Izrail Gliazer was born in 1919 in Podgaytse. His father worked as a glass and window maker. He attended a Polish-language school, before working at a printer’s office. During the war, he joined the Red Army and worked as a radio operator. He fought the Japanese in the Far East, where he stayed until 1946. After the war, he moved to Chortkiv before eventually settling in Ternopil in the 1960s.