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In the Days of Horror

In Poland the country In Jewish cities and shtetlach The Shechina[1] rested. The river turned blue–a transparent mirror. Green was the footpath, the open plain And the serene grassy hill. Yearning, cozy hometowns nestled in the forest. In spring, the lilac branches caressed like warm fingers. Affectionate joy shone on the meadows Around the shepherd's tent. From pure Jewish hearts, from students and friends Light and love, courage and faith welled up. Now, the sun in smoke–a glowing brick. The Jews lie murdered on their doorsteps. Signs of horror: a bloodied child's cradle, Rusty bolts, shredded East drawings[2]. And the Shechina flutters with broken wings, Sobs over the holy sacrifice. And my tears flow over the great devastation.

1. The Divine Presence Return
2. A hand drawn sign posted to indicate east, the direction of prayer, in the house Return

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The shtetl incinerated. Pieces, holy parchment– Frozen, Jewish hands. A drunk Nazi dances in Moishe Shmuel's kitl[1], He covers a bloody fleck with the statute board Of the Jewish worker's library. The decree fell on me too, To be annihilated by the Nazi murderers. No one should know of my body. At my head there must not be Any tombstone. Who then annulled The evil decree for me? From whose merit? For what reward? Maybe I was not worthy at all, For the same to happen to me? God, woe is me For such mercy For such protection!

1. White linen coat worn on holidays Return

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Magic, magic, magician; Fog, froth, from goblets. Demons crow on the chimneys; The whirlwind weeps in hovels. The moon spins a silvery net, And sleeps on foggy down. The devil dances a minuet With a Jewish child's skeleton. Ghetto-Poland writhes in fever. The goy drunk with hate. He goes to the plain The nobleman on a hunt– A Jew fleeing from the flame. Watchman of the night of horror, How can you bear it? God rocks Yankele in his cradle The baby carriage bloodied. Rolling wagon; Wheel on clods The whip cracks A curse From the hut there blinks A frightened eye– A corpse–the balagoleh[2] What do you mean, Poland, False snake, We abandoned you? My blonde beard, Your corn in the field; In the wind My voice protests. Watchman, watchman on the watch Do you also hear the protests? God beweeps Yankeleh In horrible dawns. From the well– My brother's eye; Your river My blood floods over. My fear chokes Your blue night, Until god pries open The graves… Watchman, watchman of the night, What can you tell us? --God cuddles Yankeleh; day is already rising.

1. Pseudonym of Dr. Israel Stern Return
2. Carriage driver Return

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Blood, my blood, do not cool ! ! ! Do not silence the nights of horrors – Carry the blind away to dream's darkness– To light and evil, to Greece, Rome, and the bonfire ! ! ! A desolate plague on the plains of Poland, That destroyed my home and child ! ! ! A conflagration before the Germans, the vile ones, Who devoured my life and soul !!! Accursed be the nations, Who burnt my steps in vain, Who want to wipe out my name, My holy home is destroyed and desolate ! ! ! In the name of the race of the slaughterers – I render an accounting for the violence – For the shame of generations and murder – For disgrace in the conflagration of the exile !!! – – –

On September 1, 1939, the dark clouds descending on Jews everywhere, especially on the Jews of Poland, quickly enveloped the Jews of Tishevits. Every Tishevits Jew was consumed with deathly fear by the question:

Berish Finger and his tragically murdered wife

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unbearable. In fear of being bombed, the whole shtetl fled to the farmers on the outskirts leaving everything behind unguarded. It was the second day of Rosh Hashanah. The next day, a squadron of airplanes appeared over Tishevits, and dropped several bombs on the police station. The result was that 13 Christians were killed but not one Jew, even though the whole Ben Zvi Adler family was nearby. This apparently did not please the Tishevits antisemites, and early the following day, i.e. Rosh Hashanah^[1], 9:00 o'clock in the morning, about 20 Christians with bottles of benzene in their hands set the whole shtetl on fire from one end to the other, so that only 10-15 Jewish homes were left standing. Even the courtyard beyond the bridge, where Shloime Landau and others lived, was partly burned. It was an indescribable blow to everyone. From all their possessions they were left with only what they had managed to carry away when they fled to the Christians; everything else was burned. Having no other choice, every Jew had to arrange accommodations with Christians, paying large sums for rent. For one small room with no comforts, they had to pay 50 Zlotys per month (10 dollars a month)! It's hard to imagine how the poorer people made out, not having the means to pay such high prices. In addition, winter was approaching. Understandably, food was also a problem. Slowly, they began to feel the sting of hunger. Two days later, the Nazi murderers entered Tishevits. When they were told the reason for the fire, they said, “Pity that all the Jews were not destroyed with the houses.” No Jews were to be seen anymore in the streets. Everyone hid. Suddenly, several days later, came the news that the Germans were leaving and the Russians were coming. The news alone was enough for the Jews to come out of their hiding places. And when the news was confirmed, quiet evening meetings took place, and the joy was boundless. The Germans left Yom Kippur Eve. The Polish military arrived via the Hrubieszow road, in an exhausted state. On Yom Kippur the Polish army fled any way they could, and at 2:00 AM the Soviets arrived.

The Jews went out into the streets. Joy like this had not been felt in a long time. But unfortunately, the joy did not last long. Not even three whole weeks. As soon as we heard the terrible news

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that the Soviets were pulling back to the river Bug, and the Germans were returning to Tishevits, the panicked frenzy returned. Whoever knew someone on the other side of the Bug fled immediately. The majority remained in Tishevits reasoning that if they had to die, it was better to do so at home, because at that time there was a great flight of Jews to the other side of the Bug, and nobody would let you into their house. There were also a lot of epidemics caused by the mass of homeless.

The Germans entered Tishevits for the second time after the holidays. After a few days, they left again, abandoning the shtetl, so that the Jews could again go freely about their business. Trade and movement picked up again. Occasionally a vehicle with Germans would show up, and Jews would disappear from the streets again. The Germans would spend a couple of hours in town, and then leave, and the Jews would surface again. February 1, 1940 the Polish police arrived in Tishevits, the same police as before the war, but with a Volksdeutsche commander. As it turned out, they also expected to be bribed, and the Jews gave them more than they asked for. They created a Christian community with Zarembski as “voit” (city chairman).

We were soon shocked by the terrible news that the Germans were driving the Jews from Chelm and Hrubieszow to the Russian border, and that the entire route was covered with Jewish corpses. From three to four thousand Jews fell on the road from Chelm to Sokol. The remainder, in similar numbers, were driven by armed Germans across the Bug to the Russian side. Many drowned in the Bug, and those who managed to get to the other side, half frozen, were met with gunfire from the Russians. When the Russians became aware of what was happening, they sent an inquiry to the Kremlin. The reply came that they were to be sent back to the German side, and that's what happened. Seven to eight thousand Jews were expelled from Chelm and Hrubieszow, and between 1500 to 2000 returned.

After this saga, my brother-in-law, Avrem'chl Eitl, determinded to run away to wherever he could. This plan did not succeed. Only Avrem'chl and his family, and my daughter, Manye, managed to escape to Rawa-Ruska. The rest of my family and I stayed in my brother-in-law's-house. He had a house in the suburbs opposite the orchard. The house belonged to Mattes Weintraub. I brought along a homeless family from Warsaw. We tried to normalize things. The voit, Zarembski, quickly reestablished normal life and took good care of the Jewish population so that no injustice would occur. Together with

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Moishe Ginsberg, Chaim Boxenboim, and Zarembski, we created a business that went quite well. At that time, we undertook to create a philanthropic committee with the participation of the following people: Yehuda Leib Feller, Moishe Lerner, Abraham Laks, Moishe Motl Shalier, Moishe Shmuel Shtengl, Bentche Adler, Ephraim Zuker, and I. Because I had a good residence, all the work was done at my place.

At one meeting Zarembski gave us an allotment of twenty wagonloads of wood to be distributed to poor Jewish families. The wood was a thousand times more important than bread. We received the 20 wagonloads on more than one occasion. That's how we managed to solve the wood problem for the poor population. At the same time, I proposed taking the bread ration cards from the better off, and giving each of the poor a double portion. We also took care of finding some fatty spreads with the bread. Every well off person contributed weekly to this endeavor. This carried on until Purim, 1940. Around this time, Zarembski came running hurriedly by my house, and yelled through the window that he had something of importance to share with the Jewish population, and that I should meet him at 6:00 PM with some 20 friends. The whole shtetl soon heard of this, and various rumors began to circulate. Some good and some contrary. Punctually at 6:00 he arrived, and with a glass of alcohol for him, and butterflies in the stomach for us, he informed us that we had to establish a Judenrat of 12 people with me as chairman. He had to telephone the landrat in Zamosc the following morning, and inform them that the Judenrat had been set up in Tishevits. Instinctively, and perhaps against my will, I stated that I did not accept the position. No matter how much the voit and the others tried to persuade me, I refused to accept. The voit turned to Ephraim Zuker, and Leibish Gelber, previously kehila members. They replied that if Finger would not accept, neither would they. The shtetl immediately went into an uproar. The wives of the assembled arrived to take them home. It was known that the voit was a partner of my brother-in-law in the brickyard, and now my partner, so that I had to meet with him several times a day. The shtetl figured that if I didn't want to undertake this, Zarembski must have told me it was a bad thing. The matter became quite serious. I ignored the fact that some of the participants approached me with a finished list, almost entirely of Zionists, if I would only take it on. But after a discussion with my wife

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I gave a categorical no. So Zarembski sat down and made up his own list nominating 12 people. Since I was not on the list, everyone was certain that it was not a good thing. Finally, at 3:00 AM, we reached an agreement that every shtibl or association should delegate 6 people, and throw the names in a ballot box, and draw lots. At this point, a boy arrived from Zileh Zuker with a message for Zarembski that he voluntarily accepts the post of chairman of the Judenrat. Understandably, we straightaway accepted it. There were over 100 men in my house, and we immediately took to the work. The result was the following: from the Husiatyn shtibl, Issachar Helrubin, and Abraham Yakov Kornblum; From the Radziner shtibl, Zileh Zuker and Aharon Med; from the Trisker shtibl, Matisyahu Blachman; from the handworkers, Yosef Vinder, Emmanuel Blecher, Nuteh Schneider–Mendl Tuvieh's son-in-law, and a German Jew, Fishleber, and from the Zionists, Shloime Kreiner as secretary with no duties. Altogether 10 people. First thing in the morning, the Judenrat held a meeting, and they rented a place from Reuven Issac Kopel.

Some weeks passed quietly. Finally the Polish police with a German commandant arrived. Obviously Kotlitzki was also present among the police, and he quickly taught them how to extort money from the Jews. Shushan Purim 1940, he disguised himself with a mask, and with an accomplice, he entered Israel Aharon Eitel's with the intent of robbery. At the time he was living at a certain Wengzenovitch's near the [Catholic] church. Yosef Eilboim happened to be there with a sum of money he was going to sell to Eitel. He tried to prevent them from searching him, and they shot him straightaway. He was the first martyr in Tishevits.

Then several more quiet weeks passed, until one Sunday, around May 5th, three Gestapo came from Zamosc, along with a Jew, a certain Goldman. He also worked for the Gestapo. They drove straight to the Judenrat, and demanded English textiles for three suits, and three pairs of boots. In about three hours it was done, and when they were given the goods, they said that Tuesday they would have to provide 150 Jews for labor in Zamosc. They tried to negotiate with the Jew to provide only 100. They finally settled on 120, and they drove off. The Judenrat immediately called on 50 of the better off Jews. The Judenrat was in a Christian house on Ostrow. I was also present, and they decided to hire volunteers to work. They would pay whatever they asked for. The 120 Jews showed up by 12 at night. The 50 well-off Jews who were there,

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gave increasingly large sums of money, so that every worker received a month's worth in advance. There was about 7500 Zl in the kitty. That was a colossal sum of money. This dragged on until 4:00 AM. As we were going home, after just a few meters, we saw trucks and taxis with Germans. In the blink of an eye, the whole shtetl was surrounded by Germans shouting, “Juden heraus!” Within 20 minutes, the whole shtetl of men and women were standing at the plaza by the school in their underwear. There are no words to describe what I saw then, even if no one died. They chose 150 Jews including me. The rest had to sing and dance for over an hour in their underwear in the street in the view of thousands of Poles who came running. They did not touch the Judenrat, and they had the right to exclude their children and near ones.

In my car were Gershon Shtuden with his 18 year old Leibl, Leib (Ronieh's) Eilboim, Moishe Shmuel Shtengl, Moishe Frieder, Israel Kalechstein, Ephraim Zuker with his son Yerachmiel, Dovid'che Garber and his two sons, Moishe Motl Shalier, and others. The people really hurt me with their words. Why had I spoiled such a good plan like being in the Judenrat? Moishe Motl was on my side, and said that we are better off here than in the Judenrat. We have not yet seen the end. They drove us to Zamosc to the prochownia and they told us to recite vidui, because we were soon going to be shot. We also encountered Jews from Shebreshin, Zamosc, Tomaszow, Komarow, and Bilgoraj totaling about 800 men. The crying was huge. The abovementioned Goldman played the greatest role in the beatings and haranguing. The highest Gestapo officer did not permit himself to do what Goldman did. He beat the women severely. It turned out that my decision not to be in the Judenrat was correct. On the 15^th of July, this Goldman was shot like a dog by his best friend, and we could relax a little. The story that we were going to be shot, turned out to be a lie. We were divided into two camps. Half went to the barracks in Zamosc opposite the cinema; the other half was sent to Bialobrzeszin, 12 km from Zamosc. The work consisted of renovations. We were transported every day through Volksdeutsche with song. The work was not hard. Then the good times began

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from the Judenrat in Tishevits. First of all, our wives demanded from the Judenrat the return of the money that was given to hire workers that evening. They did not return the money and gave no explanation. After that, our wives demanded that, after one month, the Judenrat send other workers. At first they agreed and prepared a list of people, but later it turned out to be a ruse by the Judenrat, because why send people to Zamosc and receive nothing in return, when they could raise as much money as they wanted from those not willing to go. We became aware that every day there were scandalous things happening to our wives and parents on the part of the Judenrat who couldn't have cared less. The greater the scandal, the more money they extorted from those staying behind. Finally, around Tisha B'Av, there was a partial end to this also. Jews were being forced into labor all over Poland. Tishevits Jews were also captured and sent to Belzec on the Polish-Russian border to dig 10-meter ditches under the direction of the German Jew- murderer, Rolf. They also brought Jews from Otwock, Lublin, and other places, altogether about 500 Jews. They created a camp in Tishevits. The camp was located in Moishe Dovid'ch's mill. They worked at regulating the flow of the river Huczwa. At that time, my wife, and Bentche Adler learned from the Zamosc Judenrat that one could negotiate our being transferred to the camp at Tishevits. In brief, the matter cost 15,000 Zl and on October 15^th we were in Tishevits, almost at home, because every day we had to go to work, but we could eat and sleep at home. We breathed a little more freely. The Judenrat was not happy. Some of us were determined to get revenge, and demanded the return of the money, but we decided to wait. We worked like that by the water until January 15, 1941. Then we were sent to help build a road from Tishevits to Laszczow along with Austrian and German soldiers. We worked day and night, 12-hour shifts. Pesach, the road was finished and the German army began moving towards the Russian border. There were so many soldiers passing through day and night, we were certain the Germans were out to conquer the whole world. People were beginning to fall. Two Jews from Otwock were shot for supposedly trying to escape, Isaac Kopel for hiding a Jew from the camp, Yakov Misheh Geber for being out 10 minutes after curfew, a Jew from Laszczow–met coming early from Laszczow. We began to feel

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the end was approaching. When the war with Russia began on June 22, 1941, everyone was convinced that our days were numbered, disregarding the fact that during the “good” days of their marching on Russia, they had forgotten a little about the Jews. Our fate was sealed. The situation of the poorer population was unbearable. Cases of death by starvation were seen. The previous philanthropic organisations appealed to the Judenrat to restart our work without requiring anything of the Judenrat, and received a negative reply. It is worth mentioning here that 10 days after we were taken to the camp in Zamosc, a German police detachment and murderers arrived in Tishevits. My home appealed to them. So they threw out my wife and children. It was not even possible to get the hidden merchandise out which is still probably lying there and rotting to this day. Notwithstanding the fact that they moved to Mendeleh Finger's gated house a year later, I was still forbidden to return to my residence.

The German police required 30 people a day for labor. A lot of people went to farms to work. A work permit like that cost 3,000 Zl. I also had one of those permits. All the money went to the Judenrat. At the same time, the Jewish police was established: Meyer Shek, commandant, and policemen Dovid Leib Oifir–Betsalel Rimers's son, Melech Shteper, and Heni Lozer, Wishniver's son. Their job was to ensure that the Jews obeyed the Judenrat and the Germans' orders. If not, there was trouble. They did not stop at any punishment, including beatings and arrests. The jail for Jews was in a cellar. The gendarmerie was very brutal. Killings at every turn. People were shot for trivialities. Moishe Bashister and his daughter were shot for being found with a little bit of merchandise. Mendl Tsvilich for nothing, just because. Feivel Stein's boy for telling someone the Germans were coming. Leib Shmeis because he did not chop wood properly at the gendarmerie, or for stealing eight empty beer bottles. Berish Gelbert, and Moishe Stickendreier's sons, both eighteen-year-old boys, for not cleaning the horse stalls well enough. A certain brutal Schultz distinguished himself in his shootings, killing thousands of Jews, Jews from our neighborhood. While we were sweeping the roadway, a girl near me with the name of Shalut, Ephraim Shalut's sister, was shot because he didn't like the way she was sweeping.

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The days dragged on in this manner until about February 1942 when an order was proclaimed that Jews must surrender all their furs. If even the smallest piece of fur was found after this order, the penalty would be death. Within eight hours, every piece of fur was in German hands. There were two martyrs here as well. Yakov Dovid Reichenberg (Shimon Reichenberg's father) for selling his fur to a Christian who turned it over to the Germans, and a woman, Leizer Tillis's wife, Aharon Tillis's sister for being found with a fur collar.

In March 1942, we were shocked to hear the news that they were building a crematorium in Majdanek and in other places. No one could imagine that people were capable of such a thing. We found out that the Lublin Jews were the first sacrifices. Lublin had about 70,000 Jews at the time. The Lublin Judenrat was required to supply 4000 Jews every night. This lasted for three weeks. At first, it was thought that they were being taken to work. We later learned that they had been taken to Belzec, to the crematoriums. We also learned that Jews from France, Belgium, Holland, with their rich baggage, and others were being transported to Belzec. They were well treated until Belzec, but when they arrived at Belzec they saw their true fate. After Lublin, the entire area around suffered the same fate. Pesach, Zamosc joined the others. There were 16,000 Jews in Zamosc then. Every day, they took 1000 Jews. We in Tishevits tried to delude ourselves that they were only concerned with the big cities, but after Zamosc, we felt sure that we would be next. We expected it to happen daily. We began to prepare hiding places. Unmarried people ran off to the forests. Three days before Shavuot, news reached us that, for example, the “voit,” Michalkovitch, (Zarembski was in Dachau already) had arranged for 200 horse- drawn wagons for Shavuot. That made us certain that we were next. Shavuot night, the gendarmerie and two vehicles with Gestapo arrived. They sent for the oldest in the Judenrat, and the commandant of the police, and people like Zileh Zuker, Yosl Weiner, and Meier Shek and they were told, “Listen elders, we have come to “resettle” the Tishevits Jews. If it goes well, you will stay, otherwise, ‘fast mal auf.’” The elders immediately understood the significance. Soon about 100 SS arrived, and set to work. Some of the

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Judenrat, one Polish policeman, and 4-5 Germans set out in various sectors where the Jews lived. It was around 2:00 AM. With the knowledge of my boss, a Christian, I made a hiding place under the floor. In that hole were: me, my wife, my Moisheleh, a boy of seven, Moteleh and Nathan Shlafrik's wife and a girl, altogether 6 souls. After an hour of lying there we heard shouting in Polish, “Send out the Jews, or we will kill you and incinerate you.” The voice was getting closer all the time. We began to hear shots. We also heard weeping. Not far from us, we heard a familiar voice, and then footsteps and knocking on my boss's door, and the call, “Yasha, otworz!” (“Yasha, open the door”). He opened the door. We recognized Meier Shek's voice saying to the boss, “Give up the Jews immediately, if you want to stay alive. Berish Finger and his family.” The Germans said the same in German. The boss replied that he did not know where we had gotten to. As soon as it became dark, they disappeared. They opened the house, and looked in all the hidden places. After 15 minutes of searching they left. Then Yasha closed the gate and opened our hiding place, and asked us if we had heard what Meier Shek had said. If Shek knew that he had to give us up, then we had to leave here; if not, he was going to call the Germans. We all began to cry then. Yasha too broke into tears. This all took an hour in which he kept telling us to leave. This aktion ended with the shipment of 800 Jews to Belzec. My wife and Moteleh went into the fields and hid among the farm equipment, and my child and I hid in an empty stable. Moisheleh dressed like a goy, and went to the village, Mietkie, to a Christian we knew. At night I went to the village, Tyczow, where I found about 200 Jews from Tishevits. Abraham Laks had hidden them all there. (It must be mentioned here that because of this fact, about 6 weeks later, Abraham Laks and his 6 year old son were shot in Tyczow). Among those taken to Belzec were Moishe Yitzchak Dornfeld, Shoshanna Moteh Zilberman with Yenteleh, Gershon Shtuden and his daughter, the rav and his whole family. The following day, he and Moisheleh Lerner returned to Tishevits, but without their families. Almost all the families of the Judenrat had stayed in Tishevits because they had been in the Judenrat during the aktion. Hershel Braun and his family also remained behind. He managed to

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hide in the court of the nobleman from Mietkie, along with Shloime Kreiner and his family. It is worth pointing out that 90% of the detainees were tradesmen and of the poorer class, not having had the ability where and how to hide in the early minutes. Among the dead were Zileh Zuker, the chairman of the Judenrat, and his assistant, Yosl Weiner (for not having provided 30 liters of alcohol during the aktion). Actually, they had provided the alcohol distributing the bottles to each German that entered the Judenrat, but ran out when the officer arrived, and they were immediately shot. Henoch Zeigermacher, Moishe and Shmuel Malier, Azriel Hochgelernter and his family, Malkeh Bergman, Pinchas Zweig, Mendeleh and Abraham Finger, Dovid Zweig and his wife, Fradl Mendl Katsev and family, Isaak Eng and family, Moishe Janower and wife, Yankel Tzvilich and his wife, Liebeleh, and another Yankel Tzvilich. A butcher and his family, Dovid Waxenfeld and family, Shloime Shlegl, Malkeh Zweig, Eliyahu Zweig's mother–shot while lying in bed, Tevl Shteng and family, Yosef Hammer and family, and others. As the Jews were standing in the street prior to being taken away, the Dobuzek nobleman, Kaleczkawski, asked the Gestapo for 100 Jews to work in the fields in order to supply the Germans with wheat. After long negotiations, the Gestapo ordered him to pick 20 men. First he chose those he knew personally: Bentche Adler's two sons, Yehuda Leib Feller's son, Kohat Friedlander and a son, Feivel Stein's son, and others. The German police committed to supplying him with 20 women in the following two days, so that there were 20 Tishevits men and 20 women working for him, as well as some Jews from Laszczow. Two months later, some unknown people came and shot him. Who shot him was the topic of various theories, but the Jews working there felt more insecure. Two days later, twelve SS men came from Tomaszow and shot them on the spot. On that day, I, along with Yehuda Leib Feller, Yosef Zweig, Meir'tche Naster, Dutcheh Helfman, and a son, Gershon Shtuden and his Leibeleh, two Warsaw Jews, Yehoshua Sand and his family, were in Tyczow working at the kolejka^[2]. When we returned we ran into the 12 SS who stopped us, but they didn't bother us. It seems that they had planned to shoot us, but they postponed it for a while, because staying overnight in Tishevits, they, along with the gendarmerie, surrounded the courtyard at dawn with the cry: “Juden, heraus!” and shot 49 Jews. Among those, Yudl Shtraser and his wife, Meir'tche Naster, wife and

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daughters, Dodl Helfman's wife and sister, Leibeleh Frost and family, Feivl Zeifenmacher and wife, Mendl Shohet's family, and others. They were ordered to be buried right by the city toilets, and that's where they were buried.

Wandering around the fields along with Moteh Fecher, Fishl Shpiz and their families, with nothing to eat or drink, no farmer allowing us to approach, we decided to surrender ourselves to the Germans. Because in the end we still believed they would take us to work. But a neighbor of mine, Panashkova, showed up on a bicycle and said she had been looking for me for several hours, and that it was quiet in town already. They had re-formed the Judenrat with the German Jew at the head, and the Germans were handing out ID cards for those still alive. We returned to the city. Coming to the new cemetery on Ostrow road, we came on the martyrs being carried to their burial. How did this transport look? On one wagon there were about 15 bodies, a head hanging out here, hands and feet from another there. You can't imagine how frightening this was. Seeing this picture, Itelleh Fecher fainted and was unconscious for a long time in spite of our attempts to revive her. Following the wagon were the Jewish police. We, the men, were immediately called on to help bury the martyrs. At the gravesite, the police ordered us to search all the belongings of the dead. Obviously they meant just the money, and we found not a small amount, and the police took it all. Simultaneously, the police went up to all the Jews coming from the villages, and told them that they must bring a certain amount of money within the next two hours, to pay for their ID cards. From me, they asked 4,000 Zl, which was a lot of money at the time. And I had to pay. About 600 Jews were still alive. We thought that those taken away were taken away to work, but our hearts told us that our near and dear ones were no longer among the living.

We collected 10,000 Zl to be paid to Christians to find out what had happened to our people. The Christians brought us some Jewish letters, signed with several Jewish names. This was forced out of those Jews still alive by the Germans. The Christians, the Polish murderers, did not tell us the truth. After two weeks of this near-death life, we were ordered to construct a ghetto in the courtyard near the bridge. This was impossible, because 4-5

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houses stood there. So the Germans allowed us to live with the Christians on Ostrow Street, and also in the few still standing houses like Reuben Kopel's, Leibish Shpiz, Dovid Waxenfeld and others. So half the Jews lived in one part, and half in the courtyard. Thus, the real end began because no Jew was allowed to leave the ghetto. People died of starvation. At the arrival of the Germans, the Judenrat had established a public kitchen, and the Judenrat from Zamosc supplied 4 sacks of rye flour, and a sac of beans every week. All we could cook was water and cabbage leaves. We tried with despair and heartache to do something for the poor but we encountered an opponent in the German Jew, Fishleber. He even threatened to turn us over to the Germans, so we were witnesses to the deaths of the hungry, and were prevented from helping. Some of the poor went to the forest to look for mushrooms and to beg for help from the farmers. But they would not help under any circumstances. Perl Krant gave her two children some mushrooms to eat. They died two hours later.

In the meantime, the Days of Awe for 1942 approached. No author can adequately describe that Rosh Hashanah. Rivers of tears, in the full sense of that word, were spilled by the few hundred Jews in Tishevits. Our hearts told us that the last days, or even hours, were upon us. And actually, a day after Rosh Hashanah, the tragedy of the above mentioned 49 people occurred, and they were all shot in a matter of 10 minutes at 5:00 am. Some of them were only wounded. Among them, Yonathan Hodes' sister, Chentche Leib Frost's wife. Yochanan lived on the Ostrow road. At 6:00 one evening, he was returning from visiting his sister, and he encountered a German, and was shot. At the same time, we received news from Lublin, Radom and other larger cities that there were no more Jews remaining there. We also received news that dozens of train cars were arriving at Belzec every day with Jews from the surrounding areas. On October 2nd, Fishleber came from Zamosc with the news that everything we were speculating about was a lie, because today the Judenrat in Zamosc had received provisions for several months. He had seen it himself. That was on a Thursday. The following morning, the ghetto in Zamosc was surrounded, and in the span of 5 hours, not one Jew was left in Zamosc. We learned this on Friday at noon. Consequently, we also prepared ourselves to leave. We began to consider going to the forest. But how do you go without weapons?

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These were not available for any sum of money. And what do you do with the small children and women? Winter was coming. Several days after the Zamosc liquidation, Sonja Shek suggested to me that we should go hide ourselves at a Christian she knew, a certain Kupitko, but I had to give away all that I possessed. The Christian would hide us in a cellar. Obviously I agreed, and we slowly moved over to the cellar, and the second day after walling us into the cellar, the predictable happened. About 500 Jews from Tishevits fled to the forest, and 70 Jews in all were transported to Belzec. Twenty-two Jews were killed on the spot, and some fled to Christians. After 3 days in the cellar, in a veritable living grave, the Christian threw a letter down telling us that the Polish police knew where we were, and after tonight we had to leave. Nine o'clock at night, he took apart the wall, and ordered us to go. The women and children broke out in tears. The Christian felt bad, asked us to wait, and left. He returned at 2:00 AM, and told us he had a place for 8 people, but we were 10. Two of us had to immediately leave the house. I sent word to Meyer Shek telling him that, from my family, I would leave, and he should choose someone from his family. His answer came that this was his goy, and that no one from his family would be leaving. I answered that I was going, and that anyone was welcome to voluntarily join me. My son, Moisheleh, immediately volunteered, and we both left the house without so much as a goodbye, so angry were we at Meyer Shek.

We cut across the highway and went into a narrow avenue. There we were stopped by a watchman who wanted to report us to the gendarmes, but after a lot of pleading, he let us go. As we were fleeing, we ran into deep mud on the Gwozak. I picked up Moisheleh, and we got out of the mud, and crossed the river Huczwa carrying him on my shoulders. We entered the Turkowice forest, and our running carried us to a Christian, Dirde Nos, in the village of Mietkie. Five in the morning, I let him know that I was in his plevnik. He immediately brought us warm clothing and hot food. After being there for three days, I proposed to him that he should make us a hiding place. Maybe we could survive the war here. The women in the family opposed this in no uncertain terms. I also had a lot of merchandise hidden with him. He proposed that I should spend the day in the forest and come to the stable at night

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where I would find food ready, and go back to the forest at dawn. Not having another choice, I agreed. After seven days, the Christian demanded that I leave. So one Sunday before dawn, Moisheleh and I left for the Mietkie forest. When we got there, it had already begun to be day. Suddenly we heard footsteps and voices. We quickly hid in the bushes. To our amazement we heard Yiddish being spoken, and we recognized Surehleh, Moishe Motl's, voice. We went straight over to her. She and Beile Spodek were searching for potatoes in the field. I informed them that it was too late for potatoes, so they went back taking us along. The condition of the Jews I found there was indescribable. Among them were Moishe Motl Shalier and his family, Beile Spodek and her two children, without a husband, Leib Eilboim and his wife Hadass, Cheivl Zeifenmacher's two little girls, Shloime Hirsh Spodek, a girl, Alter Kleiner's wife and a child. All of them in rags and barefoot, and without a groshen, without a piece of bread. I had with me several days supply of food. I immediately distributed it among them and stilled their hunger for a little while. They told me that on leaving the town, the Podbor Christians confiscated everything they had. From Moishe Motl, they took a fortune in money. Also from Leib Eilboim. Unable to witness their misfortune, Moisheleh and I went back to the Christian at night. I told him the whole story, and he took all the clothes he didn't need, filled two sacs with them, and we dragged it to the forest with the last of our strength. The joy was huge. Everyone got warmly dressed, including the little children, and everyone ate well. Then the question became, what next? After many suggestions, it was decided to build a bunker deep in the forest.

I promised to supply merchandise, ie, leather, to make food from as long as we were able to survive. At night, I went to the Christian again. We all had to worry about the provisions for the earlier bunker. Everyone agreed, and the next day we set out to make a bunker in a farther away, deeper in the forest. Everyone who was supposed to be in the new bunker came, 4 of the Zuker brothers, 2 young men from Turobin, exceptionally decent young men. They could do anything, and with luck, we moved into the new bunker.

Every day, at 7:00 am, Liebe Zweig and I gathered together the day's provisions and brought them to the old bunker. One day, while walking along with Shaul Zweig, we came across fresh footprints from Tishevits boots. We followed the footprints for about 3 km,

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and came across a small bunker, and found Abraham Pelz and his wife and 2 sons. They were very happy to see us. We got together often afterwards. When he learned that I was supporting 13 people for 10 weeks, he offered us 500 Zl. I did not want to take his money. I advised them not to stir from the bunker except in exceptional circumstances. One Thursday, Abraham Pelz comes to our bunker and tells us that he has a yohrzeit this coming Shabbes, and that he wanted to come to us on Shabbes to daven and say kaddish. We decided to also invite all the people from the earlier bunker and take the opportunity to have a drink together. We baked some fresh rolls at night. As day broke, while all the others were asleep, I was the only one up, and I heard shooting nearby. Everyone woke up grabbed something to eat with them, and we began to run. The result was the following: Abraham Pelz and his family were the first killed. A few people from our bunker remained. The tragedy was extraordinary. The bunker was burned and destroyed by hand grenades. We spent the whole day warming ourselves by the fire. It was freezing. At two am we separated. Moishele, two young men from Modryn, and I went to the Zukers. We stayed there until Purim. After Purim, we went to Hrubieszow. There, Moishele and I moved into an attic, and spent the summer there. We were captured before Rosh Hashanah and taken to Budzyn, and from there, to camps such as Majdanek, Auschwitz, and others, and we survived. That was just chance. Once in the camp, they took out 800 Jews for the ‘selection’, and they picked my Moisheleh out of the ranks. I took him back in, held him up so he would look taller, and that's how I saved him.

Tel Aviv, August, 1965

Note from the transcriber: I copied this from the pages of Berish Fingers notes. He became sick and was unable to write or describe further. Shmuel Hochtman of kibbutz Saad knows.

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(He gave further clarifications to a few of my questions regarding some issues in his recollections which were written down by P. Landau–Y.Z.)

1. Why did I not agree to be a part of the Judenrat? Because I didn't want to work with the Germans. The members of the Judenrat did not want to create any aid funding for the poor needy except for two: they were Issachar Helrubin and Abraham Yakov Korinstein. They were the representatives of the Husiatyn shtibl. The Judenrat had a kitchen, but all they gave out was a little hot water. You can't live on just hot water. So we organized a committee of the following people: Yidl Leib Feller, Moishe Motl Shalier, Moishe Frieder, Moishe Lerner, and I. We raised money and bought products, and helped the needy with them. When the Judenrat found out about this, they threatened to shoot us like they shot Leib (Shamele's) Englstein at that time. As a result, we were forced to cancel the aid plans.
2. We were hidden by a farmer during the last aktion, me and my family, and Meir Shek and his family. One day the farmer arrived and told us that two people have to leave because there are too many people in the bunker. Meir Shek said that he didn't want to leave because the farmer was “his.” Having no choice, my son and I left leaving my wife, Esther, with my other son to stay.

From the forest, I went to Hrubieszow. From there everyone was taken to a camp called Budzyn. We were there for a year. After that we were transferred to Majdanek. I was there for 13 months. After that,

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we were sent to Auschwitz. We were there for a few days only. From there we were sent to Gleiwitz–in the Blechhammer camp I worked for 6 months until I was liberated.

Some observations: The Helrubin family was killed in 1942 during the last expulsion. In spite of the fact that Helrubin was in the Judenrat, he still conducted himself honorably. He attended very few of their meetings.

I want to point out that Moishe Motl Shalier was not in the Judenrat, and was a scrupulously honest person.

Translator's footnotes:

1. Moishe Ashpiz states in his memoir that it was Rosh Hashanah Eve. (Ed.) Return
2. Narrow gauge railway Return

Greetings to dear Mr. Zipper,

At the beginning of my answer, I apologize for not replying to your letter in a reasonable time as you requested, because of a complete lack of time.

As you may or may not know, I serve as an officer in permanent service in the Israel Defense Forces with the rank of Rav Seren (Major), and I'm sure you'll believe me that I don't have one free minute in a day to devote to matters outside the scope of my duties, and even more so, to sit down and concentrate on something unusual like revisiting a past that brings to mind hair-raising episodes, and very dear people who will never return.

Unfortunately, I will not be able to meet all your requests as detailed in your dear letter for two reasons:

1. I was only fourteen and a half years old when the war broke out.
2. After our town, Tyszowce, burned down, and after a series of wanderings, we moved to live in the nearby town of Komarów. We lived in the apartment of a family who had moved to Russia with the retreat of the Red Army, and we resided in Komarów to the bitter end.

At certain stages we had information about Tyszowce and we also met, but I don't have enough facts to answer about all those. As you know, it was forbidden to leave the residential area, a Jew was forbidden to listen to the radio, read a newspaper, etc. - those who possessed them were subject to the death penalty on the spot.

All the prohibitions and decrees were imposed on us gradually and in exemplary method. So, for example,

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at the beginning of 1940 it was announced that within a week a liquidation sale would be held in stores owned by Jews. A month later it was forbidden to own a radio receiver or to buy a newspaper. Six months later, Jews were forbidden to wear furs, and they had to hand them over to the authorities (a Jew who owned a fur collar was shot immediately). A month later, ration cards were issued and they were gradually reduced to only a few hundred grams of bread per person per day. We were concentrated in limited living areas and we were unable to live freely, our movements were restricted and, apart from going to work under Nazi escort, we were not allowed to leave the residential area at all. In the last year and a half it was forbidden to leave the house between six in the evening and six in the morning. This, of course, applied to Komarów and Tyszowce at the same time. In this manner they controlled us in the tightest way and could easily get us at any time.

I will try to answer within the framework of the sections as you requested and with the limitations I mentioned above:

It was established at the beginning of 1940, and maybe even earlier, because the Germans demanded it so that they would have an address to turn to with their demands. So, for example, when they appeared in the city - their first stop was, of course, the Judenrat. They demanded from them quotas of people for work in the airports, paving roads, cleaning horses and their stables, and all kinds of humiliating jobs for the next day. Also amounts of silver or gold by weight for the following day and at a certain time, and fabrics for suits for the Nazi officers. In the last years they even took several members of the Judenrat with them as hostages, and the Judenrat made efforts to fulfill their demands without objection.

At the disposal of the Judenrat were Jewish policemen in special uniforms, and they constituted the executive arm of the Judenrat. As for the appointments, I think they were determined by the municipal government and with the approval of the German rule in charge of the local authorities.

Of course, there were Judenrat members whom we defined as friendly, and there were those whom we were careful not to come into any contact with, and they, of course, were treated well by the Germans. The same applied to the Jewish policemen. There were Judenrat members who “made efforts” with the German authorities to cancel a certain decree and even received insults and beatings in public, and there were those who filled the quota as required with full rigor. There were proactive actions by the Germans, “selections,” and then, before the transports, the head of the Judenrat and its members appeared and tried to take out the people close to them. If they had to provide a quota of people, it was clear that they went from house to house and skipped their friends' houses. This is where the hatred for the members of the Judenrat came from, because they egoistically protected their family members, relatives, acquaintances and their friends' acquaintances. Today, it is difficult to judge whether it was justified or not, in case there is even the slightest reason for forgiveness.

There were incidents in which the Judenrat resisted handing over people, and then the Germans themselves were forced to collect people - in these cases there were also victims.

Generally - I don't remember any. We maintained a religious family identity, and despite the ban, we gathered in private homes, or in cellars, on the Sabbath and holidays for communal prayer. I remember

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that we often dispersed in the middle of the prayer after the guard outside announced that Germans had arrived, but “heroes” were found, especially among the elders who stayed and prayed with great vigor.

In the course of time, there was a certain cooling regarding the faith, and the young people stopped believing. Even among the elders doubts “crept in” regarding the faith, because, according to their perception, incidents or things happened which cannot be logically imagined, and yet they happened. Nothing happened to the perpetrators while the believers were brutally beaten, murdered and everything sacred to them was desecrated.

Once I even heard such a secret debate between elders known to me as religious who expressed themselves, “I'm afraid that I will stop believing tonight,” and wept during their conversation.

Obviously, there was someone among them (in this case my grandfather z”l), who encouraged them with the tone “God is stronger.” I remember how they warned my grandfather, and literally forced him into the house, when the Germans walked around the city for fear that they would shave off his reddish beard. My grandfather answered with complete certainty that the Rebbe of Kazimierz kept his beard and no German hand dared to raise a pair of scissors, or a knife, on his beard. He was convinced that hand would be paralyzed there and then. And one clear day, when he left the house he was caught by a German who led him to the barber shop. First he took out a knife and cruelly cut his beard with part of the flesh and left the completion of the job to the barber.

This incident destroyed his world. I remember that my aunt came into the house and saw my grandfather sitting in silence, and when she asked, who is the gentile sitting in our house, my grandfather burst into a bitter cry; it was impossible to recognize him.

Despite my free approach today to religious matters (perhaps for such reasons), I fully understand the meaning of such a conversation that came out of the mouths of elders at that time. We will return to education problems: there was no time to engage in educational activities in particular. Every Jew, from the age of 14- 60, had to carry a work card (Arbeitskarte) that was signed every day at a recognized and authorized workplace by the Germans for six days a week, Monday to Saturday inclusive. The owner of an incomplete card - was shot on the spot. We returned from such jobs beaten and wounded, and the next day we went out again.

In the first year they set quotas for work and then the rich paid the poor to go to work in their place, and in the last year almost everyone went out. There were also “comfortable” places of work, such as cleaning the city streets and more, these jobs were permanently given to those close to the Judenrat.

Nevertheless, we sneaked into friends' houses and read a book, studied Hebrew (my aunt Fradel Finger was a Hebrew teacher in Tyszowce before the outbreak of the war), but that was just a drop in the ocean. I assume that you know that the Jews didn't have a school during all six years of the war.

In this way we began to think about the unknown future, and whenever there were rumors of deportations and murders, we started making plans of organizing, escaping to the forest, joining the partisans and resistance actions.

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It's amazing that we also did this secretly, not only out of fear of the Germans, or informers, but rather out of fear of the town elders who feared reprisals.

I must to move to another topic, the contact between the Jews of Komarów, Tyszowce and Zamość. The Germans allowed several young men from Tyszowce, Komarów and also other cities (there were 4-5 of them in Komarów), to move freely in the area (mostly in the villages) for the purpose of collecting scrap iron for the German industry mainly for the production of weapons and tanks. The young men were equipped with green armbands with stamps and special certificates, and they wandered around the villages to collect the monthly quota of scrap metal and deliver it to Zamość. The truth is, the farmers collected the scraps and received a substantial payment for them, but it was worthwhile because of the free movement in the area and especially the contact between the residents of Komarów, Tyszowce and Zamość. Among them was also my uncle, Motl Finger, about whom I wrote in my previous short article. The permit holders in Komarów besides my uncle Motel were: Yaakov Khazanold, Ephraim Goldhaber, and Moshe Trost about whom I will devote a few words later. I think these young men paid a lot of money to the Judenrat fund for these permits, but with these young men were those who were able to contribute something in terms of orientation, communication and courage (two of them didn't have these qualities, but because of their closeness to the Judenrat and their parents' status in the city).

These young men brought us the bad news from conversations with the farmers, who were well aware of the situation, and from other sources, about what was carried out in other places. These were the young men who gathered some of the youth (who were considered trustworthy) and planned the purchase of weapons, escape to the forest, joining the partisans, or establishing an independent underground. Some of the discussions were held at our house. They were made out of an assessment of a situation that the end was near, according to the news they brought from the other cities and under the pressure of time.

I remember that roles were assigned. Instructions were issued for the purchase of weapons from the farmers (from the weapons caches left in the villages from the time of the Polish army surrender). With the tightening of the noose–excessive reduction of the residential area, night curfew, new and cruel decrees, a ban on going for outside jobs, sending people to work who never returned, the increase in the number of victims, etc–an approximate date was set for leaving the city for the forest. Time began to act against us, the situation worsened and weapons in a reasonable and necessary amount had not yet been obtained, and rumors arrived about the total elimination of various Jewish communities in different locations.

It was decided to make one last effort to obtain weapons, ammunition and medical supplies, and in the meantime to maintain close contact within the group, meaning, to sleep dressed at night in three central locations, and to place sentries to serve as a warning. And so, on the night of 15 Heshvan 5703 (October 26 1942), (the date for both Komarów and Tyszowce), we were woken up from our sleep and told that the entire town of Komarów was surrounded and that Germans were continuing to arrive in vehicles and on foot.

We had no contact with the two other groups, because only one group slept in our house. In one breath we got up, I managed to say goodbye to my mother with a hug and a kiss, but I choked on tears and was unable to say a word to her. I took my sister, who was two years older than me (I was 17 at the time), and we slipped out in the dark following the lead group on winding roads, and we managed to infiltrate among the German sentries who started to organize. Shots and shouts separated us and only half of the group managed

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to arrive at the meeting place. The second half didn't arrive at the place we had prearranged in the Komarów Forest. They were killed on the way, and/or captured by the Poles who led them to the Germans.

At the same time, my uncle Motl was in Tyszowce on a mission to purchase weapons. Later, I met him in Tuczapy Forest together with my mother as I wrote in the “Day of Horror in Tuczapy Forest” [page 238].

I will not relate what happened to us from then on, because it already belongs to the biography. I will only mention a few details:

1. Shimon Goldhaber and I remained from a group of about twenty people from Komarów.
2. My uncle Motl had a very bitter end. About six months later he was captured alive by the murderers in Tuczapy Forest. He was taken to the Gestapo prison in Hrubieszów and was severely tortured for a month. They burnt parts of his body so that he would reveal the location of the partisans (at the same time I was with the partisans), but he remained silent.
   When I later became one of the residents of Hrubieszów Ghetto, my co-workers told me that they had buried my uncle Motel and that his body was charred and dismembered. I learned from the prison guards that he had held out with supreme bravery and hadn't revealed anything. On the contrary, he begged them to kill him because he didn't want to tell them anything.
3. I promised earlier that I would mention Moshe Trost who had a permit to collect scrap iron together with my uncle Motel.

This young man succeeded, after a long pursuit, to locate the main murderer from Komarów and Tyszowce (his name is Schultz, may his name be blotted out). He managed to organize a public trial against him. He sent his wife to bring documents and photos from the archives in Zamość and Lublin (it was quite dangerous), and in April 1964 the murderer's trial took place. I also testified, and in the end he was sentenced to life imprisonment and hard labor. I saw the devotion of a simple young man, a butcher's son from Komarów, who spent a lot of his money, endangered his wife, and didn't rest until the court declared a maximum verdict for the small number of murder cases that we were able to prove before the court. He actually participated in all the selections, and he was the one who killed them all with his own hands before the selections.

I have just gone over the sections in your letter according to which I tried to answer, and noticed your interest in how and from what we made a living in the forest. Of course, it is possible to write a whole book about everything separately, but I will try to limit myself to the main issues only.

In the forests around us were entire families of Tyszowce Jews (in the continuation of my wanderings from Komarów I arrived in Tuczapy Forests near Tyszowce), who fled to every place possible because of the liquidation. These families sent their children to the villages in the area to buy food, or to exchange jewelry for bread, or even the clothes from their backs in exchange for bread and potatoes. Those

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who had no money left, or something instead of money, stole the property of others because they had no other choice. The Germans made sure to reduce the number of families. Every week they conducted attacks on the forests after which they would announce that today they had murdered such and such “bandits.” I described one of these attacks in my previous letter - it was also the first meeting with my mother who didn't know about my existence at all. I found her in the company of the townspeople, sitting, crying and pleading that she only wanted to see her children once, and die. I stood some distance from the campfire they were sitting around and listened to all this. When I heard these words I could not hold back any longer, and in a mad rush I fell into her arms to fulfill my mother's wish. I left that day with a number of young men and my uncle Motl who I also found there, and we arrived in the Komarów forests. We took the survivors of the group and my sister who was with them, and two days later we arrived in Tuczapy. Indeed, my mother 's wish was granted to see her two children as she requested, but only to see, because, as I wrote in my previous letter, the attack began at dawn. (This was only a side note because I didn't mean to tell all that). To the question, where did we purchase weapons–at first for money, and then we attacked Germans and stole their weapons. If you ask how I survived, I will also try to answer that briefly (it is also possible to write a book about this). As mentioned, I was accepted into a group of partisans. I succeeded because of my familiarity with the environment, my courage and my diligence (I had nothing to fear because I was sure that the end was near). In one of the attacks on us (there were almost no families in the forest), my uncle Motl was captured alive, and there was anxiety among the partisans that maybe he would return with the Germans and point to our locations like a Russian, who had been captured before him, had done. I informed my uncle, Izik Finger in Hrubieszów, about the situation, and he begged me to join him in the ghetto. On the other hand, my close friends in the partisans told me that if my uncle Motl should return, the partisans' commander would kill me. Another factor, after my uncle was captured, I had to take care of his fiancée (Sarah Reiss) who was with him, and now the responsibility fell on me (she was the daughter of Chaim Reiss who lived near Luther Foigel). On the way to Klantwice[?] I undertook a mission to the Polish underground in Hrubieszów (the partisans' commander had connections, and also knew what was done inside the Gestapo). I boarded a train with Sarah Reiss and we snuck into Hrubieszów Ghetto. I fulfilled my duty, heard from my uncle about the efforts being made to free my uncle, but in vain, and gave in to his pleas to stay with him. Here I would stay for two years, and I will only mention that I went through six concentration camps starting from Hrubieszów, until I was liberated by the Russians in the city of Theresienstadt in Czechoslovakia. There, they [the Germans] had gathered the survivors from all the concentration camps in Germany, and they had [planned] to burn me in a special crematorium built for that purpose. There was a turning point, the commander of the SS, who was in charge of carrying out the operation, considered it and saw fit to report the plan to the Red Cross.

The Red Cross notified the Russian authorities, who were already advancing on Czechoslovakian soil. They changed the line of their advance, reached us and liberated 30,000 survivors who had held out until the end.

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