Editing Openai/6874b524-4134-8013-b5e6-0601c853d841 (section)

===== By 1898, the Gershovitz family had lived in St. Petersburg for over a decade. Moishe's mechanical shop—still modest, but now better equipped thanks to a handful of loyal army clients—occupied the same cramped rear courtyard off Liteyny Prospekt. His tools were imported German and French models, and his knowledge of gearing, pressure systems, and early electrics placed him in growing demand as Tsar Nicholas II flirted with industrial modernization. =====

His position, however, remained precarious. Jewish rights within the empire had only narrowed under Nicholas's reign. The May Laws remained in effect. Though the Gershovitzes lived outside the Pale, they held no illusions about their place in Russian society.