Efraim Paperny, 94, a veteran of the Second World War, will participate this week in the victory parade in Jerusalem and in a special event hosted by the Knesset to celebrate the May 9 victory over Nazi Germany. He has done so every year since he immigrated to Israel in 1990. Paperny was born in the city of Chernigov in 1925. He joined the Red Army at the age of 16, served in the Communications Corps for four years, and took part — and was wounded — in the liberation of Vienna in 1945. In Israel, he became president of the Organization of Soldiers and Partisans Wounded in the War against the Nazis. In 2010, he and his former brothers in arms received Russian help to establish the Museum of Jewish Heroism during World War II in the city of Ashdod.
The little museum features hundreds of valuable and meaningful items, including the uniform of a soldier in the Red Army during the war, letters from the front, dining utensils, weapons and photos of young Jewish soldiers who fought in the Red Army, including Paperny. Dozens of Israeli school and student groups visit the museum every year, along with young people from overseas.