This section features the true experiences of Holocaust Survivors we see and visit today. This is to fulfill their requests,
“Remember us! Tell others of our experiences so we are not forgotten!”
(Caution: True accounts, as related by the Survivor, may be difficult to read)
Dr. Iliya Stozki
Born in 1919, Iliya had a full life ahead of him and was not someone to back away.
“By the age of 17 I was working in a print shop and as a faculty assistant at his high school. After graduation I attended Second Leningrad Medical Institute. In 1941, in my fifth year of medical school, I was drafted into the 3rd Belarussian Batallion, then put into the 1st Ukrainian Division.”
Iliya was moved into the medical division then sent to the aviation division. From there he became Chief of Medical Units, then Senior of Regiment Divisions, Medical Department. When the Germans bombed the airfield, Dr. Stozki organized evacuation and treatment of wounded.
“I became the senior MD on the Prussian Front and we all fought in the forests, along the road to Koenksburg. I arranged the evacuation and care of the wounded. In 1945 the Nazis attacked our small group of ambulance company; again we experienced evacuation and treatment during bombings and under live fire. Overnight we succeeded in evacuating all 160 wounded men via horse and low carts. At the same time, in March 1945, my commander ordered all of us who could handle a weapon to fight. So, I did.”
On one occasion his entire regiment contracted scabies, a contagious mite infestation. Being without the necessary medications, Dr. Stozki found an animal vet and used his supplies to treat the men of the regiment. In one week they were all well.
“By the time we withdrew from the Prussian front I was wounded twice.”
Dr. Stozki was awarded many medals. After the war he finished his education and graduated in 1947 with a Leningrad Military Medical degree. He worked for the Aviation Department and for the Navy after the war. In the demobilization of 1969, he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel of Medical Service of Belarusse for his 20 years of service. After this he became a Doctor of Sports Medicine and worked with a football team. His life was recorded in a Russian book on WWII.
In December of 1990, Iliya and Pauline made Aliyah to Israel. We had the pleasure of their company in Akko until 2013.