Yakov's Story
Yakov was the middle son of Kalman and Leah Laufer. In 1939, when the Zydaczow district was captured by the Red Army, Yakov's older brother Haim was enlisted by the Russians. Yakov joined the Komsomol (Communist Youth Movement).
As soon as the war started he joined the Red Army. It was nine months after Haim's enlistment, and Yakov was 19 years old at the time. While he was full of self-confidence, the atmosphere was very tense, almost a state of mourning, when he said goodbye. The family had no contact from him for several years (and were never to hear from Haim, who presumably died during during the war).
Yakov had a successful career in the Red Army and survived the war. He came back shortly after the Liberation, wearing his army uniform. His family had been destroyed. His brother Yosef told him that he wanted to realize the ideals of the youth movement and move to Israel. The brothers planned to wait until Yakov's release and move together.
Yakov served in the Red Army until 1948 and met a young Russian woman named Lydia, whom he subsequently married. Based his place as a war veteran, a member of the Communist Party and his skills as an organizer, he was offered many important jobs. He stayed in Zurawno, and became chairman of the town kolkhoz (collective farm) for many years after the war. Yakov died in 1982 in Zurawno.
Photos: Yakov Laufer in his Red Army uniform, 1942; Ted Jonas and Yakov's widow Lydia Laufer, Zurawno, 1995.
Yakov Laufer's story is based on information in The Fields of Ukraine (Dallci Press, 2009) (permission granted by Dallci Press on 4/2/10).
