My father's brother Boris Zalivanskiy and his daughter Nelia Zalivanskaya.
This photo was made in Tambov in 1947.
My father’s family lived in Grodno [in Belarus, over 1000 km from Moscow] in a wooden house with three small rooms. Their biggest value in the family was a sewing machine.
There was a well in the yard from where they fetched water. Here was a wood stoked stove in the house. They didn't have a garden, but there was a shed where they kept chickens. They were not wealthy.
The family wasn't religious. They observed Jewish traditions, but it was most likely their tribute to traditions and provincial way of life.
They went to the synagogue on Friday and on Jewish holidays. They celebrated Sabbath, but didn't follow kashrut. They celebrated all holidays at home.
My grandfather Israel Zelvianski had progressive opinions, he was a Soviet person believing religion to be something obsolete and disappearing, something that was on the way of life and progress, but he never joined any political parties or public or cultural organizations.
During the Civil War he and his brother served in the Red Army. He volunteered to the Red Army. He was a private in the 10th infantry regiment. His regiment was deployed near his town. After another attack of White Guards gangs his neighbors decided to rob his parents' home.
Someone informed him about their intentions and he managed to protect his parents. However, there was another time when he couldn't do anything to prevent attacks and that time only his younger brother Boris and sister survived and were sent to a children's home in Moscow.
The other members of the family were killed by bandits. He found his brother and sister in Moscow and supported them until they grew old enough to take care of themselves.
My father's brother Boris Zelvianski was born in Grodno in 1914. After his parents died he was raised in a children's home in Moscow . Then he lived in Tambov and was a tailor.
He died in Voroshilovgrad [Lugansk at present, about 1000 km from Moscow]. He has a daughter named Nelia. She is an obstetrician in Lugansk. We didn't have contacts with him.
He died in Voroshilovgrad in 1995.
