TARAPUNKA IS POLTAVA MOCKINGBIRD
As if responding to the wishes of fans of humor Timoshenko was born in the Ukrainian capital of laughter, Poltava that has given Gogol and Kotliarevsky, Kovin’ka and Vyshnia, Hlibov and Hrebinka to the world. His 
place of birth was predestined not by chance. Yurko swam in a small river named Tarapunka there, grew up, went to school, learnt more, and took his first steps on the amateur stage there. And what character you should think did he perform in the school stage play? The son of a Turkish citizen Ostap Bender, in ‘12 chairs’ play staged by himself.
Popularity of Yuri Timoshenko and Efim Berezin was undoubtedly nationwide. They were greeted in the streets, asked over; the concert halls were sold out while they performed there. Kids in kindergartens recited the rhyme as follows:
Do-re-mi-fa-sol-la-si,
Shtepsel once took a taxi
Tarapunka stuck to back of car
and had a ride free of charge.
They met each other in Kyiv during admission exams at the Theater Institute. They met not to part ways from each other to the end. The prewar institute and Kyiv film studio where the students filmed in mob scenes and episodes, starred together with some renowned masters of the Ukrainian cinema can be called the cradles of the future audience favorites.
The war is passing through the mill by sharpening the young artists’ skills, “attacking by fire” their tempers, testing their endurance. Cook Galkin and Bath Attendant Mochalkin having the soldier uniforms on marched from Kyiv to Stalingrad and from Stalingrad to Berlin when relieving the front-line soldiers of the stress of war and the bitterness of loss. The friends would never forget those years. Although Timoshenko unlike his character in the movie “Fall of Berlin” did not plant the flag of victory over the Reichstag but had his photo taken 1945 with the front-line ensemble in front of Reichstag and participated in meeting of the Allied Forces on the Elbe.
A funny nickname Shtepsel stuck to Berezin during prewar amateur concert parties. In turn, Yuri assumed his stage name Tarapunka after his older friend and teacher O. P. Dovzhenko had suggested it him. The
friends acted under these pseudonyms when participating in the All-Union Competition of Performers 1946 and became the winners occupying first place. That was artistically reflected in movie comedy "Cheerful Stars".
Yuri Timoshenko was a keen philatelist, could give up all the things and fly to Irkutsk for any rare stamp. He collected the stamps for many years, had dozens of albums, catalogs, sets of magnifiers and tweezers. After coming on tour in any city he instantly rushed to search for Philatelic Society without having breakfast. He had one of the best collections in Ukraine. Then he suddenly cooled off the stamps abruptly, lost interest in them, sold them at half price and started going in for motoring. He decided to buy a car from any foreign diplomats who were returning home. But this needed special permission of the Communist Party Central Committee. He got it and bought a huge black “Dodge” as long as a Mexican serial film: when the vehicle turned around it blocked not only the roadway but also sidewalks.
If you suddenly had to find a living embodiment of the formula “national in form, international in content”, it would be Yuri Timoshenko, the Ukrainian folklore specialist who was permanently inclined towards the Russian culture, admired melodies of Georgian songs, sophistication of Armenian architecture, graphic arts of Baltic artists, adored Uzbek manty and Jewish stuffed fish. Rasul Gamzatov once joked: "Performance of Tarapunka and Shtepsel for me is festival of friendship of nations".
Timoshenko fiercely hated nationalism in all the forms, and scoffed at it in everyday life and on the stage. One of Kyiv worker of culture who was full of anti-Semitism was publicly called by him “national in form, a fool in content”. He also fetched a slap across the face of the other one saying “kike” as strong as he fell down the floor in the hotel lobby in Moscow during Ten Days of Ukrainian Art.
Once upon a time the artists were going to Moscow for Ten Days of Ukrainian Culture. They were sitting in 
the staff carriage meant for only high officials and all the folk artists. Beginning of the ten days coincided in time with the end of student vacations. Some student returning to Moscow as a stowaway slid into their carriage at some station. Timoshenko friendly talked to him and joked about permanently empty students’ pockets while remembering his own studying. He asked: “Of course, d’you want to eat?” and he went to the snack bar for foodstuff without waiting for the answer. When he laden with packages was back, the student was not in: on demand of some high official, the conductor put out the free rider at the nearest stop possible. Timoshenko was scary to watch, it was the state he became out of control in. Only insult and injustice can bring him to it. He was about to break the coupe door that the frightened officer hid behind, he slapped the closed door and shouted:
- Come! I would like to see in your eyes!.. Because he wanted to eat! You chased a hungry man out!.. You chased your youth out!
They hardly managed to calm him and pull him away from the door.
He certainly had to participate in many “government” concerts especially under Khrushchev: there were rumors about he and Nikita Khrushchev were big friends. When Timoshenko was asked about it he refused with intentional embarrassment, which even confirmed this presumption. These rumors assisted passing
their sideshows by Main Administration for Safeguarding State Secrets in the Press: the censors were afraid of conflicting with friends of the Prime Minister. After the second marriage Timoshenko applied for an apartment at the City Council. His application was refused. Moreover, they were a swine to him by doing it. He did not complain to anyone, left for his native Poltava together with his new wife, went to the director of the local Philharmonic Society and said that since he had no place in Kyiv to live he decided to move to Poltava and work for Poltava Philharmonic. Woozy with joy, the director immediately ordered to employ the new artist, hurried with the news to the Regional Committee where they made a immediate decision to provide Yuri Timoshenko with a luxurious two-bedroom apartment. Meanwhile, they sounded the alarm in Kyiv as performances in Moscow and Leningrad were expected, the regular ad went on, and all the tickets were sold long ago. ‘Ukrkontsert’ director dialed different Poltava phone numbers, caught finally Timoshenko by phone, and reminded him of the tours.
- I can not go to Moscow - said Yuri. - I am an artist of Poltava Philharmonic Society; I am to tour in villages of Sosnivka and of Piatykhatka.
Then the Minister of Culture called him:
- Yuri Trokhymovych, you let Ukraine down!
- Why? I am working in Ukrainian city of Poltava, for Ukrainian Poltava Philharmonic Society, performing in Ukrainian villages. I’m appreciated and loved here, finally I have the place to live here unlike in Kyiv ...
As you realize although while grating his teeth he immediately granted an apartment in Kyiv. But the ostracism was continued: due to his independent behavior and bold statements ...
Yuri Timoshenko suddenly died on December 1, 1986 on tour in Uzhhorod. At that moment, any near people were not next to him. So Efim Berezin last saw his friend and colleague at the funeral. Efim Berezin tried to go on tour for some time, but he had difficulties to perform alone. Shtepsel could not exist without Tarapunka, and Efim Berezin without his friend Yuri Timoshenko.
An excerpt from the memories of the son of the famous Poltavite:
”I recently met a man who told an interesting story about my father. That man was a KGB fixed-post spy in the United States some time ago. Once Moscow headquarters put him the task of finding... a crankshaft for "Chrysler." So he came up to Detroit accompanied by the external surveillance while searching for the critical spare part. And only afterwards he found out that this ‘special operation’ had been conducted for ... Tarapunka by supporters of his talent among the Soviet KGB officers, which deeply shocked the whole American counterespionage.
It was actually impossible to buy spare parts for American cars in the Soviet Union. So the father made 
drawings of the parts damaged and visited military factories during the tours, showed and asked to make the same parts. He was not denied. Half of the Soviet defense industry was working for him. And he soon received parcels with lovingly turned workpieces. The car was driven by my father until his death in 1986... Once having gone to the South the father stayed at a hotel. After getting know of it a huge crowd gathered under the windows at once, which stopped public transport traffic. They began to chant “Ta-ra-pun-ka!” When he appeared in the balcony, then he was overflowed with the ovation, and female receptionist who came into the room cried while rushing to the balcony: ”Nehru came yesterday, then he was responded to less!”, which someone immediately parried: “Hah, so that was Nehru and this is Tarapunka!”
