1916-1983

My father, Mark, came from a German family of math teachers and reverends.

His father was a merchant who settled in Turkestan and, through a German newspaper in St. Petersburg, found a wife, my grandmother. She lived with Johannes and had a child, Mark. Then, the political situation became dramatic.
During the 19th century, the Russian Tsar had followed the aim to turn Turkestan from a Muslim province into a Christian one, where Russian was spoken.

Hundreds of thousands settlers were invited to the south to colonize the land. This had caused uproars since the middle of the 19th century. After the Russian revolution, 3 parties or more were trying to conquer this land. As a Tsarist who looked European and spoke Russian, my grandfather did not find support after 1917.

1922

Young Mark was taken from Tashkent to Tallinn. He was 6 years old. This was a long and strenuous journey. He was taken care of by the Red Cross. In Petrograd, today St.Petersburg, he was formally adopted by a citizen of the Estonian Republic, so he was able to immigrate. He was welcomed by his mother's family.

He arrived without shoes. And he spoke only Russian, no German. His first question to his grandfather and his sisters and daughters was: "Are these all your wives?"

Mark in the foreground; behind him, his Granduncle August, to the right and left: All the sisters, all single, all teachers. Standing: August's munchkin daughters Erika and Grete, terribly intelligent, single, living together for their whole lives. What a freak family!

He had become an atheist and informed his shocked aunts that God had been abolished. But a miracle changed his mind. One of his aunts lost a precious bracelet, and young Mark decided that if he found it, there must be God and helped him to find it. He found it, "unfortunately", as he joked later.

When he was 14, he also lost his beloved Granddad. August kept him unter authoritarian rules. Mark escaped through his brillant intelligence: He finished school after skipping two classes! Thus, going to university at 17, he received a scholarship which allowed him to leave home. For good.