Moments in Time

Blogs which describe moments in my life, or the lives of my family.

O Tannenbaum – Oh Christmas Tree

Christmas for me has always been more of a German holiday than a Russian one. It was a time of year that meant more to my Baltic German father, than to my Russian mother who put more effort into celebrating Easter. December 25th was a low key celebration as we

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Christmas Tableaux suggestions

Does anyone still stage Christmas Tableaux?

With Christmas fast approaching, I was looking for something to get me in the mood, something festive and traditional. Every now and again I look through the old bound copies of the St Nicholas magazines which sit on the bottom shelves of my bookcase. Today I opened the oldest of

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Born in November one hundred years ago

If she were still alive my mother would have celebrated her 100th birthday on the 9th of November this year. When I was reminded of this, I realised how little I know about her. I remember asking her about her childhood but I can only recall one or two stories

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Gun licence obtained by Paul Woronoff in 1918

War rages and he obtained a gun licence

It is 1918 and Russia is in the last stages of World War II. On the 3rd of March of that year the newly formed Russian government, under the leadership of Lenin, signed a peace treaty with Germany called the Brest-Litovsk treaty, ending Russia’s involvement in the war. For the

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Pavel Voronov in uniform

A letter to a deserter; you do not exist for us…

That is the gist of the letter I found among my grandparent’s possessions. It was written by my grandfather, Lt Pavel Voronov (Paul Woronoff). This letter is most likely a draft as words and sentences have been crossed out. In the image below I have crossed out most of the

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Book written by Tatiana Botkin

A Book Over One Hundred Years Old, Fragile and Falling Apart

UPDATE November 2023!!! I am happy to announce that I have donated this book to the State Library of Victoria who will undertake to restore it. I hope to be kept in the loop as regards to the restoration and, if I am, I will share the updates here. #statelibraryvictoria

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