Yacob-Berl Levin

This is my father Yacob-Berl Levin. This photo was taken in Kaunas in 1930. My father's family, the Levins, lived in Kaunas. There were many children, of whom I only knew my father's sister and brother, who stayed in Lithuania. The older children moved to various countries before the 1920s. I have no information about them. My father was the youngest of three children who stayed in Lithuania. The oldest was his sister Shulamit, Shulia, and the middle brother's name was Haim. My father, Yacob-Berl Levin, was born in 1902. My father took to commerce and life was gradually improving. My father had his own business before getting married. He dealt with fabric wholesale. He purchased fabric abroad and sold it to garment enterprises in Kaunas, Lithuania. It is my understanding that he was a medium level businessman, but this business supported him all right. I don't know how my parents met, though I know for sure that this was not a prearranged marriage considering that my father's family was not really happy about it. They thought it to be a misalliance. My mother came from a poor family while my father's family was a wealthier one. My father's parents were probably going to have their son marry a girl with plentiful dowry, but my father went against their will. From whatever little my mother told me, I knew that her relationships with my father's family were no good, and therefore, she avoided talking about them. My parents got married in 1936. They had a traditional Jewish wedding. My father insisted that my mother left her job after getting married. My father had a nice apartment in Kaunas where the newly weds settled down. My mother's family accepted my father. They had warm and kindly relationships. My father even employed my mother's sister and brother. I was born in 1937, one year after my parents' wedding. I was given the name of Revekka.