This photograph taken in Liozno in 1939 shows my maternal grandmother. Her name was Sore Isaakovna. She married Mates Levergant. They were born in the 1850s. They lived in the small Belarusian town Ostrovno. They had four children: my mum and Berte, Gerzl and Isaak. The family of my mother’s parents was very religious: they strictly observed all traditions. Grandmother and grandfather dressed as expected from religious Jews.

My father’s parents were David and Hana Pukshansky. They lived in the small Belarusian town Yanovichi. They had 7 children: two sons and five daughters. My grandfather was born approximately in 1850 and died in 1930, my grandmother was a little bit younger. Both of them lived in Yanovichi for all their lives and were buried there. They were very religious people. I never saw grandfather without a hat. He had a big spade beard. Grandmother always wore a wig, she told me that her head was closely cropped. They observed the kashrut strictly, celebrated all religious holidays and Shabbat. They talked to each other only Yiddish, but thanks to their religiousness both also knew Hebrew well.