The renowned Yiddish poet and journalist, Daniel Charney, recounts his childhood in the shtetl of Dukor, Belarus, and his early teenage years in Minsk and Vilna. When Daniel was one his father died, and his mother was left to raise her daughter and five sons in poverty. Daniel, her youngest, also suffered since infancy from a chronic illness. Despite this, Daniel and his family flourished, and two of his brothers achieved great eminence. Shmuel Charney Niger became a Yiddish writer and the leading critic of Yiddish literature; Baruch Charney Vladeck became an American labor leader, member of the New York City Board of Aldermen and City Council, and general manager of The Forward. This book offers an invaluable portrayal of the daily lives of Daniel's family and of the community of Jews who lived in pre-revolutionary Russia, both in Minsk and in the shtetls at a time when Zionism and Socialism were playing a role in the Jewish community