This is my uncle, my mother's younger brother, Pavel or Pesach Meyertal, during involuntary service in the army. Pavel sent that picture to Mother. The photo was taken in 1937.
Mother’s three elder brothers got higher education. They studied in Estonia and then in Czechoslovakia, in Prague, in the technical high school. Subjects were taught in German; all Estonian inhabitants knew German.
I have no idea why my uncles studied in Prague. Many young Estonians went there to study as the tuition for higher education was cheaper there than in other European cities. Besides, at that time there were no technical universities in Estonia.
The youngest of the three brothers, Pesach, got a diploma in chemical engineering. He later became a chemical engineer.
Uncle Pavel worked in the food industry. He was in Moscow during the war and worked at a confectionary. When he came to see him, he had a great deal of sweets and chocolate. Pavel got married while in evacuation. He met an Estonian lady on his way to evacuation and they got married. He married a Jew the second time.
