Larissa Khusid's grandfather's family (Iosif Ortenberg)

My grandfather and grandmother, Iosif and Dora Ortenberg, with five of their seven children: (clockwise) Abram, the oldest, standing in the back; baby Arnold in my grandmother's lap; Kolia, sitting on a stool on the floor; Grigoriy, and Polina. This photo was taken in Kishinev in 1896. The Ortenbergs were a big family, and my grandfather rented a big apartment for them in the center of the city. In about 1905, Odessa was swept with a surge of pogroms . The janitor of the building where the family lived did not allow the thugs to invade the Ortenbergs? apartment, and the family stayed holed up inside for several days. During the siege, the janitor, a Ukrainian, brought the family everything that they needed. He adored my grandfather.