Gorodishch Yakov Mikhailovich (1909)

Gorodishch Yakov Mikhailovich (1909, Gomel) — engineer.

Yakov Gorodishch was the son of Mikhail Gorodishch (1879, Rogachev – 1946, Gomel) and Matya Gorodishch (1880, Gomel Region – 1963, Gomel).

In 1922, he completed six grades at the Russian Primary School in Gomel. From 1925 to 1930, he worked as a shoemaker in the “Kooperput” Artel in Gomel. From 1931 to 1935, he served in the Red Army. Between 1935 and 1939, he worked as a driver for the “Myasmolsnabsbyt” enterprise in Gomel. From 1939 to 1946, he served in the Soviet Army as a senior lieutenant in the quartermaster corps.

After the war, from 1946 to 1948, he worked as a procurement officer at the “Soyuzutil” Artel in Riga. From 1949 to 1950, he collected salvage materials for the Riga Procurement Office of the Latvian Consumer Cooperative Union. Between 1951 and 1952, he managed a kiosk at the “Dzirkstele” Artel, and from 1952 to 1956, he worked as a foreman at the “Spars” Artel, “Adu Galanterija,” and the Invalids’ Artel. In 1957, he was a cutter at the Ogre District Industrial Combine and in 1958 a glove cutter at the Proletarsky District Combine in Riga.

From 1958 to 1969, he worked as an engineer at the Supply and Maintenance Department of the Ministry of Public Order of the Latvian SSR (UMZ MOOP LSSR).

He was awarded the medal “For the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945.”

In 1956, he was convicted under Article 112 of the RSFSR Criminal Code and sentenced to six months of corrective labour at his workplace. In 1957, he was again convicted, under Article 129a, and sentenced to one year in prison; he was released the same year under amnesty.

Before his first marriage, he had a son, Boris Gorodishch (1935, Gomel). From his marriage to Liba Gorodishch (1920, Talsi), which ended in divorce in 1957, he had a daughter, Miryam Gorodishch (1951, Riga).

His brothers, Simon Gorodishch (1900, Gomel – 1942) and Ilya Gorodishch (1916, Gomel – 1943), died heroically on the front during the Second World War. His sister, Sonya Gorodishch (1920, Gomel), lived and worked in Tel Aviv in the 1970s.

In 1971, Yakov Gorodishch received permission to emigrate to Israel with his second wife, Mirdza Gorodishch (1925, Talsi), at the invitation of his cousin, Lina Likover (1920, Daugavpils).

Liba Gorodishch (1920, Talsi) — first wife
Mirdza Gorodishch (1925, Talsi) — second wife
Boris Gorodishch (1935, Gomel) — son
Miryam Gorodishch (1951, Riga) — daughter
Mikhail Gorodishch (1879–1946) — father
Matya Gorodishch (1880–1963) — mother
Simon Gorodishch (1900–1942) — brother
Ilya Gorodishch (1916–1943) — brother
Sonya Gorodishch (1920, Gomel) — sister
Lina Likover (1920, Daugavpils) — cousin