| Personal data | |
|---|---|
| Surname | Plakhin |
| Name | Hirsh |
| Birth year | 1908 |
| Birth month | 1 |
| Birth day | 1 |
| Birth place | Kraslava |
| Death year | 1941 |
| Death month | 12 |
| Death day | 22 |
| Death place | Yelagino |
| Sex | M |
Plakhin (Plakchin) Hirsh (Hirsch) (1 January 1908, Kraslava, Vitebsk Governorate – 22 December 1941, Yelagino, Moscow Oblast)
Hirsh Plakhin was born into the family of a rabbi. In 1928 he graduated from the Kraslava State Secondary School and enrolled in the Faculty of History and Philosophy at the University of Latvia. In 1929 he was expelled from the university for revolutionary activities. He was arrested and spent about two years in prison in Riga.
After his release he worked as an organiser of the Kraslava party organisation and gave private lessons. In 1933 he was arrested again and sentenced to six years of hard labour. After his release he worked at a sawmill. In July 1941 he left Latvia and served in the 201st Latvian Rifle Division. On 22 December 1941 he was killed near Naro-Fominsk, sacrificing himself by covering the embrasure of a Nazi pillbox with his body. He was posthumously awarded the Order of the Red Banner. He is buried in a mass grave at the cemetery in Daugavpils.