Vladimir Yanov with his pal

This is my father Vladimir Yanov (on the left) with his pal (I don?t remember his name). The picture was taken in Moscow in 1912. My father's family lived in Moscow. My father was born in 1888. Before the revolution my father took the Russian name Vladimir, which was later written in his documents. I hardly know anything about my father's life before I was born. I don't know whether my father or his brothers got Jewish education. I assume they did, as my grandparents were very religious people. My father told me that my grandfather always used to wear a kippah. This is the only thing I can tell for sure. I didn't know my grandfather as he died before I was born. When my father's eldest brother grew up, he started assisting my grandfather with his business. My father went to a Realschule. When World War I was unleashed, my father was drafted into the army. He was a signalman. He came back in 1918 and found a job as a bookkeeper. Soon after, he married my mother.