Russian war hero Mikhail Glotser dies at 95

MIKHAIL GLOTSER, a hero of the Battle of Stalingrad who later immigrated to the United States and became a naturalized citizen almost two decades ago, has died. He was 95.

Glotser was a radio operator in the Soviet Army when they suffered huge losses at the hands of the Nazis, who bombarded them with bombs and dropped pamphlets promoting the destruction of all the Jews. They were forced to retreat all the way to Stalingrad in the summer of 1942. It was there they were ordered by Stalin himself to take “not one step backwards” at the Volga River. Living in cramped, almost inhuman conditions in a bunker near an airfield at Kotluban, Glotser worked with Morse Code to communicate with ground and air forces with encrypted messages. Glotser and other radio operators would pick out one key word to find a lone pilot as dozens of simultaneous conversations were going on. To alleviate boredom during downtime, he and others constructed an improvised stage and entertained their fellow soldiers. The battle raged until February of 1943.

Glotser was one of the Russian soldiers that several years later freed Warsaw, Poland and helped capture Berlin, receiving medals for his service during those battles. But it was the medal he received for his defense of Stalingrad, considered a pivotal, albeit one of the bloodiest, battles during World War II, of which he was most proud.

Glotser was a mechanic in a shoe factory before coming to the United States.

He is survived by his wife Liza Glotser (formerly Tispaleia neé Solomonik) his children Zina Gutkovich (Felix) and Lev Glotser (Elena), four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

A funeral was conducted on  Thursday, Dec. 29, at 3:00 pm at Tharp-Sontheimer-Tharp Funeral Home, 1600 N. Causeway Blvd. in  Metairie. Rabbi Robert Loewy will officiated. Burial followed immediately at Hebrew Rest #3 Cemetery, 2003 Pelopidas St.