Grigorijus Joffe

Grigorijus Joffe (1919–?) was born in Saratov (Russia). From 1931 to 1937, he studied at the private Russian Gymnasium of the Kaunas Teachers’ Society. In 1937, he applied to study at the Faculty of Medicine of Vytautas Magnus University but was not admitted. As a result, he left for Belgium and began studying medicine at the University of Brussels. After the outbreak of war interrupted his studies, he returned to Lithuania. On 18 September 1939, he again applied to study at the Faculty of Medicine of Vytautas Magnus University but was not admitted because he failed the Lithuanian language examination. On 30 September 1939, he applied to study in the Biology Department at the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences of Vytautas Magnus University but was once again not admitted. In an application submitted on 7 October, Grigorijus Joffe expressed his wish to enrol as an unclassified student, and this request was granted. After passing the Lithuanian language examination, on 18 March 1940, he again applied to become a full student, and this time his request was approved. On 10 July 1940, he submitted a request to be transferred from the Biology Department at the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences to the Medical Department at the Faculty of Medicine, but the request was denied due to a lack of places. On 9 October 1940, he submitted yet another application to study at the Faculty of Medicine, but the request was again rejected. From 29 August 1941, Grigorijus  Joffe continued his studies in the Biology Department at the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences of Vilnius University. However, he studied there only briefly, as on 19 September 1941 he was expelled from the university in accordance with an order issued on 17 September 1941 by the Department of Higher Education of the Board of Education, which was subordinate to the National Socialist authorities. In 1944, he worked as a medical assistant at a transfer point of the Military Commissariat. On 30 September 1944, he applied for admission to the Medical Department at the Faculty of Medicine of Vilnius State University and was admitted directly to the second year. There is no information about whether he continued his studies. On 1 January 1945, he submitted a request to retrieve his documents – his birth certificate and a certificate from the University of Brussels – stating that they were needed for obtaining a passport and registering his student record book. On 16 March 1945, he submitted another request to collect his documents, stating that he planned to leave for Poland to continue his studies. In 1961, he submitted a request for a certificate confirming the courses he had completed. No further information on the fate of Grigorijus Joffe is known.