This is our family. When W went to see my mother's sister Ida Dolburg in Uzhorod. From left to right, 1st row, sitting1: my mother younger sister Ulia Tkachs daughter; my younger brother Igor; Ida's son Vladislav and Ida's daughter Lilia. 2nd row: Pesia Yurkovetskaya, wife of my father's brother Moshe; my father brother Unchl's widow Surah; my mother Polia Yurkovetskaya; my maternal grandmother Zelda Treistman; my mother's younger sister Ida Dolburg. 3rd row, standing: my father's older brother Moshe Yurkovetski; I, Arkadi Yurkovetski; my mother's younger sister Ulia Tkach (nee Treistman); Ida's husband; my father Efim Yurkovetski. This photo was taken in Uzhorod in 1951.
In 1950 I went to serve in the army. Twice a year on I was allowed a 10-day leave: on 1st May [Labor Day] and 7th November. My parents were very happy about it.
My mother died in April 1953. My mother was 51 years old. I went home. I cried bitterly feeling. She was buried according to the Jewish tradition near her father's grave. My father recited the Kaddish over my mother's grave. I stayed at home few days before I went back to my military unit.
In 1954 I demobilized from the army. I went to my mother's sister Ida in Uzhhorod. I went to work as senior commodity expert at the Association Enterprise of Deaf People where I worked 10 years. I also finished an extramural department of the Trade Technical School in Uzhhorod. It is now called Commercial College. After I received my diploma I went to work as logistics manager at the Mechanical Plant in Uzhhorod. I worked there until I retired.
My father, his brothers and sisters were religious. They had Jewish weddings with a rabbi and a chuppah. They were religious through their whole life. My father's brother Unchl married Surah, a Jewish girl from Tomashpol. Unchl was a tinsmith and his wife was a housewife. They had five daughters: the oldest one's name was Rosa, the next one was Lubov - her Jewish name was Liebe. As for the others, I don't remember their names. In 1937 my father's older brother Unchl died. He was buried at the Jewish cemetery in Tomashpol according to Jewish traditions. His wife Surka [short for Surah] and their older single daughters kept living in grandfather's house. Uncle Unchl's three younger daughters were married and lived with their families in Moscow. Moshe also married a Jewish girl from Tomashpol. Her name was Polia, and its Jewish analogue was Pesia. Moshe was one of the best tinsmiths in a crew. His portrait was on the Board of Honor. Pesia was a housewife. They had no children.
My mother's sisters married Jewish men and lived in Tomashpol. Ida's husband whose last name was Dolburg dealt in book sales. They had two children: daughter Lilia, born in 1936, and son Vladislav, born in Uzhhorod after World War II. Ida was a housewife. During World War II Ida's husband was at the front. He took part in the liberation of Hungary and Austria. Ida, her daughter and grandmother Zelda were in evacuation in Tashkent. After World War II Ida's husband got work assignment in Uzhhorod. His family also moved to Uzhhorod. Grandmother Zelda died in Uzhhorod in 1959. In 1970s Ida's husband died. They were buried at the Jewish cemetery in Uzhhorod in accordance with Jewish traditions.
We kept staying in our house after the WWII. Surah and her daughters and Moshe with his wife - they returned from evacuation - also lived in this house. Moshe died in 1960s. He was buried near the grave of grandfather Duvid-Ber at the Jewish cemetery. His wife moved to her sister in Kiev. Surah and her daughters lived in Tomashpol. She died in 1970s. I have no information about my cousin sisters.
