Pukan Izya (Isia) Alexandrovich (1932, Brno) — electrician.
Soon after his birth, Pukan’s family moved to Riga. In 1941 his parents did not manage to evacuate and the family was imprisoned in the Riga Ghetto. After the liquidation of the ghetto, Izya Pukan was transferred to the Strazdumuiža concentration camp and in September 1944 was deported to the Stutthof concentration camp in Germany; from there he was transferred to the Burggraben camp near Danzig and subsequently to the Goddentow camp.
After liberation in 1945, Izya Pukan returned to Riga and lived with his maternal uncle, Zalman (Solomon) Slovin (1896(?), Sebezh): his uncle had escaped from the concentration camps in October 1944 and remained in Riga. In 1947 Izya Pukan completed secondary school and enrolled in the 13th Vocational School in Riga.
In 1948–49 he was a 3rd-grade supervisor in the Riga radio transmission network. In 1949–50 he was a 7th-grade inspector at the REKh plant. In 1950–51 he was a 5th-grade electrician at the Compressor plant. In 1951–53 he was a senior electrician in the Jūrmala Energy Administration. In 1953–55 he worked as an electrician in Construction Works Administration No. 108 in Riga. In 1956–57 he was an electrician at the MRT school base in Majori. In 1958 he was an electrician at Holiday Home No. 16 in Majori. In 1958–60 he was a technician in the power supply section of the Latvian Railway. In 1960–63 he was an electrician in the Riga Tram and Trolleybus Administration. In 1962 he graduated from the correspondence department of the Riga Polytechnic Institute with a degree in electrical engineering. In 1963–66 he was an engineer at the Riga branch of Lenmorniproekt. In 1966–67 he was a site manager in the Construction and Installation Administration of the Ministry of Local Industry of the Latvian SSR. From 1967 he was a freelance translator at the Latvian branch of the Chamber of Commerce.
His marriage to Maria Kolonei was dissolved in 1963; Pukan’s first wife lived in Czechoslovakia. In his marriage to Mersara Pukan (née Goldblat) (1940, Rauna), children were born: Ariel Pukan (1964, Riga), Rina Pukan (1966, Riga), and Geula Pukan (1970, Riga).
Pukan’s parents, Alexander Pukan (1900(?) — 1944) and Roza Pukan (née Slovin) (1902(?) — 1944), and his sister Gilda Pukan (1935(?) — 1944) were murdered in the Holocaust. In 1971 Izya Pukan and his family received permission to emigrate to Israel.
Family:
Mersara Pukan (née Goldblat) (1940, Rauna) — second wife
Ariel Pukan (1964, Riga) — son
Rina Pukan (1966, Riga) — daughter
Geula Pukan (1970, Riga) — daughter
Maria Kolonei — first wife
Alexander Pukan (1900(?) — 1944) — father
Roza Pukan (née Slovin) (1902(?) — 1944) — mother
Gilda Pukan (1935(?) — 1944) — sister
Zalman (Solomon) Slovin — maternal uncle