Veniamin Dal

This is a picture of my father Veniamin Dal when he was at grammar school . The photo was taken in Ostrog in 1914. My father Veniamin Dal was born in Zhytomyr on 26th August 1896. His name is Russian, but I don't know why he was given a Russian name. I don't know whether my father studied in cheder. I only know that he studied at grammar school in Ostrog, in the vicinity of Kiev, before the Revolution of 1917. He finished his 8th year of grammar school in 1914. From 1920 to 1926 he studied in the Institute of Public Economy in Kiev. He received his diploma in 1926. My father was a lawyer. We have a document issued in 1926 stating that my father volunteered to join the Red army on 1st May 1920. He was a junior document control clerk there. It was also stated in this document that his mother tongue was Yiddish. I remember that he was a kind but strict man. I was his only child and he loved me. Upon graduation from the Kiev Institute of Public Economy my father worked as a lawyer at various Soviet offices including the metal sales headquarters. This sales office was responsible for metal supplies to various plants. My mother told me that in 1937-38 they were expecting every night that my father would be arrested. They understood but too well what was happening around and had no illusions. Fortunately, he wasn't arrested. In 1939 when the Soviet army was 'liberating' Western Ukraine my father was summoned to the army, but his service didn't last long - he returned in 1940. My father was a member of the Communist Party.