My father Shabsa Mariasis, businessman in Tyumen in 1947.
He was a businessman during the Rumanian times. He owned a petroleum storage depot and stores. He was a wealthy man. He came from an ordinary Jewish family.
My father Shabsa Mariasis, born in 1897, was the most successful of all grandfather's children. He was quite an intelligent man. He finished the Russian grammar school and got involved in commercial activities. He was a success and in the 1930s he already owned a petroleum storage depot and several stores. He was Chairman of the Commercial Council in Bendery. He led a very active public life and supported many people financially. Of course, he was a Zionist. He was for a Jewish state. He believed that Jews had to live together. He believed that only a strong Jewish state could stand against anti-Semitism. My father was very well familiar with the Beilis case. He told me about it in every detail. My father often traveled to Palestine in 1920 - 1930s.
As far as I remember, all members of our family were religious. They observed all Jewish traditions, Jewish holidays and fasting. They didn't impose their beliefs on the children. The children were raised democratically in the family. My father mainly prayed at home. On holidays he and mother went to the synagogue. My father had his own seat there.
In 1958 my parents and sister moved to Kishinev and received an apartment there. My father didn't work in Kishinev. His diabetes got worse and my father died in 1974. My parents and sister always observed Jewish traditions, Sabbath and fasting.
