Evsei Vainrub
Evsei Vainrub was born in 1909 in Novo-Borisov, Belorussia. His elder brother was Hero of the Soviet Union Matvei Vainrub.
Evsei was drafted into the Red Army in 1931. In the spring of 1941 he graduated from the Frunze Military Academy (on the same day as his brother Matvei). From the first days of the war between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany Evsei was at the front. In the spring of 1942 he commanded a tank unit.
In August 1944 Colonel Vainrub was appointed commander of a regiment of heavy tanks and from December of that year he commanded the 219th Tank Brigade as part of the tank unit commanded by the Jewish Lieutenant-General Semion (Shimon) Krivoshein.
From January to March 1945 Evsei Vainrub’s tank brigade was taking part in the Vistula-Oder operation to liberate Poland, and was particularly distinguished for its role in the fighting for the town of Kutno. The specific achievement of the brigade was its breakthrough and rapid advance into Poland and then Germany. From mid-January until mid-March 1945 Vainrub’s brigade fought in combat over a distance more than one thousand kilometers, helping other units of the Red Army in this advance. On the average the speed of their advance from the Vistula to the Oder was 40-45 kilometers/day although sometimes they managed to cover 60 or even 70 kilometers.
On April 6, 1945, for his participation in the Vistula-Oder operation Colonel Evsei Vainrub was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union (along with his brother and 145 other officers and generals who had distinguished themselves during the previous months).
On April 19, 1945 his brigade’s tanks approached the Berlin suburb of Weissensee. On the morning of April 22 Colonel Vainrub reported to his superiors that they had occupied a large section of Berlin.
On April 17, 1945 the article “The Heroic Brothers Vainrub” by Shmuel Persov was published in Eynikayt, the newspaper of the Jewish Anti-fascist Committee.
In addition to his brother, Evsei’s sister Raisa (who was born in 1918) also served in the Red Army. She ended the war with the rank of captain in the medical services. She was awarded a medal for bravery and the Order of the Red Star.
After the war Colonel Evsei Vainrub continued serving in the army. In 1955 he was transferred to the reserves; afterwards he completely retired from the military.
He lived in Minsk, where he worked as an engineer at an automobile factory until he moved to Israel in 1995.
He died in Ashdod in 2003.
In May 2003 a monument was erected in Ashdod to the Vainrub brothers.
