Nehemia Ril

Nehemia Ril

This is my uncle Nehemia Ril, maecenas, social activist. He helped us a lot. The picture was made in Plunge in 1920s.

I was born in Plunge. I have lived here all life long. My cognates lived in Plunge 400 years ago. Grandmother said that her parents, whose name I cannot recall, were rather well-off. They had their own bakery. Besides, great grandfather was also a rather good tailor. Their daughter- my grandmother Golda Kagan- also worked all her life. My grandfather Mende Ril was a trader and grandmother helped him. Both of them were born in Plunge in middle 1870s. Mother said that one of the things she remembered from childhood was when the parents processed flax, and it was their main business. She helped them standing on the stool lo be able to rich the processing machine. The clients who came over to her parents, treated her with sweets. Grandfather was also a tailor and a baker. Grandparents owned a small bakery. When I was a child I remember that grandmother sold grain and grandpa was a gabe in a local synagogue. He was almost blind. Grandparents had their own house. Even now it is in the heart of Plunge, where old houses are preserved.

My mother's brother Nehamia Ril, whom we called Chema was several years younger than mother. He was a respectable man in Plunge. He was a goldsmith, he had his own workshop and a store. He was rather rich. His family- wife Channa and son Nisan had all they wanted. Chema was an activist, he was the chairman of the Jewish health council. Chema and his family did not manage to get evacuated. When the Great Patriotic War began, all of them were murdered by fascists with the remaining Jews in Plunge.

Our family was of the largest in Plunge. There was one poor man who had 11 kids, who were constantly hungry. We were neither poor nor rich. We were helped a lot by mother's brother Nehemia.

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