Baby Pisetskaya with her relatives

This is my family. First row, from left to right: my father Fridel Pisetski holding me, my father's older brother Yakov Pisetski, with his daughter Luba Gorwitz, nee Pisetskaya, my paternal grandfather Menachem-Nuchem Pisetski, my grandmother Riva-Zelda Pisetskaya, nee Karasyova, my father's sister Chaya Meyerson, nee Pisetskaya, and my father's brother Semyon Pisetski. Second row, from left to right: my father's sister Manya Kalika, nee Pisetskaya, my father's brother Isaac Pisetski, my mother Sonia Pisetskaya, nee Grabova, my father's sister Ida Konstantinovskaya, nee Pisetskaya, Yakov's wife Milia and their daughter Flora, my father's sister Betia Skliar, nee Pisetskaya, my father's brother Izia Pisetski, Betia's husband, Pinchus Skliar and their son Syoma, then Uncle Semyon's wife Rosa. The photo was taken in Uman in 1925. My paternal grandparents had six more children in Uman. In total, they had nine children. They were all raised religiously and spoke Yiddish. All boys studied in cheder and the girls were educated at home. My father was born in Odessa in 1901. In 1905 he moved to Uman with his parents. He studied in cheder. Then my grandfather sent him to learn the barber's profession. My father was 17 when the October Revolution took place. In 1919 he was mobilized to the Red army. He served in a military unit that fought against gangs in Ukraine. Their unit was near Gaisin where he met his future wife, my mother. My mother was born in Ternovka in 1902, although her documents stated that she was born in 1904. My mother studied in cheder for girls. She spoke fluent Yiddish. My mother was 15 when Grandmother Beila died, but until then my grandmother managed to teach my mother many things. My mother was good at housekeeping, knew all Jewish traditions and could cook traditional Jewish food. At the age of 17 my mother met my father. This happened near Gaisin in 1919. The Red army military unit in which my father served stopped there. The local population sympathized with the Red army that protected them from bandits. They shared their food, however little they had, with the military. My mother also brought food to this unit. My parents got married in 1920. They had a Jewish wedding in Uman. After the wedding they moved into my paternal grandfather Menachem's house in Uman.