VILENSKIS WOLFAS LEYBOVICH
major, a participant in World War II, Hero of the Soviet Union (03.24.1945)
Born on August 21, 1919 in Kaunas, in the family of a native of Shaki. He studied at the Jewish school “Yavne” and the Kaunas school SCL (Society for Craft Labor). He graduated from the metalworking college in Kaunas in 1936. In 1939 he was drafted into the Lithuanian army, served there as a non-commissioned officer. After Lithuania joined the USSR, he got a job in the Uzbek SSR at the Ursatievskaya railway station of the Tashkent Railway.
In 1940 he continued his service as part of the 29th territorial rifle Lithuanian corps and was enrolled as a cadet of the Vilnius Infantry School. From the first days of the war, cadet Vilensky took part in the battle as part of the 16th Lithuanian Rifle Division. From 1941 to 1942 he studied at the infantry school in the city of Stalin. On February 21, 1943, in the Alekseyevka region, 50 km southeast of Orel, the company of Lieutenant Vilensky became the only company of the division, which, in a very difficult offensive, managed to capture the dominant height and stay on it.
On October 11-13, 1944, in the Lithuanian city of Pagegyai, with a single company, with a sudden strike from the rear, it thwarted a German counterattack, destroyed a large number of Nazis from an easel machine gun, and was wounded.
By a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated March 24, 1945 “For skillful command of the battalion, exemplary performance of command missions at the front of the struggle against Nazi invaders and shown courage and heroism”, major Wolfas Leybovich Vilenskis was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
After the war, he continued to serve in the Soviet Army, graduating from the M.V.Frunze Military Academy. He commanded a regiment, then a division in Estonia, served as head of the military department of Vilnius State University. In 1972 he entered the reserve, worked as the head of the intercity bureau of technical inventory of Lithuania.
He died on January 15, 1992 in Bat Yam.
GOLD STAR MEDAL OF THE HERO OF THE SOVIET UNION
THE ORDER OF “THE RED BANNER”
THE ORDER OF “THE PATRIOTIC WAR OF THE I AND II DEGREE”
THE ORDER OF “ALEXANDR NEVSKIY”
THE ORDER OF “RED STAR”
