Dayle Vasserman

This is my mother, Dayle Vasserman, nee Gordon, before getting married. The picture was taken in Friedelstadt in 1912. Mother's family lived in Friedelstadt. I don't know where her parents came from, but both their daughters were born in Friedelstadt. Grandfather Perets Gordon owned a hat shop. He worked as a hatter and took some apprentices, who worked for him for some time after their apprenticeship was over. Grandmother Yoche-Hinde was a housewife. My mother Dayle was born in 1887. Her sister Breine was ten years younger than Mother. She was born in 1897. I know that my mother and her sister had a middle brother, but he died in childhood. Mother's family was an ordinary Jewish family, like most families in Friedelstadt. Neither Grandfather nor Grandmother were pious, but they respected and observed Jewish traditions. There was a synagogue and several prayer houses in town. On Sabbath and Jewish holidays the entire Jewish population of Friedelstadt went to the synagogue. They prayed at home on working days. Grandmother strictly observed the kashrut. There were separate dishes and tableware for meat and dairy dishes. Grandmother was a unique cook. She had a true culinary talent. My parents got married in 1914. They had a traditional Jewish wedding, there was no other way. Father was a tradesman and mother was a housewife. Father went to Riga to take goods for his store, and in the evening he came back home. Father was deeply respected in town. He was considered to be an intelligent and decent man. Father was one of the few dwellers of Friedelstadt, who got the Jewish newspaper. It was issued in Yiddish. Father was subscribed to that paper, and when the new issue came out, the town dwellers came to my parents to discuss the news. After the wedding, my father bought a small house, the same size as that of my grandparents' and of other residents of Friedelstadt. Following Grandmother, my mother took care of the garden and bred poultry. They had a regular calm life.