Gelfond Lev Yefimovich (1914)

Gelfond Lev Yefimovich (15 February 1914, Mezhyrov village, Zhmerynka District, Vinnytsia Region) – railway engineer.

Lev Gelfond was the son of Khaim Gelfond (1880, Vinnytsia Region – 1943, Sverdlovsk Region) and Sura Gelfond (1883, Ukraine – 1965, Vinnytsia, Ukraine).

He completed 7 years of secondary school in Zhmerynka in 1929. Until 1932, he studied at the workers’ faculties of the Kyiv and Kharkiv Railway Institutes. Between 1932 and 1935, he worked as an accountant at the Zhmerynka district offices of Plodovoshch and Zagotzerno. In 1940, he graduated from the Kharkiv Institute of Railway Transport.

From 1940 to 1941, he served as a private in the Soviet Army in Kharkiv. Between 1941 and 1942, he was a student at the Kharkiv Military Transport Academy. In 1942, he interned with the military commandant at the Kalinin station. From 1942 to 1943, he was a military dispatcher at the military command office at Kongrad station on the Southern Railway. From 1943 to 1944, he served as assistant military commandant in Brașov, Romania, on the 3rd Ukrainian Front.

From 1944 to 1946, he worked for the Movement Command Directorate of the 2nd Baltic Front in units stationed in Romania. In 1946, he was an officer and military dispatcher at the military command office at Brăila station (3rd Ukrainian Front). That same year, he relocated to Riga.

In 1947–1948, he worked as an engineer at Riga-Krasta station of the Baltic Railway; in 1948–1950, as senior engineer at Riga-Freight station. From 1950 to 1953, he was a traffic safety inspector for the Railway Administration in Smolensk. He served as senior assistant to the station chief at Riga-Freight (1954–1955, 1955–1959), and in 1955, as deputy station chief at Šķirotava. Between 1959 and 1965, he was deputy chief at the Oshkalni, Torņakalns, and Riga-Krasta stations.

In 1966–1967, he was head of the Sloka division of the Riga Latzheldortrans office. From 1967 to 1974, he was head of the Riga Central Freight Accounting Office of the Baltic Railway. He retired in 1974, but returned to work until 1975 as senior receiving and dispatch officer in the Riga loading-unloading division of the Baltic Railway.

Lev Gelfond was awarded the Medal for the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945. Member of the CPSU from 1962 to 1975.

He was married to Brukha Gelfand (née Kovelman) (b. 1918, Uman), with whom he had a son, Arkady Gelfond (b. 1946, Brașov, Romania). The marriage ended in 1956. His second wife was Matlya Gelfond (née Okh, Zbinovich) (b. 1923, Polonne District, Khmelnytskyi Region).

His sister, Reyzlya Kogan (née Gelfond) (b. 1902, Vinnytsia Region), was killed during the Holocaust in Kharkiv in 1941. His brothers, Dmitry Gelfond (b. 1920, Vinnytsia Region) and Shulim Gelfond (1906–1971, Saratov), lived in the USSR after the war.

In 1976, Lev Gelfond was granted permission to emigrate to Israel at the invitation of his son.

Family:

Brukha Gelfand (née Kovelman) (b. 1918, Uman) – first wife
Arkady Gelfond (b. 1946, Brașov) – son
Matlya Gelfond (née Okh, Zbinovich) (b. 1923) – second wife
Khaim Gelfond (1880–1943) – father
Sura Gelfond (1883–1965) – mother
Dmitry Gelfond (b. 1920) – brother
Shulim Gelfond (1906–1971) – brother
Reyzlya Kogan (née Gelfond) (1902–1941) – sister