Lubov Rozenfeld’s grandmother Bela Belova's sister Buzia Belova

My grandmother Bela Belova's sister Buzia Belova. Signed on the backside: 'For the eternal memory to dear Boris Markovich from Buzia. 2 August 1912, Odessa'. Buzia sent this photo to her future husband Boris Shklovskiy. Odessa, 1912.

I knew my maternal great grandfather Meishe Belov. He was born to a poor family in Skvira Kiev province in the 1850s. He got married at the age of 17, and his wife Dvosia was also very young. They had three children: Buzia (Jewish name Bruha-Reize), born in 1874, my grandmother Bela (Jewish name Beilia-Ryklia), born in 1876, and Pynia (Jewish name Iosif-Pinhes), born in the early 1880s. Meishe owned a mill, inns in Skvira, and had a forest and kept cows. According to the legend my great grandfather had the surname of Belov because he turned gray when he was young.

Buzia was married to Boris Shklovskiy, who as she used to say 'came from a poor family, but was handsome and smart'. They lived in the suburbs of Kiev. They had no children. In winter 1919 Boris fell ill with typhoid. At that time there were Denikin troops outraging in Kiev: they broke into the house and beat the sick man with whips. He died 4 days afterward. Buzia inherited love for chess from her father. Even when she was old, she gained prizes in chess contests. On holidays Buzia baked oil sodden strudels with the filling of raisins, nuts and jam. She made incredibly delicious jams: I can still remember the taste of lemon jam with nuts - it was shining from the inside. Buzia remained faithful to Boris all her life: she kept sheets from his deathbed. When dying, she asked to bury her wrapped in her husband's sheets. Buzia must have been religious, though I didn't see her observing Jewish traditions. Buzia died in 1961 at the age of 87.