Lubov Vainer with brothers Sasha, Yakov and cousin Shura

My brother Shura's departure from the railway station in Kiev. from left to right: my brother Sasha, my cousin Shura, I, Lubov Vainer, nee Broide, and my older brother Yakov.

My parents had three children. I am the oldest one, born in 1911. My brother Yakov (Yankel) was born in 1913. He didn't go to cheder. Cheder was closed in 1922 . My brother studied at the Jewish secondary school in Zhytomir, then he finished a commercial college, but decided to get another profession and entered Kiev Construction Institute. He studied two years, but the family couldn't afford to continue his studies. Yakov quit the Institute and went to work. He worked at the construction materials factory where he was promoted from a worker to shop supervisor. He spent so much work at work that he even didn't marry. During the war he went to the front. After he returned he went to his pervious work at the factory. At one time he even lived at the factory. Yakov visited me on all Jewish holidays, and we celebrated them together. My brother Yakov died in Kiev in 2000. We were always friends and his death was a huge loss for me.

My younger brother Alexandr was born in 1924. He studied at an Ukrainian school in Zhytomir. Jewish schools had been closed. Later he studied at law department of Kiev University by correspondence. He worked as a legal adviser in Dovbush (Zhytomir region) for many years. He married Bronia, a Jewish woman. In 1952 his daughter Larissa was born and in 1953 he had another daughter - Zhanna. Both of them graduated from Kiev Polytechnic Institute. In the early 1980s they moved to Canada and then to Chicago (USA). My brother Alexandr died in 2000. His wife still calls me from Chicago on Jewish holidays. Every now and then my nieces call me. There is no one left to talk about our childhood and life in Zhytomir.