Kenia and Bencion Berehman

This is my paternal grandmother, Kenia Berehman, and my grandfather, Bentsion Berehman. This photo was taken in Kishinev in the 1890s. My grandfather has a cap that engineers in Russia used to wear. My paternal grandparents also lived in Kishinev, but I don't know where they were born. I didn't know my paternal grandfather. He died young in the 1910s. My grandfather dealt in selling prunes that he produced in the village of Lozovo near Kishinev. My grandfather purchased 'vengerka' plums that were dried in loznitsa boxes, special boxes for drying plums. My grandfather owned a whole prune production facility. This was a profitable business. Prunes were in great demand and were even shipped abroad. My grandmother took over the business after he died. She was an imperious businesswoman. She owned a house on Lankasterskaya Street, two to three houses away from where my mother's parents lived. There were seven rooms and a big corridor in the house. There was a big yard with a cellar in it, there was a gate to the garden, and in the garden there was a raspberry yard, my favorite playground. My grandmother rented out one half of her house for additional income. I can't remember whether my grandmother had housemaids. I believe she managed everything herself, so full of energy she was. She raised two sons.