Video History Archives
Of Jewish Soviet Soldiers
during WW2

Isaak Budnitski

Born April 29th 1918 Vasilkov, Ukraine.
Interviewed In: Montreal, Quebec
Medals Awarded: Medal For Defense of Stalingrad, Order of the Patriotic War (1st and 2nd Class), Order of the Red Star, Liberation of Vienna and Victory over Germany In The Great Patriotic War Medals Awarded: Medal For Defense of Stalingrad, Order of the Patriotic War (1st and 2nd Class), Order of the Red Star, Liberation of Vienna and Victory over Germany In The Great Patriotic War

“We could hardly leave the place because there was only one way out of Stanislav”

Sergeant Major 255th Aviation Service Regiment, Battle of Stalingrad, Crimea, Liberation Of Vienna

Issak had spent a year in The Red Army before the war. He was in Stanislav when The Germans invaded: “I was left behind for 10 to 15 days. We liquidated everything related to ammunition. We could hardly leave the place because there was only one way out of Stanislav – via Lvov. The hardships during the retreat were worse than in any war. Those were hardships regarding food, overnight stays, wandering strange places that nobody could imagine to

be in. We lived there… we retreated gradually… Personally, as a sergeant major, I managed to get out of encirclement in Aksai area via the Aksai bridge. I carried a lot of our unit’s documents with me. My subordinate guys and I took the documents to Russia”

After the initial retreat, Isaak and his unit were sent to The Battle Of Stalingrad:

“We serviced aviation. You know that aviation demands a great volume of bombs etc. You also know that all those weren’t kept at the front line. They were kept in the rear of the army. We had to supply truck loads, several truck loads, during the night time… only in the night…24 hours…I used to sleep 2 hours a night. We didn’t have other time…We used to supply ammunition all the time to make sure the bomb aviation functioned non-stop. That’s why we were in action literally 24 hours a day bringing the ammunition to the front line aviation. We went through a lot of hardships in Stalingrad in regards to our troops. I was awarded a number of medals for my combat merits”

Issak’s unit then fought through Crimea on their way to The Battle Of Vienna. They were in Austria when the war ended. Isaak stated in the army for 3 more years. He became a prominent leader in his local communist party but was ostracized when his daughter decided to move to Israel. Isaak and his wife eventually moved to Canada.

View Other Veterans Interviews

Grigori Genin

Born March 8th 1924 in Astrakhan, Soviet Union.
Interviewed In: Toronto, Ontario
Medals Awarded: Order of the Patriotic War (1st and 2nd Class), Medal For Defense of Stalingrad, Medal For Victory over Vienna, Medal For Capture of Budapest, Order of the Red Star, Order of Glory, Order of the Red Banner and Victory over Germany In The Great Patriotic War

Fira Leikina

Born January 22, 1923 Gomel, Belarus
Interviewed In: Calgary, Alberta
Medals Awarded: Order of the Patriotic War (1st and 2nd Class), Medal For Defense of Stalingrad and Victory over Germany In The Great Patriotic War

Lazar Chukhovich

Born November 13th 1926 Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
Interviewed In: Montreal, Quebec

Medals Awarded: Order of the Patriotic War (1st and 2nd Class), Order of the Red Star and Victory over Germany In The Great Patriotic War