Out of the Holocaust

The details of my (and my brother’s) birth are unknown. My memories begin in Latvia. DNA tests strongly indicate that we are of Belarusian-Jewish origin, meaning that we might have been born in southeastern Latvia or in Belarus bordering on southern Latvia. Our mother is listed as “Miss Sinegins” in our personal records. Russian authorities stated our years of birth, mine 1937, my brother’s 1939. We plucked the specific dates out a bowl.

In 1943, I was about 6, my brother about 4 or 5, when...