Serafima Staroselskaya's grandparents Borukh and Sima Vigdergaus

This is my grandmother Sima Yankelevna Vigdergaus on the right. My grandfather Borukh Vigdergaus is in the center. Grandmother holds her daughter Lyuba in her lap; the girl with a basket is her elder daughter Sonya; grandfather Borukh's mother, i.e. my great grandmother, is to the left. They lived in the town of Nevel in Pskov province, where a lot of Jews lived. All our kinsfolk came from Nevel and Vitebsk. They were a close family. Grandfather and grandmother were born approximately in the 1878-1880s. Grandfather's mother (my great grandmother) lived together with them, though she also had sons Grigory, Bentsion and daughter Manya. But grandmother loved Sima very much and said that she wanted to live only with her. Great grandmother was religious; she thoroughly observed all religious rules and the family celebrated Sabbath. Their house was located right on the lakeside of the Nevel Lake. There was a lot of fish in the lake and many years later when we ate fish mom always said: 'Now we can only recall the fish we ate in Nevel'. They fished themselves and sometimes fishermen brought the fish. Children had fun boating not only in boats but also in wash-tubs. Boys certainly were very naughty. Though there was a huge fruit garden of their own, they stole apples in neighboring gardens. The house was rather big, the family lived moderately but the children were always full. They kept two cows and lived owing to their own work. All traditions were observed by the family: grandma wore a wig, Sabbath was celebrated, there were special Sabbath candlesticks and kosher utensils and mom remembered it all. Matzah was always cooked for Pesach.