We knew next to nothing about our ancestors as our grandfather didn’t really talk about them and our dad couldn't give much information. We assumed that all documents had vanished during WWII. BUT! Pyotr was able to successfully restore the entire lineage from the end of the 18th century till the present day - with various documents on where and how our ancestors lived, what they did, etc. He unearthed authentic documents, such as statements by my great-grandfather and great-great-grandfather, in which they describe the circumstances of their lives. He also found the place where their house stood (it was burned down during the war). We even have a German reconnaissance aerial photo, showing the houses before the fire and the remains of buildings afterwards. 

Pyotr also found evidence surrounding the circumstances of the death of our relatives in the Vitebsk ghetto. All this has been made possible thanks to the amazing work he did in the archives of Moscow, Minsk and Vitebsk. So when we decided to make Aliyah, we had all the documents necessary for the consulate