Volf Begelfer

Volf Begelfer was born in 1923 in Berdichev. Two years later, his family moved to Leningrad.

By the time of the outbreak of the Soviet-German War in late June 1941, Wolf had finished high school. Wolf's father, Yakov, had an exemption from military service, yet he was drafted and sent to serve in an undermanned machine gun company in Kingisepp. In late August 1941, he sustained a serious head wound, and died in late October that year.

In early November 1941, Volf Begelfer was enrolled in a hastily organized school for radio operators, which was quartered on the premises of the Leningrad Academy of the Signal Corps. Afterward, he was assigned to the Central Headquarters of the Partisan Movement. His superiors sent him to study the international wireless code, which would enable him to work in occupied territory. His first assignment ended in failure. In March 1943, Volf Begelfer was airdropped to join a partisan unit operating in Leningrad Oblast. The group was quickly surrounded by the enemy, but Volf managed to escape. However, because of the dampness of that swampy region, he fell ill with furunculosis. After being hospitalized for a time, Begelfer returned to Karelia, where he resumed serving in a special purpose unit. Until January 1944, Volf's assignments involved being parachuted into occupied territory and intercepting messages. On one occasion, Volf was arrested, along with a group of intelligence radio operators, for lagging behind the advancing front line. The men were sent to Leningrad to be questioned. Fortunately, Volf was able to use his personal connections to get a transfer to the coveted Baltic Fleet, where he went on to serve until the end of the war. 

When the war was over, Volf Begelfer returned to Leningrad, where he began to study at the Institute of Aerospace Instrumentation (now the Saint Petersburg State University of Aerospace Instrumentation). After graduating, Begelfer worked as a structural engineer at various design institutes.

In 1990, Begelfer immigrated to Israel. He died in 2016, and was buried in Ashdod, Israel.