This photo of me, my brothers Yefim and Lev, and sister Nina was taken in 1916 in Slutsk.

My elder brother Yefim was born in 1907. He started to work as a tutor at the age of 13 or 14, when his teachers recommended him to pupils who lagged behind. Later he became a teacher and a headmaster at the same time.

My other elder brother Lev, born in 1908, was a hydrologist and oceanographer

My elder sister Nina was born in 1910. She was a candidate of medical sciences, and taught pathological anatomy first at the Minsk Institute, later in evacuation in Sverdlovsk.

I was born in Slutsk in 1912. In 1915 dad left to fight in the World War, and came back in 1918. I remember how I got scared. He came in through the back entrance. I stood there and suddenly a man with a beard walked in.