Mark Rozenfeld with his friends

This is my father Mark Rozenfeld, in the center, wearing his uniform and shoulder straps of an ensign of the tsarist army, photographed with his friends during his leave. This photo was taken in Boguslav in 1915. My father was born in 1891; his Jewish name was Mordko. After the Revolution he changed his name to the more common name of Mark. After finishing cheder my father studied in a Jewish elementary school and then finished a secondary school for boys. He was good at music, learned to play the violin and dreamed of becoming a musician. After finishing school my father went to Astrakhan, where the cousin of my grandmother's sister lived, and entered the Conservatory. Then World War I began. My father was on vacation in Boguslav and from there he was recruited to the army. His unit stayed in Boguslav, then they went to the front and returned to Boguslav for training. My father was promoted to the rank of ensign in the tsarist army. My father had many friends among the young officers. When they were in the rear they had a good time knowing that soon they were to go to the front. My father also served in a military unit near Chernigov. He was an enlightened young man for his time. After the Revolution of 1917, when propaganda of revolutionary ideas began in the tsarist army, he joined the Red army. My father struggled against the gang of ataman Zeleniy [the so-called Greens] and Denikin troops in Kiev and was at the front.