Yisrael Kuperstein

Yisrael Kuperstein was born in 1915 in Cherkasy (Ukraine). His father was a worker.

After completing a seven-year primary school, Yisrael enrolled in a factory apprenticeship school in Moscow. Upon finishing it, he began to work as a car mechanic at a base. In the late 1930s, he was drafted into the Red Army, and fought in the Soviet-Finnish Winter War.

Following the outbreak of the Soviet-German War on June 22, 1941, Yisrael Kuperstein was sent to the Gorky Tank School, which ran accelerated training courses for junior officers. In the autumn of 1943, Lieutenant Kuperstein was attached to the 52nd Armored Brigade and sent to the front. One day in early November that year, the tank that he commanded reached the right bank of the Dnieper and engaged the enemy. While the other tanks of the brigade were being ferried across the river, Yisrael and his gunner, Sergeant Mikhail Grabsky, gave fire support to the infantry. A little later, in the town of Fastov (Kiev Oblast), an important railway hub, Kuperstein's tank crew destroyed four enemy tanks, according to the commendation list. There, they also made an important contribution to the battle over the village of Svyatoshino (in present-day Kiev), taking an active part in the liberation of the city. Kiev was officially liberated on November 6, 1943. In January 1944, Yisrael Kuperstein was awarded the title "Hero of the Soviet Union."

With the 52nd Armored Brigade, Kuperstein participated in the Vistula-Oder offensive in January 1945. He met V-E Day in Berlin. In the course of the war, he had also been decorated with the Order of Lenin (which was customarily awarded together with the star of the Hero of the Soviet Union); the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st class; three Orders of the Red Star, and some medals.

After the end of the war, Yisrael Kuperstein graduated from the Higher Tank School in Leningrad (present-day St. Petersburg). In 1962, he retired from active duty in the rank of lieutenant colonel. Afterward, he settled in Chelyabinsk, where he worked at a research and development center.

Yisrael Kuperstein died in Chelyabinsk in 1995.