This is my father, Motle Most. The picture was taken in Jurbarkas in 1928.
My father, born in 1904, was the eldest child in the family. Apart from him Isroel and Chaya Riva had three sons and two daughters. Since their teens the sons helped Grandfather in his business. In the 1930s they purchased trucks and founded a cargo transportation company.
I don’t know if Isroel’s sons got some education beside cheder, elementary Jewish school and practical experience. Isroel’s daughters went to a lyceum – both of them, the elder Toybl and the younger Leya got a good education.
My father Motle was the eldest, so he helped his father the most. He inherited the business and also dealt in grain trading. Father got married very early, when he turned twenty. He had known my mother since childhood as she lived next door. Their wedding was without any shadchanim. I can say for sure that they married for love.
My father had already been a well-to-do merchant before getting married. The newly-weds moved into a new house, purchased for them. It wasn’t far from the place, where my parents spent their childhood and adolescence. Grandmother Chaya Riva lived in that place at that time. In 1925 my mother gave birth to her first son. He was named after Grandfather Isroel. I was born on 23rd August 1928. I was called Doba in honor of my maternal grandfather David. At home I was tenderly called Dobele.
