I think my parents kept us away from her so that she wouldn’t teach us any ‘religious prejudices’. I rarely saw her and she didn’t have a part in raising me.
She left Rostov and lived either with our family or with my Uncle Ilia’s family. My grandmother told me little about their life in Rostov. I don’t think any of my ancestors fell victim to pogrom-makers. My grandmother told me that my grandfather was so strong physically that during the period of Jewish pogroms in Ukraine he stood at the gate of his house and when pogrom-makers saw how big he was they passed by to avoid trouble. My grandmother was so religious that even in the Soviet Union, when it wasn’t appreciated, she celebrated Saturday lighting candles and reciting a prayer over them. When he got access to me he immediately had me circumcised, which horrified my mother and father, who weren’t religious. When I was born, my parents took me to visit my grandfather. My grandfather and grandmother were religious. My grandfather paid for his children’s studies. There were grammar schools in Rostov where Jewish children were admitted. My grandparents were a family with an average income.
My grandfather was a clerk in a hardware store. My grandparents had two sons: Ilia Grinberg and my father, Moisey Grinberg. Unfortunately, I don’t know when she was born. This is an old cemetery and no more burials are allowed, but when I was there about 15 years ago, I visited the cemetery and it was still there. I don’t know when my grandfather Filip was born, but he died in Rostov-on-Don in 1925 and was buried in the Jewish cemetery there. Mark lives in Moscow and we talk on the phone occasionally. He worked in the editor’s office of the newspaper where my father was manager and later he became a well-known photo-artist. My father and Mark, the son of my grandfather’s brother Boris, were very good friends. I know that Moisey was the director of the philharmonics for some time and his other son, Lev, was the director of a big food store in the center of Moscow. I know nothing about his sisters Sofia and Vera or their families. I know very little about the other brothers and sisters of my grandfather. Yakov and his family moved to America in 1910 and contact with him was lost because after the Russian Revolution of 1917 it wasn’t allowed to keep in touch with relatives abroad. They said the ‘mishpacha’ was big and harmonious.
They were a good family and I never heard anything about any conflicts in this family. Unfortunately, I don’t know the surname of these sisters. My grandfather Filip and his four brothers married four sisters who were their cousin sisters and came from Nevel. There was an interesting story about his children. My great-grandparents had seven children: Yakov, Abram, my grandfather Filip, Ilia, Boris, Vera and Sofia. I don’t know where and when he was born or his wife’s name. He retired in the rank of sergeant major and had the right to live within the Jewish Pale of Settlement. I don’t know how many years he was in the army, but I presume it was for a long time. My great-grandfather, Zundel Grinberg, was a cantonist serving in Nikolai’s army. Unfortunately, I was told little about my ancestors. My father was a journalist and Grin first became his writing pseudonym and then his family name. This was also my father’s surname, but later he shortened it to Grin. My paternal great-grandfather and grandfather’s surname was Grinberg. Alexandr fondly talks about his family and speaks with ease. His wife Galina takes care of him.Īlexandr willingly agreed to tell me about his family and his life, particularly after his son talked him into recording his memories. His left hand and left leg are disabled now. The doctors saved him and his wife brought him to recovery. There are photographs of his relatives and pictures on the walls.
Alexander spit long strange nights manuals#
There is old restored furniture that belonged to his parents.Īlexandr has many books: scientific books in geography, manuals and fiction. One of the rooms serves as Alexandr’s study. It’s a spacious, comfortable and nicely furnished apartment. He is an average height, gray-haired, blue-eyed handsome man.Īlexandr lives with his wife Galina and their grandson Pyotr Grin in a three-bedroom apartment in a recently built house in Krasnopresnenskiy district, not far from the center of Moscow. Alexandr Grin is a friendly, amiable and hospitable host and an interesting and educated conversationalist.
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