Raissa Yasvoina's mother Maria Lvovich and her 2nd husband Mikhail Lvovich

This is my mother Maria Lvovich (Minkovskaya) and her second husband Mikhail Lvovich. Photo made in Kiev in the middle of 1920s. In 1915 my mother married Mikhail Lvovich, who was much older than she was. They lived very well and loved each other dearly, but they didn't have any children. This was Mikhail's second marriage, his first wife had died. Mikhail owned a bakery, located in their apartment. They lived in the basement in Yaroslavskaya street in Podol. They had a big room and a kitchen. There was a big stove where Mikhail baked bread and rolls and bagels. They sold their products right from the window of their room. Mikhail Lvovich was a religious Jew. He observed all traditions and rituals. At Pesach he baked and sold matzah. After the revolution the authorities expropriated my mother's shop. But the bread trade was very profitable and supported them very well. Mikhail was often buying her gold jewelry and jewelry with precious stones and was hiding them in her wardrobe. When my mother found them and asked where they were from he answered that if they were in her wardrobe it meant that they belonged to her. In 1933 there was famine in Ukraine. The farmers didn't have any grain so there wasn't anything to make the bread from. My mother pawned her jewelry for food. In 1933 Mikhail got spotted fever and died. My mother's housemaid, a plain Russian woman, informed NKVD (People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs) that my mother had plenty of gold. My mother did have quite a lot of golden jewelry. They took my mother to 15, Korolenko street in Kiev where NKVD was located. Investigation officers demanded to know where the gold was. They locked her in the basement with many rats. My mother yelled and cried, and in the morning when the officers came she promised to give them all the gold she had. She only left her wedding ring. Therefore, after her second husband's death she found herself instantly impoverished.