Sunday, November 5, 2017

Israel Tolchinsky's Soviet Military Record

Just three weeks ago, I wrote about the Soviet tribunal of my great-grandfather's half first cousin Israel/Vissarion Tolchinsky--and based on the outcome, I feared for what happened to this branch of the Tolchinsky family.  Thanks to a reader's direction, it turned out that not only did Israel Tolchinsky survive the outcome of this tribunal, but he received a medal for his military service in WWII.  And that post led Dmitry Pruss to point out that since Israel had been an officer in the Soviet military, he would have had an officer file--and he helped me to obtain it.
From Israel Tolchinsky's Soviet Officer File

There were several photos attached to documents that span Israel's long military service.  The documents were translated on the Genealogy Translations Facebook group, primarily by Eugene Krasnov.

According to the above document, Israel Grigorievich Tolchinski was living in Moscow in 1939 and at that time was not a member of the Communist Party (although he did later join).  He had military education at the Moscow Aviation Institute and had received a Master's Degree in Engineering as a mechanical engineer from Moscow Aviation Institute.
From Israel Tolchinsky's Soviet Officer Record
We also learn that we won several medals during his service:
  • For military merit, 1951
  • For the victory over Germany, 1945
  • 800 years Moscow, 1947
  • 30 years of the Soviet Army, 1948
He was working in the Ministry of Coal Industry's Trust "Hydromechanization" as a chief mechanical engineer.  His salary was 150 rubules/month, and his address was Rybnaya lane #2.

And then we learn about his family.  His wife, Fanya Moiseewna Tolchinskaya had been born in 1908, and they had two sons Grigory (born 1936) and Boris (born 1937) who were living at 23 Worovsky Street, Apartment 3, in Moscow City.

From Israel Tolchinsky's Soviet Officer Record
We learn about some of his military assignments (along with another photo), which included:
  • Drafted June 1941, on the orders of Krasnopresnensky district military enlistment office in Moscow, as engineer of the mechanic trust "Hydromechanization" of the city of Moscow.\
  • Head of the control department/151 aviation workshops MVO, Kubinka station, order number 01 51, number. month & year/18 August 1943.
  • Production engineer, he is also the deputy chief of the workshop, "where" 151 aviation workshops MVO, Kubinka station, order number 44, the month & year/April 16, 1944
  • Enlisted in the variable composition of the 2nd Western Fighter Aviation Regiment as a senior production engineer. date/November 28, 1945.
  • Assistant Chief of Technical Department, he is also a design engineer. "where" 255 aircraft repair base mwo, Lyubertsy city, order number 76, Date 6 March 46.
  • Assistant Chief of Technical Department, he is also a design engineer. "where" 255 aircraft repair base Air Force. Order number 0139. date-- December 6th, 1946.
  • Senior engineer, designer of the design department. "where" Central Scientific Experimental Base Air Force, Lyubertsy City, Moscow Region. number of order 0747. date of April 18, 1947.
  • Leading engineer of the design department and those equipments. "where"Central Scientific Experimental Base Air Force, Lyubertsy City, Moscow Region. number of order 02563. date-- June 30th, 1948.
  • Leading engineer of the production organization department .........in the same place. number of order 07 84, date-- 24 March 1951
  • Dismissed to the reserve under Article 59 point B, sent to the register Krasnopresnensky District Military Committee of Moscow, order number 01619, date - November 18, 1955.
From Israel Tolchinsky's Soviet Military File
On the last page was a bit of a mysterious notation:
"Special notes == was reprimanded for hiding the situation ?? parents in 1929, as well as some encouragement for political training in 1936. signature and date April 11, 1938."  With this translation, Eugene Krasnov guessed that perhaps in 1929 his parents were somehow repressed, which he concealed from the party leadership, for which he was lowered in the party hierarchy and expelled from party members for candidates.  I've already requested his party records, so we'll see what they say!
We have a total of three photos of Israel Tolchinsky included, which span many years:
Photos of Israel Tolchinsky, from his Soviet Officer file
 I have some leads on what happened to his sons--so stay tuned!

 Note:  I'm on Twitter.  Follow me (@larasgenealogy).

Want to get future blog posts emailed to you automatically?
Enter your email address:

2 comments: