This is my mother’s brother Leib Lerner. The picture was taken in Rezina in 1918. It is written on the photo ‘As a keepsake to my dear sister Tabl from Leib Lerner, 25th January 1918.’
My mother’s parents, Moishe and Sura, raised five children. Leib, born in 1901, owned a small bakery. Apart from the ordinary bread, Sabbath challah, Purim hamantashen and white loaves were baked there. Leib’s family was so indigent that Reizl had to learn how to sew. It helped the family budget. Leib and Reizl had three children – the daughters Ida and Sonya and their son, Pinhus.
During World War II all of them were in evacuation in Andijon. Leib died from typhus fever on 23rd March 1943. Reizl and her children came back to Moldova and settled in Soroca. She worked very hard as a seamstress for her children to get a good education. She died in 1967. Her children left the town with their families. Ida is currently residing in Israel. She took back her maiden name of Lerner after her husband’s death. Pinhus and two of his daughters are in Chicago. Sonya Vougsdorf also lived there. She died in 1998.
