Shenkman Ber Isakovich (1922)

Shenkman Ber Isakovich (16.02.1922, Riga) – worker. Born into the family of Shenkman Isak Yuryevich (1894, Polotsk, Belarus – killed by the Nazis in the ghetto in 1941, Riga) and Shenkman Sofia (1898, Lithuania – killed by the Nazis in the ghetto in 1941, Riga). He finished a Riga school (1929–1939) and was a worker at the “Rīgas Velūrs” hat factory (1940–1941). The family did not manage to evacuate. Together with his parents and sister he ended up in the Riga ghetto. His sister, Shenkman Ida Isakovna (1928, Riga), was killed by the Nazis at the end of 1941. His brother Shenkman Maks Isakovich (1912) was studying in Italy during those years, later moving to Yerevan (Armenian SSR). In 1943 the Nazis sent Ber to a concentration camp located in Porkhov, Pskov Oblast. He escaped and fought near Leningrad as part of a partisan detachment (1943–1944), then served in the Soviet Army (1944–1947). He was awarded the medal “For the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945.” After demobilisation he returned to Riga, where he worked as a storekeeper at the “Somdaris” combine (1948–1962), was a dispatcher at the “Veldze” plant (1962), a worker at the railway-carriage plant (1962–1963), a storekeeper at canteen No. 12 of the Proletarian District (1962–1963), and worked as a forwarding agent at canteen No. 9 of the Moscow District public-catering trust (1964–1971).

His marriage to Shenkman (Eingoren) Bella Abramovna (1925, Riga) produced daughters Shenkman Sofya Borisovna (1947, Riga) and Shenkman Ida Berovna (1957, Riga).

In 1971 he received permission to emigrate to Israel, where his cousin (daughter of his father's brother), Vollin (Shenkman) Rina Davidovna (1924, Riga), had lived since 1934.

N. Voronova

Shenkman Isak Yuryevich (1894–1941) – father
Shenkman Sofia (1898–1941) – mother
Shenkman Maks Isakovich (1912) – brother
Shenkman Ida Isakovna (1928–1941) – sister
Shenkman (Eingoren) Bella Abramovna (1925) – wife
Shenkman Sofya Borisovna (1947) – daughter
Shenkman Ida Berovna (1957) – daughter
Vollin (Shenkman) Rina Davidovna (1924) – cousin