Jacob Rokhlin with his brother Boris Rokhlin and sister Miriam Shaz

From left to right in this photo: my father's younger brother Boris Rokhlin, my father's younger sister Miriam Shaz (nee Rokhlin) and my father Jacob Rokhlin. This photo was taken in Tallinn in 1924.

My paternal grandparents had three children. My father, Jacob Rokhlin, born in 1910, was the oldest. Jacob was the name written in his documents, but for some reason, my father was called Max all his life. I have no idea, why. Even when my father died and his acquaintances read about it in the obituary section of the newspaper, they thought that the newspaper had just confused the names. My father’s sister Miriam was born in 1913, and Boris was born in 1915.

Their family was rather well-off. The children finished a gymnasium in Tallinn and continued their education. My father’s sister Miriam studied piano and music at the Conservatory in Tallinn. My father and his younger brother Boris studied at Tartu University. My father entered the Department of Dentistry, and his brother Boris studied law.