Moisei Rabinovich

This is my paternal grandfather, Moisei Rabinovich. The photo was taken in Kraslava in the 1930s. From 1921 until 1932, he was a member of the Kraslava Municipal Administration. He served as vice-mayor, and later as mayor, and developed the initiative for Kraslava to be granted the status of a city. My grandfather is said to have put forward the idea for a Kraslava city emblem - a boat with five oars, symbolizing the five basic national groups of Kraslava: Jews, Poles, Russians, Latvians and Belarusians. My family settled in Kraslava by the beginning of the 19th century, when Zalman Rabinovich was invited to become the local rabbi by Count Plater. The Platers attracted Jews to the area, both for trade and for crafts. They treated Jews very well and were very loyal. Zalman Rabinovich had two sons - Abram-Tuvia (Tobias) and Samuil. Both brothers are my great-grandfathers. Tobias's son, my grandfather Moisei, married his cousin Masha, Samuil's daughter.