Faivish Minkovetskiy with his friends

My uncle, my mother's brother Faivish Minkovetskiy (standing, 2nd on the right), sent us this photo from a recreation house. He was awarded this trip at work. This photo was taken in Odessa in 1937.

My maternal grandmother and grandfather had many children, but most of them died in their infancy. Only three of them survived: mama's older sister Rachil, born in the late 1890s, my mama Paya, born in 1903, and their younger brother Faivish, born in 1907. They spoke Yiddish at home, but also knew Ukrainian and Russian. My mother's family was religious. All children were raised religious. Uncle Faivish finished cheder. Mama and her older sister had a visiting teacher. They could read in Hebrew and read and write in Yiddish. They also received a secular education. They finished a 4-year Jewish school and studied in an 8-year Russian school. Faivish studied at the accounting course and then worked as an accountant in an office. He was single and lived with his parents.

I remember well the bright and sunny day on 22 June 1941. I remember my parents and mama's brother Faivish, who came to see us in the morning, standing with tense faces by the black plate of the radio listening to something. Then my mother started crying and told me that the war began. My mother's brother Faivish went to the army on the first days of the war. In July 1941 his military unit was retreating through Mogilyov-Podolskiy. Faivish requested a short leave to visit his family. He went to see his parents, but when it was time for him to go back, another air raid began. Faivish was deadly wounded. A military sanitary truck took him away. Some time later grandmother and grandfather received a notification that Faivish had disappeared. I think he died, but nobody took an effort to follow all procedures and notify his military unit. We don't know where he died or was buried.