Jakow Trachtenberg

Background

He was born in Odessa, in the Russian Empire (today Ukraine).

Education

He graduated with highest honors from the Mining Engineering Institute in Saint St. Petersburg and later worked as an engineer in the Obukhov arms factory.

Career

While still in his early twenties, he became Chief Engineer with 11,000 men under his supervision. The Tsarist government gave him the responsibility of supervising the formation of a well-developed navy. After the Russian Revolutions of 1917, Trachtenberg fled to Weimar Republic where he became critical of Nazi policies.

He was imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp during World World War World War II He developed his system of mental arithmetic during his imprisonment.

He later fled to Switzerland. Trachtenberg was a dedicated pacifist.

The idea was to train Russian students to take care of the wounded. This also had a special recognition from Tsar Nicholas World War II He was against violence of any sort, despite having a leading position in Tsarist arms production.

He refused to accept defeat even under trying conditions.

His successful professional life ended with the Russian Revolutions of 1917. In 1918, when the Bolshevik government was in power, the ex-Tsar (who had been deposed in the February Revolution) and some of his family were executed. Trachtenberg was very critical of the new government, and felt that he was in danger.

Disguising himself he escaped to Berlin which became his new home since 1919.

He worked as an editor for a magazine publishing company advocating a peaceful future. He was regarded as an expert on Russian affairs and wrote a book on Russian industry.

There he worked for a scientific magazine. After the Anschluss, Trachtenberg was captured and sent to prison.

This was only short-lived as the Nazis caught him and transported him to a concentration camp.

He diverted his attention to think on manipulation of numbers to forget the ruthlessness he witnessed in the concentration camp. Without any paper or pencil he worked mentally and only scribbled the final results on any bit of paper he could lay hands on. He was especially successful with children who had problems with ordinary mathematical teaching.

Achievements

• In Switzerland he started teaching his mental manipulation of numbers, and won some renown.

Politics

When fascism came to power under Adolf Hitler, Trachtenberg criticized the Nazis from a pacifist perspective.