His life
From a lathe to the commander's turret
Albert Agarunovich Agarunov was born on 25 April 1969 in Amirjan, a settlement of Baku's Surakhani district, into a Mountain Jewish family with roots in Quba and Krasnaya Sloboda. His father, Agarun, was an oil worker; his mother, Leah, raised ten children and held the title of "Mother Heroine." Albert was the youngest.
He finished eight grades at Baku's School No. 154, trained as a tractor driver at a vocational college, and worked as a lathe operator at a machine-building plant. At music school he played the trumpet — the ordinary, peaceful life of a working-class boy from a large family.
From 1987 to 1989 Albert served in the Soviet Army in Georgia, where he became a tank commander and junior sergeant, earning the "Guard" and "Excellent Soldier" badges. On returning home he went back to the lathe at the Surakhani plant.
When the Karabakh war broke out, Albert volunteered. Not by order or conscription — by conscience. Asked by reporters what made a Jew defend Azerbaijani soil, he answered plainly: “I live on this land, I was born here, I live here — nothing else compels me.”
He was given a T-72 tank, hull number 533. With his tank unit he fought on the Shusha front — at Khankendi, Dashalti, Jamilli. According to his commander Haji Azimov, his crew destroyed nine enemy tanks and seven infantry fighting vehicles. He would wait for enemy vehicles to cluster — then strike, sure and single-shot.
