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My wife Manya Men.
I met my wife Manya Men after I returned to Kiev from Briansk in 1937. I worked at the book selling company and a very pretty Jewish girl came there once. We had a small talk and it turned out that she was living with her mother that was very ill and two younger sisters. I spoke to our director and he employed her as an accountant. We kept meeting and got married soon. My wife Maria (Marussia) Men was born in Fastov (a small town near Kiev) in 1907. Her father died from tuberculosis in the early 1920s. Her mother was very beautiful. She died from cancer in the late 1930s. We didn't have a wedding party, because we couldn't afford it. We received our marriage certificate at the registry office and I moved to my wife's poorly furnished two-room apartment in Yaroslavov Val. My wife didn't take my last name. She kept hers to the end of her life.
My wife's family wasn't religious and she didn't observe any traditions. That's all I know about her family. She didn't like to talk about it. She always tried to change the subject when asked about her childhood.
My wife had two sisters: Riva and Rahil (Lilia).
My wife worked as an accountant in smaller offices. I know that she was much valued at work.
In 1997 my wife died from stroke. I moved in with my sister Manya. Her daughter Ella is taking care of us.
