These are my maternal grandfather and grandmother, Azriel Ozerianski and Gita Ozerianskaya. This photo was taken Bolshaya Vasilkovskaya Street in Kiev in 1900s.
My mother's parents died long before I was born. My mother told me little about them. They were born in Boguslav in the 1860s. I don't know what my grandfather did for a living, but they must have been wealthy since they provided education for all their numerous children. My grandfather and grandmother observed Jewish traditions. I have this photo from a visit to their relatives in Kiev on which they are dressed according to the Jewish requirements. My grandfather had a beard and wore a cap that was a little bigger than a kippah and my grandmother had a kerchief. I'm sure they were religious Jews and observed Jewish holidays. Anyway, that's only my best guess since my mother didn't like talking about her family. My grandparents died shortly before the [Russian] Revolution of 1917. They had many children, but I knew only three of them. The rest either died before I was born or moved abroad.
Azriel Ozerianski and Gita Ozerianskaya
The Centropa Collection at USHMM
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