Arkady Gorbunov

Prepared by the Witnesses of War team

Arkady Gorbunov was born on 5 September 1925 in Smolensk, Soviet Union. After Germany invaded in 1941, his family evacuated eastward, eventually reaching Sarapul in Udmurtia. His father was mobilized and later went missing during the war.

Drafted in spring 1943, Arkady attended the Smolensk Rifle and Sniper School, then operating in Sarapul. He graduated in spring 1944 as a junior lieutenant. In his memoir, he identifies his first frontline assignment as a platoon commander in the 130th Rifle Division.

In July 1944, a bullet passed through his shoulder and shattered a bone. A medic crawled forward to dress the wound before Arkady underwent surgery and evacuation. After treatment in Kyiv and Moscow, he returned to service in autumn 1944, commanding a submachine-gun platoon in the 89th Guards Heavy Tank Regiment.

During fighting on an Oder River bridgehead in February 1945, he suffered another serious arm wound. He spent the remaining months of the war in hospitals, learning of Germany’s defeat while recovering. Discharged as medically unfit in July 1945, he had to learn to write and eat with his left hand.

After the war, Arkady studied mathematics and worked in education and aircraft manufacturing. He moved to Israel in 1995 and Canada in April 2014. His decorations include the Order of the Red Star and the Order of the Patriotic War, First Class.