A Partisan's Memoir: Woman of the Holocaust by Schulman Faye

Author:Schulman, Faye [Schulman, Faye]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: HIS043000
Publisher: Second Story Press
Published: 1995-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

MY BROTHERS AS PARTISANS

IN FACT I was not the sole survivor from my family. On August 14, 1942 — the same day the ghetto liquidation in Lenin had taken place — the labourers in Gancevich returned from work to be told by a Nazi officer what had happened in their hometown. In shock, they heard that the entire Jewish community — their mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, wives and children — had all been murdered.

At Gancevich, the inmates had been forced to perform hard labour under the worst possible conditions. They were hungry, dirty, covered with lice and crowded forty or fifty to a room. Many had thought about escaping into the woods and joining the partisans. But they had been warned that, if just one labourer were missing, their families back in the ghetto would be killed. Despite the inhumane conditions, they were not prepared to risk the lives of their families. Now there was nothing to keep them in Gancevich, nothing more to lose. Most of the three hundred men immediately escaped to the woods. They headed east towards partisan territory, oblivious to the shooting at their backs. Among them were my two older brothers, Moishe and Kopel.

The Nazis immediately started a chase and search operation. The twenty workers who had been out working at the time of the escape and had remained behind were killed as scapegoats by the Nazis.

It was getting late in the day, and the woods grew dark. The escapees paused to get their bearings. They organized themselves into smaller groups. That way, they could spread out and be less noticeable. Their goal was to reach and join the partisan units.

Among them was a respected man named Dvorin who wanted to organize a group. Before the war, Dvorin had been a wealthy and influential business man. He was sharp, capable and had much life experience. Through his business travels, he had become very familiar with the surrounding countryside. His business connections had made him respected and valued by the farmers and peasants in the area.

Dvorin asked my brother Kopel to join. At first Kopel was flattered that Dvorin had chosen him. Then he remembered that he had had a dream a few days earlier in which he had been warned to avoid Dvorin. It was strange, but somehow he remembered this dream and decided not to go with Dvorin’s group. Instead Kopel escaped together with my older brother Moishe. The dream proved prescient. Dvorin’s group were later captured and hanged.

Among the escapees were five brothers who had been our neighbours in Lenin. They were a very close family and had stayed together during the escape from Gancevich. Their group was also captured the same day. The Nazis forced each brother to hang the other, one by one. Many others were captured that day, but the majority managed to escape. My two brothers were among the survivors.

Like all Jews who escaped to the forest, their lives were constantly in danger. My brothers had to cope with an extremely hostile environment without food, warm clothing or guns.

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