This is my father Boris Mikhelson. This photo was taken, when my father studied at the school of radio amateurs in Riga, before my parents got married. It was kept in our family album, and Mama took it with her, when we evacuated. This photo was taken in Riga in 1928.
My father's family lived in Daugavpils, Latvia. My grandfather Naum Mikhelson was born in Daugavpils. I don't know his birth date. I don't know my grandmother's name or where she came from. My grandfather was a grain dealer, and my grandmother was a housewife. The family was big. My grandmother had twelve children, and ten of them survived. I knew five of them besides my father. My father Boris, Jewish name Ber, Mikhelson, was the youngest child. He was born in 1904.
My father's family was very religious. The family observed all Jewish traditions. My grandfather and his sons went to the synagogue on Saturday, and on holidays the whole family went to the synagogue. The sons studied at cheder, which was mandatory for Jewish boys. At 13 the sons had their bar mitzvah. My father's family spoke Yiddish. All children received secular education, but they must have studied at the gymnasium. At least, my father did. After finishing it he entered the Agricultural Faculty of the Riga University. He moved to Riga and rented a room. Anti-Semitism in Latvia was strong at the time. One lecturer told my father that he might study at university and graduate, but there was little chance he would find a job. Perhaps, his words affected my father so that he never finished his studies. He quit the university and took a course of amateur radio engineers. After finishing the course he went to work as a radio engineer. Besides repairing radios, he also modified them.
My mother's cousins also lived in Riga. Mama and her cousin sister were very close and often visited each other. My father and mama's cousin brother were also friends. My father often visited his friend, and so my parents met at the home of Mama's cousin sister and brother. Their surname was Genkin. My parents got married in 1930.
