Raisa Druk and Elena Druk

This is my daughter Raisa Druk and my granddaughter Elena Druk. The photo was taken in Riga in 1998. I have one daughter, Raisa or Raya, born in 1963. She worked at a factory as a secretary and a typist. Then she worked in a cafe in a school. Now she isn?t working, she is a housewife. She got married in 1983. The wedding took place in Moskovskaya Street, where I worked. Later my daughter had a chuppah, too. The chuppah was set up separately from the synagogue, as was customary. In the Soviet Union Church was kept separate from the State. A wedding ceremony in the synagogue wasn?t recognized by civil Soviet law. Of course, there was a violin playing. At the chuppah we got even more drunk than we did at the wedding. I wasn?t a Communist, so I could drink as much as I like. Communists weren?t allowed to go to the synagogue, either. My daughter is like me, externally and in character. My granddaughter is also like me. They are dashing girls. My granddaughter's name is Elena or Lena for short. In June she will turn 18. About the time when Latvia became independent, the first Jewish school was established in Riga. Lena attended the Jewish school. She is in Israel now ? she went under the program ?Alle.? She doesn?t want to leave Israel. She likes it there so much, in spite of the fighting. Her paternal grandfather and grandmother live in Krustpils. They are Jews. In our family ? my wife and me, my daughter's husband and parents ? all are pure-blooded Jews from far back in history. We have never had such a thing as ?friendship of the peoples? [mixed marriages] in our family!