They Fell as Heroes

Reaching Vileyka, he hid in the attic of his parents' home. A few days after he returned, all his family members who had stayed in Vileyka were taken to their deaths. On this day, he remained hiding in the attic, and at night he escaped and arrived at the nearby town Kurenetz. Prior to this, he was a sergeant in the Polish Army and had a good military preparation. So, when he met young men in Kurenetz who were planning to join the resistance, he taught them how to use weapons, how to take rifles apart and put them together, and trained them how to be effective members of the resistance.

Eventually, he joined the resistance brigade, the People's Avenger, and was appointed as second to the leader of the brigade. He was renowned for his bravery in battle. In a short time, he demolished four trains filled with the ammunition of the enemy. The fourth train that he derailed (traveling from Minsk to Molodecno) caused the deaths of more than a thousand German soldiers who died when the ammunition in the train exploded. For this mission, he received awards of excellence and was named a Hero of the Soviet Union. He fell in battle against the Nazis not far from the town of Ilya. He was twenty-seven years old.

When he returned three years later to Vileyka, he wished very much to receive papers to travel to Israel, but was not able to. Despite all his training, he was not permitted to immigrate. Meanwhile, the time came for him to serve in the Polish army. After two and a half years he returned home, but some time later was deployed again to serve for six weeks. He did not return home after these six weeks, as war had started and the Germans had crossed the Polish border; his unit became POWs. He was able to escape from the German POW camp, swimming across the river Wiesla, and after walking through Poland for a few months he finally returned to Vileyka, at that point in Soviet hands.

Noah found a job, but after a year he was deployed by the Soviet army, and sent to work in building buttresses in the area of Byalistok. When the Russo-German war started in June 1941, all contact was lost with him. I immediately escaped from Vileyka and fled deep into Soviet Russia, but my father, Josef Leib Dinerstein, my sister Chaja with her husband Cheim Taubes, and the children Zeev and Miriam stayed in Vileyka. They were all murdered by the Nazis in 1941.

I learned of the fate of my brother Noah only after I returned from Siberia, where I spent the war years. I was told about his death by some war survivors. Noah joined Narodny Mastitel (Russian), the headquarters of which were in the area of Naruc. I don't know how he was able to reach them [editor's note: read Salman Gurevich's story to learn of this]. Some witnesses among them - Vichna Friedman from Dolchinov, for instance - told me Noah was a very brave fighter who took part in dangerous missions against the Nazis. He rescued many Jews from the ghettos and camps, bringing them to partisans in the forest.

He fell in a mission against the Germans as hero of the Soviet Union in the last days of war in that area. The newspaper, Partisan, wrote about him, saying that postmortem, he had received commendation as Hero of the Soviet Union. His image will remain in our hearts for eternity.

Once, during a blockade the Germans organized against the resistance, it soon became obvious that the Nazis would defeat the partisans. From their bunkers, they spitfired the resistance unit. The partisans were outnumbered and could not break through the blockade. Together with his Jewish friend from Minsk - a man by the name of Fabrikant - Chaim jumped from his hiding place. Armed with grenades, they attacked the bunkers of the Germans. They killed the Nazis and exploded the bunker with their grenades, but they paid for this victory with their lives. After death, Chaim was awarded a medal of Hero of the Soviet Union.

The survivors from Kurenetz and Vileyka tell of the close contact between this family and the partisans - both resistance members who were Jews and gentiles. Many times, they endangered their own lives by sending difficult-to-obtain medicines to the forests both to save sick Jews hiding there as well as partisans themselves.

During the big massacre of Kurenetz on September 9, 1942, some families were able to hide from the Nazis and by miracle survived. However, they did not know how to leave the town and arrive at the Borodina forest. For many, Riva's was the only address they knew. She got in touch with the underground for their sake, and was able to transfer the surviving Jews to a safe haven in the forest and villages. Riva's family helped many Jewish families either by collecting the money and possessions that they gave for safeguarding to Christian people who lived in the area, which by that point had become Judenrhein, or, sometimes, by giving their own money and clothes, which the Jews could exchange for food. Their hands were open toward all Jews in need.

Riva's family waited for an opportunity to escape and flee to the forest themselves, but each time they planned an escape, they were asked by their friends in the forest to stay in town and use their advantageous position for the service of the resistance. Ultimately, this kindness and helpfulness was what caused them to lose their lives. The Germans learned that this family was in contact with the partisans, and for this they paid with their lives.

In Soviet times, she worked in Krasne, later moving to Vileyka. On the day of the massacre of the Vileykan Jews, three Jewish families in the Kalafi village were killed. Amongst these were Berta's parents. That day, Berta was at the Vileyka train station. When she found out what had been done to her parents, she quickly went to the Volkovisczinzna village and hid with Christian friends. From there, she got in touch with the partisans, who gave her a Browning rifle. She pretended to be a village girl, visiting even the Gestapo house where Josef Norman, from Vileyka, worked in the printing house. After work, he would print pamphlets for the resistance in this Gestapo printing house. Berta would take and distribute them amongst the villagers and partisans. She was also able to obtain Aryan IDs for Josef and Mula Norman.

The resistance members suggested Berta be a nurse for the brigade. She refused, saying she must take an active part in the missions and avenge the spilled blood of her parents. On one occasion, during a heavy shelling by the Germans, a partisan who was in command of a machine gun did not shoot back at the Nazis. Whether he did this because he was in shock or because he didn't want to shoot was not clear, but he even intended to leave the weapon behind and run. Berta threatened him with her gun, forcing him to go back to the machine gun and fire. This resulted in enemy retreat.

In the forest, they talked of Berta as if she were a wild wind. They said she was brave and full of spirit. One of the partisans in the forest tried to molest her, and since she was very pure, she fought his attempts and he murdered her.

Her nephew survived, now lives in Israel, and is in touch with people from Kurenetz.