Łódź (Litzmannstadt) ghetto scrip, 1 mark note, given to a US soldier by a refugee

Igor Belousovitch was born in April 1922 in Shanghai, China, to Nadejda (Nadine) (1894-1983) and Nicholas Belousovitch (1891-1956), both born in Russia. His father was an aviator and had been a White Russian Army officer. He fled Russia to Shanghai following the Communist revolution, civil war, and the founding of the Soviet Socialist Republic. The family immigrated to the United States in July 1923 and settled in San Francisco. In 1941, Belousovitch enrolled in the University of California, Berkeley. That December, the United States entered World War ll. Belousovitch enlisted in the US Army in 1943. He was assigned to the 273rd Regiment, 69th Infantry Division. The Fighting 69th went into the front lines in Europe on February 11, 1945, and, with other American and British troops, soon smashed through the Siegfried Line defenses into Germany. Under the command of Major General Emil F. Reinhardt, the unit met the Soviet 58th Guards under General Rusakov on April 25, 1945, at the Elbe River in Germany. Belousovitch’s fluent Russian made him the official translator at the historic meeting. He was awarded a Bronze Star for his service.

After leaving the army, Belousovitch completed his education in Russian and Eastern European studies. He later studied at Georgetown University. He married Marie (1923-2002) and had a daughter. He had a distinguished career as a top Kremlinologist in the US Department of State, Office of Analysis for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe from 1956 until his retirement in 1991. He worked on special projects with the US military and was stationed at the US embassy in Moscow for many years. Every April since 1995, Belousovitch has attended an annual ceremony at Arlington National Ceremony at the invitation of the Russian Embassy “In tribute to the partnership in the great battle against tyranny.”