Alexander Orman was born in 1915. He worked as an engineer in Rostov-on-Don, where he was drafted into the Red Army in October 1940. During the Soviet-German war he served as an artillery officer. In the initial period of the war he fought on the Western Front; in the fall of 1943 he was on the Bryansk Front, then on the Central and 1st Belorussian Fronts. From October 1942 he commanded an artillery anti-tank division. He often directed the fighting against enemy tank or infantry attacks. He was wounded twice, lightly in 1943 and seriously in the following year. After the second time, in October 1944, he was appointed heard of instruction of the courses for junior lieutenants of artillery on the 1st Belorussian Front. Major Orman was awarded two Orders of the Red Star in 1943 and the Order of the Patriotic War, 2nd class, in 1945 for his leadership of his battalion and the personal courage he displayed.
Boris Slutskii about Alexander Orman
The poet Boris Slutskii who served as an officer in the Red Army during the Soviet-German war and was personally acquainted with Alexander Orman at that time, wrote as follows about Orman's bravery:
"Captain Orman, a warrior, an artillery man, formerly an engineer in Rostov [on-Don], whose Jewishness was influenced by his being raised in a rough environment, demonstratively stood out at all observation posts, overshadowed and [even] insulted his comrades by his bravery, which was often excessive. He used to say to me: 'I know how they look at Jews, so let them see one who is braver than they are.'"
Boris Slutsky, Zapiski o voine (Notes about the War), St. Petersburg, 2000, p. 154.
