Grigory Borukhovich Livshits

This is a photo of my uncle, my mother's brother - Grigory Borukhovich Livshits (1924-1942). This photo was made before the war in 1937. Grisha was 18 in 1942. He died in March 1942 of starvation. He kept telling my Mum that he was very hungry. And she, taking all the ration cards, set off to get some bread. When she returned, he was still alive, trying to tell her something, but his speech was incomprehensible. Most likely, he was taken to Piskarevsky cemetery [the mass burial place of Leningradians, who died during the siege]. Mother transported the body with the help of an acquaintance. My mother had two sisters, Lyuba and Zina, and four brothers, Evsei [Zyama], Senya, Yasha and Grisha. Evsei was the eldest. My grandmother Fanya was a very hardworking woman; she worked day and night. There was never enough money. Grandfather worked in the collective farm, but he usually found time for entertainment as well - outside the family. Grandmother, thus, had an incredibly hard time. She carried absolutely everything upon her shoulders. However, as long as Aunt Zina, the eldest of her daughters, stayed in Bolshaya Lovcha, she, naturally, helped bring up the younger children. Senya was the first one to leave Bolshaya Lovcha and settle in Leningrad. Grandmother's brother Evsei already lived in the city. Because Senya was a very talented boy, Uncle Evsei invited him to Leningrad to study. It was in 1935-1936. Senya entered the university and then 'dragged' the others to Leningrad: my mum, Grisha, Evsei, and aunt Zina. Aunt Lyuba stayed with her parents in Bolshaya Lovcha. After she graduated from a Jewish school there, she moved to Rostov and entered a vocational school. Then she worked in a telephone substation. Now, of all mother's large family, only one person is left alive - Aunt Lyuba, Lyubov Borukhovna. She lives in Leningrad now, in Dachny Avenue, she is 87 years old.