Boris Gurevich papers

Boris Gurevich was born to Yaakov and Maria (Musia) Gurevich in Riga, Latvia. He was the youngest of three children with an older brother, Samuel (Musik) and an older sister, Lea (Lilia). Together, they attended a Jewish school until the outbreak of World War II, when Boris joined the Red Army. He attended an artillery school on a site called “Stalinskie Lageria” or Stalin Camps before continuing his training in Bukhara, Uzbekistan. In June 1943, Boris graduated from artillery school as a captain and entered the reserves and moves to Rybinsk, Russia. In Rybinsk, Boris worked first as a senior instructor at a recruitment center, then as a commander of a rifle platoon, and in early 1944, as an agitator, or propagandist for the Soviet system. In March, 1944 Boris was moved to the frontlines in Poland (now Ukraine) where he was killed in action April 27, 1944 near Kovel. During the war, Samuel lived in Chelyabinsk in the Ural Mountains where he worked as a foreman in a factory named for Stalin. His sister, Lea lived in Andijan, Uzbekistan where she and her mother were apparently resettled after being evacuated to central Asia. There, Lea continued her studies. Both Lea and Samuel returned to Riga after the war. Boris’ father died before the war in Riga and his mother died of hunger in 1943. The Boris Gurevich papers are comprised of over fifty letters Boris wrote to his brother and sister while in the Red Army between 1942 and 1944. The majority of the letters are to his sister in Andijan. In them, Boris enquires frequently about her health and food availability and describes his situation as a student in military training and later, as a soldier. Many of his letters describe his health, food rations, his uniforms, and his daily activities in training and in his free time. He often reports that he is happy, especially so while living in Rybinsk, where he lived with a friend, Misha Kilimnik, and frequented the movies and dance halls in his leisure time. Several of his letters detail money and packages he sends to his brother and sister. In his letters to Samuel, Boris describes in detail his life on the front and in the trenches. His last letter is written to his brother only days before he is killed.