Faina Volper's with uncles families

From left to right, sitting: my father's older brother Duvid, his wife Nehoma and her nephews, Joseph, the son of my father's older brother and Leo, Duvid's younger son. Standing: my sister Fira's friend, Fira, uncle Shmil-Lobe, his daughter and I, Faina Volper. Photo made in Starokonstantinov on the occasion of my sister Fira's vacation at home in 1940 when she was a student of Kharkov Medical Institute.

My grandmother and grandfather on father’s side had four sons. The oldest Yukl was born around 1885. The next son Duvid was born around 1888. Then Shmil-Lobe was born in 1891 and my father Lipe, the youngest, was born in 1895.

My father and his brothers studied at cheder. I don't know whether they had any other education, but my father was a very intelligent man. He always helped my sister and me with our homework on mathematics. All brothers in the family learned a profession. Yukl became a shoemaker. He had a wife and three children. Yukl died of some disease in 1940. He was buried at the Jewish cemetery in Starokonstantinov in accordance with the Jewish traditions. My parents supported Yukl's widow.

My father and his brothers studied at cheder.

After the revolution of 1917 a leather shop was opened in Starokonstantinov. My father worked there as logistics specialist. Hew purchased leather. Later he became Chairman of this shop. He employed his brother Duvid in this shop. Duvid was a worker. Shmil-Lobe worked at the grain storage facility. When the Great Patriotic War began in 1941, Duvid's sons were in the army. His older son Nikolay was in a borderline unit and perished in the first days of the war. Duvid's younger son Leo was at the front. Duvid's wife Nehoma refused to evacuate: she was afraid that Leo would return home and find it empty. Duvid and Nehoma stayed in Starokonstantinov and perished when Germans occupied the town.

My uncle Shmil-Lobe returned from evacuation and got his former job at the leather storage facility. He had three children: two sons and a daughter. After the WWII his younger son Mitia was an investigation officer in Drogobych, and his older son Fima was an engineer at the TV factory in Lvov. They are married. Shmil-Lobe's daughter lives in Lvov. Shmil-Lobe died in 1974 and was buried at the Jewish cemetery in Starokonstantinov.