Thursday, November 11, 1999 Older Editions

Former World War II engineer doesn't 'idealize this time'

By Rebecca Lipchitz

In 1944, with World War II almost over, a young, naive German pilot landed at a Russian base south of the Ukraine, where Boris Yerozolimsky was stationed.

Because he spoke some German, Yerozolimsky was asked to translate for the boy. The pilot asked if he could stay as a member of the Russian Army; he did not want to work for Hitler any more.

Yerozolimsky says the boy was not allowed to stay, but the encounter was revealing.

"The Germans could have had success. They were a mighty enemy. But take one person and speak with him, and there is no enemy. Usually," Yerozolimsky says.

Now a resident of Stowe Court in Andover, Yerozolimsky, 78, remembers his time in World War II as an opportunity to serve his country, and the support the soldiers received from civilians across the country, but he isn't quick to wax nostalgic.

He remembers traveling by train from the military academy where he graduated out to his first post South of the Ukraine. Travel was paid for by the military, but not provided. Along his two-week journey, he met many Russians who were willing to help soldiers get where they were going.

"There was a high level of humanity and kindness. People were unified in purpose," he says, but adds that such sentiments did not prevent war.

"Germans were the enemy. It was really so. I don't idealize this time," he says.

After three years of studying physics at Moscow University, Yerozolimsky was sent to Jukovsky Academy, a scientific military school, to be trained in radar systems.

Drafted on June 20, 1941, Yerozolimsky was one of the first engineering graduates of the military academy. He spent three months at the fourth Ukrainian front in charge of the radar systems on 30 planes called Air Cobras -- heavy American fighter planes designed to fire cannons at German bombers.

The altimeter on Air Cobras worked by radar, and was precise within 10 centimeters, Yerozolimsky says, noting that such accuracy was not possible before radar was invented.

A bit like the Maytag repairman, Yerozolimsky never had a chance to repair any radar systems on those planes since none of them needed work during his duty there.

But stationed at another base later in the war, Yerozolimsky worked on a B-29 bomber that had landed in Russia on its way to Japan.

"It was a miraculous combination of various techniques," he says of the B-29.

The Russian army had orders from Stalin to duplicate the bomber, which meant Russian manufacturers would have to begin producing things for the first time, such as vacuum tubes, resistors and capacitors. And they did it, Yerozolimsky says, with not one page from a manual or a word of instruction.

Stalin was smart to make such demands of the country, since the push led to expansion of the electronics field.

"It was so effective, it was a way to make a mighty jump for industry," says Yerozolimsky.

After the war he returned to Moscow University and graduated from in 1947 with a degree in nuclear physics.

He studied with Kurchatov, a famed nuclear scientist described as the Russian Oppenheimer, and went on to become a professor of nuclear physics.

After arriving in America in 1991, Yerozolimsky taught briefly at the University of Rhode Island, but most of his scientific work has been done on a volunteer basis in connection with Harvard University and the National Institute of Standards in Technology.