This is me on my first birthday. The photo taken in the ?Del'Amitie? photo studio in Kharkov in 1915.
My parents met in Kharkov. My father was playing at a wedding and the bridegroom was my mother's friend. My father talked with my mother a little. They got married in Kharkov in 1908. They had a chuppah and my father's friends played music at the wedding. The newly-weds lived with my mother's parents. My father worked as a locksmith and played in a brass band; my mother helped my grandmother about the house.
In 1910 my older brother, Izia Sneiderman, was born; I followed on 26th August 1914. Shortly before, on 1st August, World War I began. [Editor's note: The war actually began with Austro-Hungarian Monarhy's declaration of war on Serbia on 28th July. After that Russia ordered mobilization of her forces, and, on 1st August Germany declared war.] My father went to the front. After the revolution of 1917 my father volunteered to the Red Army and served in Kharkov in a music band until 1924. My father played the horn very well.
We always celebrated Jewish holidays at home: Pesach, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Chanukkah, Purim and Sukkot. I have the brightest memories of Pesach. There was always a general clean-up on the eve of Pesach: things were washed, cleaned and koshered. All kitchen utensils were rinsed with boiling water and there was a big stone in the washing bowl, perhaps, for keeping water hot for longer. We also had special dishes for Pesach. Our dinner table was covered with a special starched snow-white tablecloth. There was stuffed fish on the table and tsibele - hard boiled eggs cut with onions. There was also chicken on the table. Our family got together at the table.