Benskaya (née Belkind, Vasilyeva) Liya Itskhakovna (2.07.1944, Gorky) – seamstress.

Liya Benskaya was the daughter of Itskhok Belkind (1910, Riga) and Sonya Belkind (née Gindina) (1912, Minsk – 1955, Riga).

In 1945, Liya’s parents returned from evacuation to Riga. In 1959, she completed eight years of schooling at Riga Secondary School No. 12.

Liya was first married to Oleg Vasilyev (born 1944, Riga), with whom she had a son Igor Bensky (born 1964, Riga). The marriage ended in 1968.

In her second marriage to Vladimir Bensky (born 1946, Riga), she had a daughter Inna Benskaya (born 1972, Riga).

From 1959 to 1960, Liya Benskaya worked as a seamstress at the Riga Knitted Garments Atelier. In 1961, she graduated from Riga Evening School No. 25. Between 1960 and 1973, she worked as a seamstress, technologist, and forewoman at the Baltijas Modes factory.

From 1973, Liya Benskaya worked as an insurance agent for the Gosstrakh inspection of Riga’s Kirov District. That same year, she completed six courses at the All-Union Institute of Textile and Light Industry.

In 1976, Liya Benskaya received permission to emigrate to Israel at the invitation of her father’s brother, Avraham (Abram) Belkind (born 1912 (or 1920?), Riga), who had emigrated from Latvia in 1965.

Family:

  • Oleg Vasilyev (born 1944, Riga) – first husband

  • Igor Bensky (born 1964, Riga) – son

  • [[en:people:bensky_vladimir|Vladimir Bensky]] (born 1946, Riga) – second husband

  • Inna Benskaya (born 1972, Riga) – daughter

  • Itskhok Belkind (born 1910, Riga) – father

  • Sonya Belkind (née Gindina) (1912–1955) – mother

  • Abram Belkind (born 1933, Riga) – brother

  • Avraham Belkind (born 1912, Riga) – paternal uncle