Vladimir, Dora and Isaak Rabinovich, and Ida Solomonovna

This is my parents, Isaak and Dora Rabinovich, and me with Aunt Ida Solomonovna from Leningrad, in our apartment in Riga in 1962. Aunt Ida (second from left) became the main archivist of our family and, thanks to her, plenty of relics survived: photos, family silver, memorable objects that belonged to Samuil Rabinovich. Samuil Rabinovich was an agent of the 'Russian Insurance Company,' and received numerous badges for his dedicated service to the company, of which he was very proud. I was an only child. I had comfortable conditions at home. Father sharply criticized me quite often for my various mistakes and lack of self-control, but Mother was softer. In general, there was a favorable family atmosphere that enhanced my success. I finished a standard Soviet school ? a Riga secondary school. I entered the mathematical branch of the faculty of Physics and Mathematics of the Latvian University. After graduation, I started to work as a programmer in the computer center of the Latvian University, and I quickly was assigned to this center. I served in the army for one year, in the Leningrad military district. After the army, I continued to work in the university's computer center. Then I was transferred to the computer center at the State Committee on Supplies. It coincided with my idea of getting married. I began to get a higher salary and, with that salary, I could present myself in a more favorable light as a groom. But I was not satisfied with my marriage.