Petrograd - Arkus-Duntov's parents divorced and his mother's new partner, Josef Duntov, an electrical engineer, moved into the household. Even after the divorce, Jacques continued to live with the family, and out of respect for both men, Zora and younger brother Yura took on the hyphenated last name of Arkus-Duntov.

In 1927, the family moved to Berlin. While Arkus-Duntov's early boyhood ambition was to become a streetcar driver, streetcars later gave way to motorcycles