“I think that this picture was taken at Kyiv Botanical garden because my family lived nearby. It’s a picture of my granny Halyna Mykolaiivna Nikolenko (in the center) with my mom, her sister Lyuda and her cousin also called Lyuda (she was called Little Lyuda by family members). Also standing with them are the stepmother of Little Lyuda and her nanny Dusya (a woman deserving for a standalone story). The photographer is most likely my granny's brother Mykhailo. He was a military man of high rank, very secretive. After the war he was ordered to serve in Germany. Mykhailo’s wife was a renowned fashionista. My grandmother also had a sentiment towards rich bourgeois style in clothes. From 1939 to 1941 she was living in Lviv where she taught Marxism-Leninism theory to students. After the war she visited Lviv once or twice a year to order new wardrobe for the next season for herself and her daughters. Especially hats”.

Comment by Olha Ostroverkh.

This photo is contributed by Olha Ostroverkh.