Bak Boris Isakovich (20.10.1910, town of Sventsiany (Švenčionys), Poland, later the Lithuanian SSR) — barber.

From 1925 to 1931, Boris Bak worked as a typesetter at a printing house in Švenčionys. During the Polish-German War, he was conscripted into the Polish Army and deployed with his regiment to Vilnius. When Soviet forces occupied Vilnius, his regiment was disbanded, and he remained in the city. Between 1933 and 1941, he worked as a typesetter in a Vilnius printing house.

Boris Bak was married to Mir Bak (1910 – ?) and had two sons, Yakov Bak (1935 – …) and Kham Bak (1940 – …). In 1941, Boris Bak was evacuated to Dushanbe along with the printing house staff. His wife and children remained in Vilnius and were executed in the Paneriai concentration camp.

In early 1942, Boris Bak was drafted into the army but was discharged due to health reasons. Later that year, he was arrested in Dushanbe and sentenced by a Special Council to 10 years of imprisonment. He served his sentence in the Khabarovsk Krai. In 1952, he was released, and from 1953 to 1956, he worked as a barber for the Khabarovsk Hairdressing Trust. In 1956, he was rehabilitated, as his case was annulled and dismissed by the Turkestan Military Tribunal due to lack of criminal grounds.

After his rehabilitation, Bak returned to Latvia, where he worked as a barber at the Riga Municipal Hairdressing Trust.

In 1956, Boris Bak married Estere Bak (née Benyaminson) (1926, Liepāja), and in 1960, their son Isak Bak (born in Riga) was born.

Boris Bak’s parents, Isak and Riva Bak, were murdered during the war in Lithuanian concentration camps. His brothers, Motel Bak (1912, Švenčionys – …) and Haim Bak (1916, Švenčionys – …), were members of the Voroshilov Partisan Detachment and were killed in action. Another brother, Gershon Bak (1928, Švenčionys – …), was executed by the Nazis for smuggling weapons to Soviet soldiers. His sister, Gita Bak (…–…), was killed in Lithuanian concentration camps.

Several of his siblings—Abram Bak (1907), Bencion Bak (1914), Sara Bak (1918), and Sima Bak (1920)—emigrated from the USSR to Poland in the 1950s and later moved to Israel.

In 1957, Boris Bak and his wife applied for repatriation to Poland, but their request was denied in 1958. They later repeatedly applied for emigration to Israel, which was finally granted in 1967.

Family Members

  • Estere Bak (née Benyaminson) (1926, Liepāja) — wife

  • Yelena Benyaminson (1899, Riga) — mother-in-law

  • Isak Bak (1889 – …) — father

  • Riva Bak (1891 – …) — mother

  • Abram Bak (1907, Švenčionys) — brother

  • Motel Bak (1912, Švenčionys – …) — brother

  • Bencion Bak (1914, Švenčionys) — brother

  • Haim Bak (1916, Švenčionys – …) — brother

  • Sara Bak (1918, Švenčionys) — sister

  • Sima Bak (1920, Švenčionys) — sister

  • Gershon Bak (1928, Švenčionys – …) — brother

  • Gita Bak (…,Švenčionys – …) — sister

  • Mir Bak (1910 - …) - first wife

  • Yakov Bak (1935 - …) - son

  • Kham Bak (1940 - …) - son