Gorenstein was born into a Jewish family , his father , Naum Isaevich Gorenstein ( 1902 — 1937 ) , was a professor of political economy . His mother , Enna Abramovna Prilutskaya , was an educator . During the Stalinist repressions , his father was arrested in 1935 and sent to GULAG . He was shot in 1937 after trying to escape . After the arrest of his father , Friedrich bore the name of the mother ( Felix Prilutsky ) . He later regained his original name . His mother was the director of a home for juvenile offenders in Berdichev , Ukraine . During the Nazi invasion of 1941 , he and his mother were evacuated to Orenburg in the Urals . His mother died of tuberculosis in 1943 in Orenburg . Frederick was placed in an orphanage . After the war , he was raised by his aunts , Zloty and Rachel , in Berdichev
Stalinist repressions
Great Purge
Friedrich Gorenstein