Relatives of the Artist Murdered during the Shoah: Two photos

In the photo at left, Leibl Barshewsky, a brother of the artists maternal granddad, is seen seated at left,  second row from bottom. Liebl, his wife, Bryndle, who was from Kovno, Lithuania, and their two children (a daughter born in 1923 & a son born in the late 1920's, names unknown) lived in Berlin and vanished after 1939. It is possible their daughter, who would've been 18 in 1941, had married before her death. 
     Why everyone posed for this photo is unknown; I guess it was taken in Bialystok. It might've been a school, political or social organization group.  They are non-religious; the men are clean-shaven and their heads are uncovered. The range of ties: narrow - modern, old fashioned with upturned collars, & bow-ties is fascinating.        
     How many of these people were alive in 1945? Probably not more than a few. The photo was probably taken early in the 20th century.
     I'm always amused that the photographer didn't remove or straighten out 'the schmata' (rag in Polish and Yiddish) on the floor in the foreground.
     Another great-uncle of the artist, Shewack, is seen at right, second row from top. He served in the Soviet Red Army, became a commercial photographer in Tel Aviv and died around 1980. He is seen several decades later in the photo below with his two children.

Four of the seven people seen In the bottom photo were murdered. The photo was taken between 1936-38 in Bialystok in n.e. Poland. Two first cousins of the artists mother are seen (the youngsters and dad in the center) with their dad Shewack. The artists great-grandmother Zlata Barshewsky is seated on the hammock; her friend (name unknown) from the Jewish Home for the Aged is at right. The man at left had married into the family; next to him is his teenage son; their names are lost. The name of the family member he had married is unknown, as is her fate.