Brant Meri Abramovna (1905)

Brant Meri Abramovna (born 12 May 1905, Jēkabpils) – homemaker. Daughter of Abram Brant (b. 1867, Jēkabpils – d. 1935, Liepāja) and Basya Brant (b. 1863, Jēkabpils – d. 1911, Liepāja).

In 1906, Meri’s parents moved to Liepāja. In 1919, she completed six grades of primary school in Liepāja. After marriage, she returned to Jēkabpils, where she lived from 1919 to 1941 as a homemaker. In 1941, she was evacuated to the Turkestan District of the Kazakh SSR and worked at the “Kauchuk No. 1” state farm. From 1944 to 1945, she worked at the Agy-Sai mine.

In 1945, Meri Brant was re-evacuated to Riga. Without permanent employment, she took on private sewing commissions. From 1947 to 1949, she was a seamstress in the Taupība Artel; in 1951–52, a dressmaker at the Dorursa Industrial Combine in Riga; and in 1952, worked for the Ausma Artel. From 1952 to 1964, she was again a housewife, and from 1964 she received a widow’s pension.

In her first marriage to Khaim Brant (b. 1899, Jēkabpils – d. 1942, Kazakh SSR), she had two sons: Iosif Brant (b. 1928, Jēkabpils) and Beno Brant (b. 1932, Jēkabpils). In 1951, she married Khaim Ziherman (d. 1964, Riga).

Her brother Kartel Brant (b. 1881, Jēkabpils – d. 1957, Israel) emigrated in 1919 to the territory of what is now Israel. Another brother emigrated to the USA in the mid-1940s after being liberated from German concentration camps.

In 1972, she received permission to emigrate to Israel, invited by Ruth Gabay, daughter of her elder brother.

Khaim Brant (1899–1942) – first husband
Khaim Ziherman (d. 1964) – second husband
Iosif Brant (b. 1928) – son
Beno Brant (b. 1932) – son
Abram Brant (1867–1935) – father
Basya Brant (1863–1911) – mother
Kartel Brant (1881–1957) – brother
Perets Brant (b. 1907, Liepāja) – brother