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My maternal grandfather was a merchant. He was educated. My maternal grandmother was from Sebezh [Pskov oblast, Russia, on the border of Latvia and Belarus, 500 km from Tallinn]. Her name was Rosa, Jewish name Tsipe-Roha. I don’t know her maiden name. Grandmother came from a rich family. Her father Yankle was a merchant of the 1st Guild [4]. My mother’s family lived in Riga.
Grandfather had to take frequent business trips abroad and Grandmother always accompanied him. At customs the officers checked their passports, when they were crossing the border. They often were confused as two names were written in Grandfather’s passport - his secular and his Jewish one: Ilia Mironovich Goldberg, alias Ele Meerovich. His wife’s name also was written in his passport: Rosa Yakovlevna, alias Tsipe-Roha Yankelevna. Grandfather was irritated with that nagging and gave his children only secular names. The eldest daughter was Tatiana, the second son was Solomon. My mother Evgeniya was born in 1903.
Before the Revolution of 1917 [5] the family was well-off. Mother and her siblings finished a Russian lyceum. Mother was fluent in Russian and German. She was also pretty good at English and read French books in the original.
Though my mother’s family was secular, Jewish traditions were strictly followed. The food was kosher, Sabbath and Jewish holidays were marked, and my grandparents went to the synagogue on holidays.
During the revolution they lost everything, though the Soviet regime was in Latvia only for a couple of months. The sequestrated property was not returned to the family. Mother’s elder sister Tatiana was a good milliner. After the revolution she left for Berlin and ran a fashion house there. When Hitler came to power [6], Tatiana came back to Riga and started living with Grandmother. She was single.
Grandfather had to take frequent business trips abroad and Grandmother always accompanied him. At customs the officers checked their passports, when they were crossing the border. They often were confused as two names were written in Grandfather’s passport - his secular and his Jewish one: Ilia Mironovich Goldberg, alias Ele Meerovich. His wife’s name also was written in his passport: Rosa Yakovlevna, alias Tsipe-Roha Yankelevna. Grandfather was irritated with that nagging and gave his children only secular names. The eldest daughter was Tatiana, the second son was Solomon. My mother Evgeniya was born in 1903.
Before the Revolution of 1917 [5] the family was well-off. Mother and her siblings finished a Russian lyceum. Mother was fluent in Russian and German. She was also pretty good at English and read French books in the original.
Though my mother’s family was secular, Jewish traditions were strictly followed. The food was kosher, Sabbath and Jewish holidays were marked, and my grandparents went to the synagogue on holidays.
During the revolution they lost everything, though the Soviet regime was in Latvia only for a couple of months. The sequestrated property was not returned to the family. Mother’s elder sister Tatiana was a good milliner. After the revolution she left for Berlin and ran a fashion house there. When Hitler came to power [6], Tatiana came back to Riga and started living with Grandmother. She was single.
Location
Riga
Latvia
Interview
Irene Shein
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