Pavel, Before the Revolution

Tambov, Russia, 1916. This is the last photo of Pavel that we have.

Another Cadet

Young men living during the Tsarist occupation of Lithuania knew that the only way to avoid the harsh route of a conscript in the Russian Imperial Army was to enroll in a prestigious military college. My maternal Grandfather, Jake, did that, and so did my paternal Grandfather, Vytautas.

Tsarist Russia, about 1910. Vytautas, as a young cadet at the Russian military college.

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Here's how Vytautas looked seven years later, when the Russian Revolution erupted:

Tsarist Russia, 1916. Vytautas, age 23, as an officer in the imperial Army.

Facing Revolution

This is how my paternal Grandmother, Tatjana, looked around the time she attended the St. Petersburg university. She was the first woman to graduate from the institution with a degree in Chemical Engineering:

Tambov, Russia, 1916. My Grandmother, Tatjana, poses for a passport photograph.

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This is how Tatjana looked three years later, after she watched the Russian Revolution unfold, witnessed the execution of her father, searched for his remains, feared deportation to Siberia, and fled to Lithuania:

Russia, 1919. Tatjana wears the locket in which she kept the portraits of her Grandparents.