Mikhail Leger’s father Gilel Leger

My father Gilel Leger, photo for the passport. This photo was taken in Mogilyov-Podolskiy in 1933.

I didn't know my father's parents. My father's family lived in the town of Ozarintsy Vinnitsa region not far from Mogilyov-Podolskiy. Jews were all religious, and my father's family was no exception. I don't know what my grandfather did for a living, but my grandmother was a housewife like all married women at the time. They had many children. My father Gilel Leger, born in 1902, was the youngest.

My father must have been raised religious and must have finished a cheder school. My father could read and write in Hebrew. He knew prayers and Jewish traditions. My father's mother tongue was Yiddish. My father must have got some secular education. He worked as an accountant after getting married. My father went to work, when he was young. He never told me about his youth.

Even during the period of struggle against religion my father remained religious. He didn't teach me to be religious, but he himself often read his book of prayers. On holidays and on death anniversaries of his parents my father went to the synagogue to recite the Kaddish. Mama basically followed kashrut. We always celebrated Sabbath at home. We celebrated Jewish holidays. My parents went to the synagogue on these days.