Blekh Faivush Srulyevich (1900)

Blekh (Blech) Faivush (Feiwusch) Srulyevich (2 January 1900, Tulchyn, Vinnytsia Province, Ukraine) – shoemaker.

Faivush Blekh was born into the family of shoemaker Srul Yankelievich Blekh (1855–1920, Tulchyn) and housewife Khana Volfovna Blekh (1860–1917, Tulchyn). He received no formal education and was self-taught in literacy. Like his father, he worked his whole life as a shoemaker – initially as an apprentice in a private shoemaking workshop (1918–1928, Tulchyn), then at the Kožtrud cooperative (1928–1941, Tulchyn).

During the Second World War Faivush Blekh fought on the front while also working as a shoemaker (1941–1945), and was awarded the medals For the Defence of Stalingrad and For the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945. After returning to Tulchyn, he resumed work as a shoemaker – at the Krasnyy Oktyabr cooperative (1945–1960), the Tulchyn Shoe Factory (1960–1961), and as a master shoemaker at the Tulchyn District Consumer Services Combine (1961–1972). From 1972, he was retired. In 1974, he moved to Riga to live with his daughter.

Faivush Blekh’s first marriage was to Anna Moshkovna Blekh (née Rozenfeld) (1904 – 1941, murdered by the Nazis in the Jewish concentration camp “Pechora”, Tulchyn). Together with his first wife, their two small children (aged 2 and 3) were also killed (their names and birthdates are not recorded).

In his second marriage to Dvoira Leibovna Ladyzhenskaya (née Vaynerman) (b. 1909, Bratslav, Vinnytsia Oblast), he had two daughters: Anna VolfovnaMilman (née Blekh) (b. 1946, Tulchyn) and Polina Volfovna Moldavskaya (née Blekh) (b. 1950, Tulchyn).

In 1979, Faivush Blekh received permission to emigrate to Israel, where his second wife’s cousin Esther Ron (b. 1908, Bratslav) had lived since the 1920s.

Family:

Srul Yankelievich Blekh (1855–1920) – father
Khana Volfovna Blekh (1860–1917) – mother
Sheiva Srulyevna Salzman (née Blekh) (1894–1960, Tulchyn) – sister
Anna Moshkovna Blekh (née Rozenfeld) (1904–1941) – first wife
Dvoira Leibovna Ladyzhenskaya (née Vaynerman) (b. 1909) – second wife
Anna Volfovna Milman (née Blekh) (b. 1946) – daughter from second marriage
Polina Volfovna Moldavskaya (née Blekh) (b. 1950) – daughter from second marriage
Esther Ron (b. 1908) – second wife’s cousin