the lowest).

Even more, he had finished seven classes (years) in Ukrainian school, but didn't speak a word of Ukrainian (Max comes from a Russian-speaking family, so he spoke Russian with his teachers as well). He didn't know the sequency of calendar months (actually: he had forgotten them), neither the multiplication table or simple arithmetics necessary for everyday shopping.

From the other side, Max is a talented artist, drawing well and loving graffti – perhaps it's in his genes as one of his great-grandfathers was an Art Director of the famous Odessa Movie Studio back in the USSR. And Max has really good eye on details, so he picks the photos I sometimes wouldn't notice – but they sell almost immediately.

To stay short, since last summer I have spent more than half of my time in Ukraine, helping out Max – with him helping me in searching for and buying photos in different towns, going to antiquarian fairs and doing small jobs like scanning, packaging and shipping.

Also, since November we enlisted Max to a private school (which costs almost half of the average income of local working person, as the average salary in Ukraine is about US$ 300 per month). As you can see from the blue report card, he has improved his knowledge and grades tenfold in few months.

For both of us, it has meant days and nights full of work and studies, and Max has done it very well. No sign of a „delinquent street kid“ he was last year (as commented by his mother just a month ago).

You can ask, how can things go so far in average family? The case is that in order to earn these US$ 300 per month, people who are lucky to have a job, don't have much energy or time for their kids, and for kids themselves, it's much easier to join one of the street gangs. Fun, joy and no worries.

Max has a dream. Actually – two of them, hoping to become either a renowned street artist OR renowned antiquarian dealer and/or art historian. OR both, because he is really good both in drawing good pictures and finding small quirky or funny details on old photos.

Due to Covid crisis, sales of old photos in our internet stores have go down by 80% last months. We have survived so far, but it's very questionable if I will be able to help Max with his private school fees and art/history studies in the future. But, apart from going back to street gang, it's the only other chance he has.

Apart from that, I have certain health condition, which may mean that I would not be able to be by his side until Max will be 18 (but I have promised this, or in case I can't do that, to find another solution to keep him on track to better future).

Max needs to finish the 9 th grade class in school year 2020/21, plus two more grades (high school), and then he would like to go to art school (or alternatively, to study art history in college). Not something typical for the kid who had difficulties in reading and writing a year ago (because he just didn't need it, so he had forgotten everything he had learned in elementary).

This campaign is to fund the school studies of Max (Maksim) for the next two years + his studies of English, art and art history, so he can prepare for his dream career of either an antiquarian or an artist . The life will show, but for this he needs a chance.

You can alternatively support us by buying photos in our stores:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/photonicum

https://www.ebay.com/str/allegorium

if you save one soul you save mankind.

And this guy is really worth of helping hand – coming from this crazy background in most downhill town in Ukraine, he has remained really kind person, always giving his helping hand to others (even when he doesn't have much himself).

As a professional in this business, I can honestly say that Max is probably the youngest „almost-professional“ antiquarian in the world – and his dream is to travel, to find old lost treaures, and to return them to the world.

And, damn, he is talented – wben Max started to go to antiquarian fairs with me, I started to get better prices due to his negotiation skills – and to buy better photos, chosen by him. It would be a pity to lose this kind of artistic talent...

By the way, my doctor says, that being a photo antiquarian in 2020 sounds more like a diagnosis than a profession :) Let's hope that it will change by the time Maksim grows up and starts working in the field.

If you have any questions, you are most welcome to contact me.

Written on June-07, 2020, somewhere in Ukraine, during the Covid-19 quarantine.