Tag #113346 - Interview #92445 (David Levin)

My cousin Zalman, son of Bertha, was killed during the War. He was on the front, and then they sent him to the school of young lieutenants, and he became the head of machine-gunners. According to statistics, head of machine-gunners lived for two weeks only and never survived. It happened because young lieutenants usually were directed to the most dangerous parts of the front, that’s why the death level among them was very high. And also specialization of ‘head of machine-gunners’ was considered very dangerous too, because they always were on the frontline and stayed without any defense or guarding. So it happened: two weeks passed and he was killed. Efim, his brother, was a tank’s guy, he survived and we still communicate a lot. Uncle Isaac was killed in Leningrad Home Guard, and uncle Naum died from anger during Blockade. Sister of my mother Emma lived in Vitebsk and then moved to Latvia in 1930s. She had a house over there. She and her son were killed too.