Natan Shafir collection

Copyright Holder: Center for the Studies of History and Culture of East European Jewry (Judaica Center) of the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy in Kyiv, Ukraine Natan Aronovich Shafir was born in 1910 in the city of Detstvo, but his family moved to Odessa during his youth. He became a journalist, and moved to Kharkov, Ukraine as a young man. From there, he moved to Kiev, and married Ida Shneidermann in 1935. She was also a journalist, and worked for the popular children's journal "Periwinkle." One year later, they had a son, Yuri. Prior to the war, Natan Shafir worked as Secretary of the Communist Youth newspaper "Stalin's Tribe." In May of 1941, he enlisted in the Soviet Army as a Lieutenant in the Tank Corps, bound for the Western border. During this time, he also served as editor of the military newspaper "The Fighting Red Army." He was presumed killed a year later on May 23, 1942, during a battle around Kharkov. The last letter to his family is dated May 14, 1942. The collection contains a photocopy of a published book of Natan Shafir's letters, saved by his son. These letters span the brief period of July 1941 to May of 1942, and were sent by Natan Shafir to his family living in Chkalov. The collection also contains photocopies of the actual letters, telegrams, and postcards, some of which display Soviet war art. There are also three photocopies of newspaper clippings.