Prusak (Prussak) Leib Iozefovich (28 September 1906, Riga) — merchant, worker.
Leib Prusak was the son of the artisan tailor Iosef Prusak (…–1934, Riga) and Freida Prusak (…–1941, Riga). In 1924 he graduated from the Riga Commercial School. In 1924–26 and 1928–33 he worked as a salesman-electrician at the firm Volta (owned by engineer Kagan) in Riga, at 8 Jāņa Street. In 1926–28 he completed compulsory military service in the Latvian Army. In 1933 he became unemployed; that same year he opened his own agency office in Riga at 9 Monētu Street, engaged in the distribution of commission goods from local and foreign companies.
In 1935–37 he travelled across Europe on business and personal matters, visiting Italy, Finland, and England. After nationalisation, he remained as technical manager at the enterprise that had previously belonged to him. In 1940–41 he was a senior executive at Plant NKAP-464. In 1941 Prusak was arrested; in 1943 he was sentenced by the Special Council to five years’ imprisonment in corrective labour camps. Until 1946 he was an inmate of Usol’lag in Solikamsk. In 1946 he served as head of the technical warehouse at Nyroblag (Nyrob, Perm Region), returning to Riga later that year.
Until 1947 Leib Prusak worked as a supply officer at the repair plant of the Riga Meat and Dairy Combine; in 1947–53 he was an electromechanic in the Elektro artel. In 1953 he was administratively deported to Krasnoyarsk Krai, where he worked as a fitter-caster at the Berezovsky repair plant. In 1956 he returned to Riga; until 1957 he was a brigade leader in the Elektro artel. In 1957–60 he worked as a lampshade-maker in the Trud artel and at the Kirov District industrial combine of Riga. In 1960–70 he was a press operator at the Ausma factory.
In his first marriage to Sissi-Rachel Prusak (1912, Helsinki – 1946, Perm Region) a daughter, Ruta Shmulyan (Prusak) (1936, Riga), was born. His second marriage to Raisa Grinshtein (1905, Riga) was dissolved in 1970. His mother and brothers, Beniamin Prusak (1902, Riga – 1941, Riga) and Emanuel Prusak (1909, Riga – 1941, Riga), were murdered in the Holocaust. His brother Bernard Prusak (1905, Riga) lived in Italy until 1971 and later moved to Israel; his sister Anna Barbneri (Prusak) (1901, Riga) had emigrated to Italy before the war.
In 1961 Leib Prusak submitted his first application to emigrate to Israel at the invitation of his cousin Musya Kaplan (1914, Riga). According to unverified information, this petition was approved in 1972.
Family:
Sissi-Rachel Prusak (1912, Helsinki – 1946, Perm Region) — first wife
Ruta Shmulyan (née Prusak) (1936, Riga) — daughter
Raisa Grinshtein (1905, Riga) — second wife
Iosef Prusak (…–1934, Riga) — father
Freida Prusak (…–1941, Riga) — mother
Beniamin Prusak (1902, Riga – 1941, Riga) — brother
Emanuel Prusak (1909, Riga – 1941, Riga) — brother
Bernard Prusak (1905, Riga) — brother
Anna Barbneri (née Prusak) (1901, Riga) — sister
Musya Kaplan (1914, Riga) — cousin