Yakov Kiselevich was born in Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine (USSR), 1919 to Lev and Riva nee Vainshtein. Prior to WWII he lived in Baku, Azerbaijan (USSR). During the war he was in the Soviet armed forces. Yakov was killed in military service in WWII. Place of death: Stanislawow, Poland, 31/07/1944.
Among the Jewish soldiers killed in WWII, especially in the Red Army, tens of thousands were singled out and murdered as Jews while in captivity as prisoners of war.