Alpert Iona Hirschovich (1917)

Alpert Iona Hirschovich (Born 7 June 1917, Dvinsk, now Daugavpils – ?)

Engraver

Iona Alpert was born into the family of Hirsh-Yankel Leibovich Alpert (1880–1941) and Dina Rafalovna Alpert (née Strunina) (1886–1941), both of whom were murdered by the Nazis in the Dvinsk ghetto in 1941.

Education and Career

1931 – Graduated from Dvinsk Jewish Primary School
1932–1935 – Apprentice engraver

1935–1937 – Moved to Riga, worked for master engraver Solomonsohn

1937–1941 – Moved to Liepāja, worked as an engraver in a jewellery and engraving workshop

World War II and Post-War Work

1941 – Evacuated to Vyazniki, Ivanovo Region, where he worked in a tarpaulin factory

1941 – Volunteered for the Soviet Army, trained at the Gorokhovetsky military camps (Latvian Division), but was discharged due to illness

1942–1943 – Worked in kolkhozes and machine-tractor stations in Tashkent and Bukhara, Uzbek SSR

1943–1944 – Studied at the Timiryazev Agricultural Academy in Moscow

1944–1946 – Returned to Latvia, worked as Head of Supply and Sales Department at Spirit Trust in Riga

1946–1947 – Supply officer at the Brīvība cooperative
1947–1949 – Engraver at the Torgmorttrans industrial complex

1949–1985 – Engraver at the Rīgas Ekspresis production association

Family and Emigration

Iona Alpert was married to Dobre Yefraimovna Alpert (née Aronson) (born 1924, Riga). They had two daughters:

Dina Ionovna Gamarik (née Alpert) (born 1947, Riga)

Yevgenia Ionovna Kairo (née Alpert) (born 1949, Riga)

In 1985, Iona Alpert received permission to emigrate to Israel, where his daughter Dina Gamarik had been living since 1979.

Family Members

Hirsch-Yankel Leibovich Alpert (1880–1941) – father (murdered in the Dvinsk ghetto)
Dina Rafalovna Alpert (née Strunina) (1886–1941) – mother (murdered in the Dvinsk ghetto)
Rachil Hirshovna Alpert (born 1906 – went missing in 1941) – sister

Louis Hirshovich Alpert (born 1908, Dvinsk) – brother (emigrated to South Africa in 1928, moved to Israel in 1978)

Samuel Hirshovich Alpert (born 1910, Dvinsk) – brother (emigrated to South Africa in 1929)
Cecilia Hirschovna Alpert (born 1914 – murdered in the Dvinsk ghetto in 1941) – sister
Zalman Hirschovich Alpert (born 1921, Dvinsk – died in WWII near Staraya Russa) – brother
Dobre Yefraimovna Alpert (née Aronson) (born 1924, Riga) – wife
Dina Ionovna Gamarik (née Alpert) (born 1947) – daughter
Yevgenia Ionovna Kairo (née Alpert) (born 1949) – daughter