This is my paternal great-grandfather, Avrum Wainshelboim. This photo was taken in Kishinev in the 1890s. My grandfather's brother, Iosif Wainshelboim, gave me this photo.
My paternal great-grandfather moved to Bessarabia from some place in Russia in the early 19th century, escaping from recruitment to the tsarist army: young people were regimented for the 25-year army service at the time. Knowing about the liberal attitude towards Jews in Bessarabia, my great-grandfather Avrum moved to Kishinev. He became a melamed, teaching Jewish children. I can’t remember the date of his death. His grave is still there in the old Jewish cemetery. All I know is that my great-grandfather was married twice: he had a son, Iosif, from his first marriage. He died in the early 1950s. In the 1870s my grandfather, Mehl Wainshelboim, was born from my great-grandfather’s second wife.
