Mother's elder brother Zalman Kurnov is standing to the left. His wife and two sons, my cousins, are to the right. Zalman is holding a photo we sent him. This picture was taken in the USA in 1921.
Mendel and Esther Kurnov had seven children. Their first son, Zalman, was born in 1894.
Later, in 1896 my mother Rakhil was born. The next child, David, was born in 1898. After him daughter Nina, daughter Basia, daughter Frida and son Sholom were born. Grandmother gave birth to her last child when she was 45.
All children were born in Vitebsk. None of my mother's brothers and sisters was really religious. Zalman, was a very good tailor.
We lost touch with his family during the war. They thought we had perished. Uncle Zalman left for America in 1914 at the age of 17.
Grandmother cried and didn’t want to let him leave. My mother was around 15 and she interceded for him, telling Grandmother that there was no war there and wars happened here.
When I was born all our family decided to send them this picture, so they had this picture taken. I am sitting on a small round table with a leg. We didn’t preserve this big picture and I don’t know where it disappeared. I do remember that we had it, but not any more.
Zalman married an American Jewess in America and they had two sons. We lost contact with them in 1941. Grandmother had their address, and my mother was illiterate and wasn’t able to write or remember the address. So we lost touch with them.
