This photograph was taken in 1934 when my grandmother visited us in Usvyaty.
I know about my ancestors not so much, but some information I can share with you. My paternal great-grandfather's name was Meyer Girshov. I charted our family tree, where my great-grandfather Meyer is the eldest. I know many maternal relatives, but not very distant.
All my relatives came from Usvyaty shtetl. As Usvyaty is located between the rivers Dneper, Zapadnaya Dvina and Lovat connecting it with Riga, people there used to be engaged in rafting since old times.
My uncle Ieronim (my father's brother) told me that my ancestors were engaged in rafting, too. In Usvyaty they used to form a team, collect wood, raft it and go down the river to Riga.
I remember my grandmother Rosa, my father's mother. She was born in 1868, and died in 1934. I watched her flying around the house: she was only a housewife.
My grandfather Yosef Meyerovich died before I was born. My grandmother lived at her sons in Petersburg, and usually came to us in Usvyaty to spend summer time.
My paternal grandmother was not religious. She lived with her children, and they were secular people (like my father). They lived in Petersburg, where Jews were not very religious.
I even do not know if my grandmother visited synagogue.
