Yevgeniya Borisovna Barvish

This photo, taken in 1915 in Chashniki, portrays my mother Dynia Bera Dvorkina, later called Yevgeniya Borisovna Barvish. Mother was born in 1879, the year Stalin was born. She was very beautiful. Besides, she was a smart, strong-willed, practical and very thrifty woman. She was considered an enviable bride in the village but didn't get married for a long time. She turned all the young men down, as she didn't like anyone. She was around 30 years old when she met my father. They married shortly after. Abram Plotkin, my father, came from Parichi settlement near Bobruisk. He served as a manager for local landlords and worked at several places. My parents had three children. My elder brother ? I don?t remember his name ? was notable for his intractable temper. He studied at cheder and constantly clashed with the teacher. The latter began picking on him. One day my brother hid a stone in his bosom and brought it to cheder and dropped it on the teacher's foot. The teacher became furious and beat him mercilessly. After that my brother was ill for a long time and died soon after. My sister Sonya was four years older than me, she was born in 1911. She was my elder sister. She had an inborn flaw ? a curved face, no one knew why. She was treated but to no avail. Father fell ill with tuberculosis when he was 40 years old and died soon afterwards. In 1916, during World War I, he was summoned to Orsha for the Army draft. He left for Orsha with open tuberculosis. The medical commission found him fit for army service, though his consumption was in its final stage. Mother brought him home. He could barely walk, came home, lay on the bed and died. I was six months old, when he died.