[Page 59]

MEMORIES FROM THE NAZI PERIOD

My name is Sonya Gyraph (nee Sara Tesler). I was born in Markovitch village, two and half kilometres from the town of Horchiv. My father was called Jacob and my mother Judith. I had three brothers : Hayim, Joseph and Benjamin, and one sister, Esther. She was the youngest and was only seventeen years of age when the trouble began. I finished the government school in Horchiv, which was the highest school then. My two elder brothers married and settled in Horchiv. In 1936 I went away for training and met Moshe Vidra from the city of Kovel. Vidra was the director of the Kibbutz and we decided to go to Eretz Israel on one visa-certificate. In 1938 we both went to Warsaw to make all the preparations required for the journey to Palestine. At that time, many young Jews who had fled from Germany arrived there. It was decided that all the visas should be given to them and we were told that we still had our homes to return to.

In January 1938 we married and settled in Horchiv at No. 8 Pilsudsky Street. In November 1939 a daughter was born to us and we called her Fella.

In September 1939, when the war broke out, the Russians arrived in our town. My two brothers and my husband were called to join the army and were posted to a regiment that was stationed only 30 kilometres from our town, on the border between Russia and Germany.

In 1941, when the war between Germany and Russia broke out, my two brothers and my husband were taken prisoner. Jewish prisoners were distinguished from the others. They had to put on a white ribbon with a Magen David. The Germans took away and burned everything from the synagogues. The Jews had to do forced labour. When the town was captured, they assembled all the men on the first day. The Christians were sent home, but the Jews were forced to dig pits in the "Rabina" forest which was near the town. Jewish prisoners had to run by foot as fast as the horses which the Germans rode, or the automobiles they travelled in. One of the prisoners fell and was shot. Later, my husband was shot next, when he started to run away, as they made them run through the forest. He was shot dead. The Ukrainian Police took Jews from the adjacent village to bury them. They took away his ribbon and purse and brought them to the Rabbi in Horchiv, who then passed then on to my parents. For six weeks this was kept a secret from me, but later, a Christian friend told me that the Rabbi knew about my husband. When I came to the Rabbi, he told me about my husband's death without knowing that I was his wife. I had no time to mourn him because every day there were so many new troubles, that I even thought my husband lucky to be free of them. In 1941, the Ghetto was set up, and certain Jews were selected to distribute food among their brothers. We were given food – too little to live on, but too much to die from. Jews fasted and prayed but everyday new troubles befell us. Jews worked building workshops. Skilled workers were called "useful" Jews and were given an extra piece of bread. The Germans said that they would not kill them. I worked in a sewing workshop and my position was not too bad. I had to deal with Christians who brought work, and inside the clothes they sometimes hid a piece of bread, an egg etc. I often used to take my daughter with me to the shop, and sometimes I left her with my mother in the Ghetto. I lived in a house with many families who were, most of them, swollen with hunger. I can still remember one particular case : A neighbour asked me if I could spare some food for a girl "Entsy" who had a bad heart. She had been on her way to Israel when the war broke out and had been stranded. Now she was sick, her legs were swollen, and she had no food at all. I used to visit her frequently and give her some of the food I had stolen and hidden on my person.

If I had been arrested by the police, I should have been shot.

I were a green ribbon on my arm and on both sides of clothes were yellow patches. The "useless" Jews wore only the yellow patches on their clothes and were led to work under police guard. In winter, when there was no work for these Jews, they were taken to the river outside the town and made to stand in the water all the day till evening. The commander always asked the Jewish Council how many Jews had died, and always recorded the number and shouted that this was not enough. So each time they found new tricks to make them suffer. I shall never forget the following picture. One Friday, when I left the Ghetto to go to work, I came upon two boys between five and seven years of age. They had been shot and were covered in blood. They were holding thread and potatoes. I was afraid to go near them. They had been shot because they had left the Ghetto – wanting to exchange thread for potatoes.

One evening, I heard a woman screaming terribly. She was a mother of four children and her husband had already been killed. She had exchanged something with a Christian woman across the iron fence. The police learned this and had given orders to bring the woman at once, otherwise the first ten Jews would be shot. The Jewish council found her and led her to the Gestapo and that was why she was crying on the way.

Day after day things became worse. In the workshop where I worked I was in touch with people from outside the Ghetto ; so I heard what they were preparing for us. I heard that in the adjacent towns like Lokatch, Svynoch etc., they had dug pits to bury a large number of people. I had a friend Ben-Zion Lakritz, who had hidden from the Gestapo.I talked to him and learned what was going to befall us. Others did not want to believe and kept hoping against hope. One evening Ben-Zion came to me. We had invited some young people and talked together, how was it possible to be led to die like sheep without any resistance ? At least let us hit the first Nazi who opens the door to take us to be killed, hit him with an axe or a knife. We decided to gather petroleum and burn the Ghetto and thus some people would be able to run away. People in the adjacent rooms, who were listening to our programme, burst into our room with axes and knives and threatened to cut us into pieces if we dare act like that. They said that because of people like us the Nazis were killing Jews in other Ghettoes, and they passed the news on to my parents. Many people had dug refuges for themselves and if we were to burn the Ghetto they would be burned. But these people did not know that they had prepared graves for themselves.

In September I was in the workshop when the police burst into the shop and took all of the workers. I climbed up to the attic with another woman. She remained there and I crossed to the other side of the house where Christians lived. I entered the store where the W. C. was (it was an open pit). When a policeman opened the door I got so confused that I fell into the pit. The Christian land-lord did not like the idea of having a dead Jew in the W. C. So he pulled me out. I caught such a bad cold that when I sneezed, I sneezed all over them. I started to run. The policeman was loath to touch me and he had no permission to fire inside the city. With unbelievable strength I burst open the doors of the workshop and then shut it from inside. Then I started screaming. "They are killing people, a lot of blood is being spilled". A woman came up from the cellar and told me to stop screaming because if I continued, the police would surely find me and kill me. I took off all my clothes and naked I hid in the chimney between its outer and inner parts. The place was too narrow even for a cat. A few minutes later, the police came and searched everywhere in the house. They even poked their bayonets in to the chimney. I lay down in complete silence with the sharp, broken bricks against my back. The police took away the woman who had hidden in the house.

I lay there for some hours. Then I got up, threw off the pebbles and laying down in the open attic. I fell asleep and dreamt that my dead husband Moshe was telling me to run away before morning came and the police caught me. When I opened my eyes I found the police had opened the attic. I entered the workshop, put on a dress and went out to the street. I heard shots and saw that the Ghetto was completely lit up. When I reached the town, day was breaking. The Christians had received an order not to leave their houses for three successive days. So if anyone was found in the street, it was clear that he was a Jew. I left the town and went by the bank of the river. Ukrainian policemen on bicycles were helping the Germans to kill the Jews. They could not get to me with their bicycles in the unpaved roads leading on the river. I stopped as though I was washing something in the river till they were far away. I then went to a good Ukrainian friend of mine. She let me in but she could not bear the filthy smell that hung around me and the sight of my hair which was full of dirt. She brought me water to wash, then gave me something to eat. When it was dark she told me to go and wash myself in the river. I stayed in her house, in the stable, for some days. Things became worse and worse. Even the good farmers did not believe that I had any chance of survival. The Christians were warned that they would be killed if they give bread to Jews. My friend was afraid and told me to leave her house. I went to another Christian friend in Markovitch Village. She let me in, fed me but I could not remain in her house – I had a Christian friend who believed in certain principles– she belonged to a sect called "Shtundists". To this friend I had given all my dearest possessions before I went to the Ghetto and I told her that if I remained alive I should like to take back some of them – the rest would be hers. Now I turned to her. I went to the shelter in the threshing floor and when she came I appeared before her. On the second night I heard somebody opening the door and I was very frightened. It was my sister Esther. I once told her that if I could escape I should go to this friend and she could find me there. I was overcome with joy and began to shout. But very soon I recovered myself. Then we both started to go from one threshing floor to another. During the night we used to go and look for food. The farmers did not even know that we were hiding in their farms. Once we went to ask for food from a farmer we knew. When we knocked at the window and he saw us, he was really frightened and told us that for two weeks our parents had been hiding under the straw in his farm. You can imagine how dramatic our meeting with our parents was. This farmer did not allow us to stay in the straw but we stayed there without his knowledge and divided the food he gave to our parents between us.

I kept asking my parents what had happened to my child, till my father, with tears in his eyes, told me the story. My parents and the children had entered a refuge in an unfinished building. There were other people there. After some days of hunger the child cried bitterly. The other children held my child's head under water till she choked. My parents could not stay there any longer and decided to leave the place and give themselves up. But they succeeded in leaving the town at night and reached Markovitch Village, where they had once lived and where they had many friends.

We remained with our parents for two months. I shall never forget how my mother once saw a pig drinking from the well. She said : "I wish my soul could get into the pig so that I could quench my thirst" It was harder to stand thirst than hunger. We went roaming from one place to another. Once we went to a neighbouring farmer to ask for bread. He agreed to keep my parents in the shelter in the treshing floor but could not keep the four of us. We were glad to have a place for our parents and we brought them to his farm. After some weeks we entered a cellar which belonged to a Polish acquaintance of ours. The cellar was not far from his house. There we stayed and ate potatoes and onions that were stored in the cellar. One day he came to take potatoes for his family and found us. He was a fair man. He brought us some straw to sleep on and some food. His family did not know about us. So we remained in that cellar for some weeks Once he saw German soldiers coming into the village. He was scared and told us to leave the cellar. We begged him to keep us but he said that the Nazis would smell us, that the Jews have a certain smell like salty fish. He allowed us to stay till it became dark. That night, before we left, we heard someone entering the cellar and taking potatoes and onions. This was my brother Hayim, his wife has already died in the Ghetto. His son was dead too. He escaped to the forest. There he met a girl, fourteen years old from Brestetshko City, whom he brought with him to the village. He left her in a hiding place and went to fetch food. No words can describe our joy. We remained together for some time and now and then we went to see our parents who were living well in their hiding place.

One day in February 1943, we heard that our parents had gone somewhere at daybreak. A Christian saw them and informed the Germans. This man was once our best friend but now he was serving the Nazis. He mounted his horse and followed my parents in the snow. It was very easy to follow their bare foot prints. He found them naked and bare and led them to the Germans in the town, where they were killed. This news broke us all. Today they had been killed. Tomorrow, our turn would come.

In 1943, the Ukrainians were split into different parties : Banderists, Vlasovists. They were both against Jews, against each other and against the Poles. That is why our parents lost their hiding place. The Poles were forbidden to keep them and so they had to leave their hiding place and were led to death.

During the summer of 1943 we lived together, the four of us, my sister, my brother, the girl from Brestetshko and myself, in a Polish village. At night we used to hide together with the Polish people whom the Banderists were fighting. At night the Banderists attacked the Germans, took away their weapons and killed them. During the day they entered the Polish villages, assembled the old men and women together with their grandsons and burned them all together, if the young parents were not at home. Now we lost hope that we might survive. But we were nevertheless pleased to see that, because the Poles decided to hurt the Jews and they stole their property from the Ghetto. Now they were hiding from Banderists who were killing them and burning their houses day and night.

Our situation became worse when the Poles left the village in the middle of summer. It was very difficult to hide in a threshing floor because there was no straw. We lay far from each other amid the corn motionless under the burning sun till night came. My brother decided that we should go to a friend of ours in a faraway village Mirkovo. He had been there once and they had treated him well. It was very far and we got there at midnight. I hide at the back of the threshing floor and waited, and the rest went to the window to show themselves. I waited for a long time and at last decided to hide in the threshing floor because very soon it would be daybreak. That reminded me of a dream I once dreamt when I was hiding in a threshing floor with my sister, brother and the girl from Brestetshko. I dreamt that I went to Horchiv, and before entering the town, I saw a funeral followed by many people. A long-bearded Jew, unknown to me, stopped me and said to me : "When you see a funeral you have to follow". He ordered me to carry the coffin alone and then I looked at the dead man. I found that it was Entsy, with the swollen legs whom I helped in the Ghetto. I cried : "Entsy". Then the old man told me that I could go back to the town. My brother heard me crying in my sleep. He woke me, and when I told him about the dream he explained that it was a sign that I alone should survive.

When I entered the threshing floor I felt that I was walking on corpses. I left and went to the pig shed. I opened a hole in the roof and lay in the attic. In the morning, when the man entered the shed, I appeared and asked him where my relatives were. He told me that his house had been captured by the Banderists and when my brother knocked at the window they ran to catch him and fired after him. But my brother, sister and the girl escaped without harm. These farmers were very good natured. I stayed with them. They gave me food and let me stay in the shed. Luckily the corpses I walked on were those of dead Banderists. Three days later this farmer came to me and told me that he had found a girl in the field. She was bleeding all over and he brought her home. He had helped her and she was in the threshing floor. When it got dark he would bring her to me. That was the girl from Brestetshko. She could not run like my brother and sister. She was left behind and was desperate so she decided to cut the veins in her hands in order to die. But she survived and the farmer brought her to me and we hid in the attic. The farmer brought us food and drink and he used to say that he was giving food to his dog. In those days many farmers who liked the Germans and were glad that the Jews were being exterminated, were killed. I prayed for the end. The Ukrainians attacked the Poles and killed them. They slaughtered pregnant Polish women, opened their bellies and took out the children. The farmer we stayed with had seen this happen and told us about it.

One September morning, the girl who was with me woke me. She heard a great deal of horses, and shots. I looked outside and saw that the house was surrounded by policemen. We jumped from the attic and began to run. I had decided always to run as quickly as I could so that they would not catch me alive. We hold each other's hand, but she could not run with me. I jumped into a stream and crossed to the other bank – bullets followed me. In the field there were heaps of grain, amid which I ran, and the bullets set them on fire. The smoke helped me to escape unseen. I entered the cellar of a burnt hospital. I sat there for some minutes and came out again to see if they were nearby. I sat among high grass. Five minutes later, they entered the cellar because someone told them that I was there. I sat among the grass not far from them. But I was lucky that they feared other bands. These were with the Germans. Their leader was the man who caught my parents. He was now afraid that I might survive and take revenge. They searched for an hour and then went away

One day the farmer came and brought me news about my brother and sister. They had entered a Polish village and had hidden in empty houses. There were gardens with fruit and they lived off them. Once Poles came with the policemen to gather grains and vegetables. The policemen found my brother. He began to run. They shot him dead and he was left a prey for the dogs. They took my sister alive to the town. They fed her, tortured her and at last she was happy to die.

When we were all alive and found our parents who were hiding in a farm, we all went to look for food. One evening we went to my friend who belonged to a certain religious sect. To this friend I had given my dearest possessions when we were sent to the Ghetto. We went to her and asked for a piece of bread. She told us to come the next day, because she was going to bake bread. On the next night we knocked on her window. The door was opened. We knew that when they wanted to give something, it was offered through the window and if the door opened we must quickly run away. So we began to run. A man caught me by the coat, I left the coat in his hands and ran away in the darkness. I lost my sister. I returned to where my parents were hiding. When day broke my sister appeared. She was covered with blood and her face was swollen and uneven. That friend of mine had called two men : an acquaintance of ours and a prisoner. She promised to give them two of my husband's suits that I left at her house, if they caught us and buried us in a pit she had dug in the field. She was afraid that if I survived I could ask her to return my property to me.

In those days we went to an acquaintance, a woman at a farm. She gave us food and drink and advised us to give ourselves up to the Germans. She had seen how they killed people. It was easy to die. One had only to take off his clothes and lie down and the German knew how to shoot straight into the head. A little blood comes out of the nose and ears and it is all over. If one was not yet dead, he would suffocate by having corpses heaped on. Then they scattered lime on the corpses. For killing children no bullets were used. They made them lie down under their mothers. Death was much easier than the life I was leading. How bad I looked and how long I still had to suffer. There was no chance of any Jew remaining alive. These were the words with which my Christian friend comforted me. I still tremble when I remember them.

Later on, the girl from Brestetshko was caught – and the farmers, in whose farm we were hiding, were imprisoned. The girl was shot and the farmers were fried. I sat the whole day amid the wet grass till it was dark. I then decided to go back to the shed. I met strange people feeding the animals. One of them shut me in the stable and went to call the Banderists. I took a bottle of water, half a loaf and some clothes. Then I broke a board in the wall of the stable and ran away. Afterwards I was told that they searched for me for a long time.

I went back to Marcovitch Village to a Christian friend with whom I had stayed, with my sister, at the beginning. I entered the grain-store and hid among the full sacks of wheat. There were white mice as well. I lived among them for three weeks and ate the grain. Once I saw them bringing a threshing machine. I knew that I was in danger of being discovered. My friend's husband belonged to a family who supported the Nazis but my friend was sincere to me. In the morning her husband entered the storehouse. I appeared before them. He was so taken by surprise that he fainted. Half an hour later his wife came with a cup of milk and a piece of bread. She kissed me and was very glad to see me alive. When it grew dark she told me to go to the stable because the next day they would bring the machine to thresh the grain. Her father was the chief of the village and no one suspected him.

In the autumn of 1943, the situation of the German army grew worse. My friend hoped that I would get through the hard times and survive. But what would happen then ? She thought that I must then marry a Christian, because no Jewish man remained alive. Even in America they had killed all the Jews in 1941.

In the surrounding areas, Russian Partisans were being seen. Their numbers grew because of all the Russian prisoners who had escaped from their camps. The Germans made them work hard and they died of hunger. They fled to the forest, organized themselves and attacked the Germans, blowing up bridges, etc. When bad news came my friend told me to go away and at night she would bring me food. I waited for food but she did not come. Later on she told me that her conscience would not let her send me away, so they decided to dig a pit and put the horses over it. Things were becoming difficult and they would keep me there till the trouble passed. There I stayed for some days. Afterwards I returned to the stable. I knitted and sewed all the time, and I made holes in the board of the wall in order to get some light. At Christmas 1943, they celebrated the feast at midnight. They covered the windows and lighted candles. They took me inside the house. When I came in I fainted, for I was no longer accustomed to the light. They made me lie on the snow and rubbed my temples until I recovered.

That village was near the town. Shots were heard, nearer and nearer. In January 1944, the city was captured by the Partisans, but the Germans sent more troops and recaptured the town. One day four Russian soldiers were seen with a wounded horse. They ordered the landlord to dress the horse's wounds and keep guard over him till they returned. In the meantime, one of them saw the holes that I had made in the board. He said that from that place it was good to observe the Germans in their pits. Soon afterwards he came to my place and was about to shoot me. I was lucky that I knew the Russian language. I quietened him and told him all about myself. I could not convince him that I was a Jew hiding from the Germans. When I finished my story, day was breaking. They could not go in the daylight. They changed into civilian clothes. I begged them to take me with them. They explained to me that they themselves were in danger. But I insisted and when it was dark, I went with them till we got to the village of Scobelky, a suburb of Horchiv. In the middle of the town were Germans. Six Russian soldiers guarded the front line in the village. I had some clothes and other things, but when the Germans surrounded the house where we were, I left everything and only just escaped. We ran for 15 Kms. along the river bank. Shots wounded two of the Russians. I could not run and we barely got to the village where the Russian lines were. A woman farmer gave me some rags to cover my bare feet. Another woman gave me some pictures she had found in the Ghetto. These were the photographs of my friend Ben-Zion Lakritz. He fled to the forest and was killed there. I shall never forget his words when I asked him if all the Jews would be killed. He answered me that we would be killed but not all the Jews. Those surviving would mention us for some time and then forget about us. That night, I slept on the ground with all the Russian soldiers. The next day I was taken to the staff. The officers who saw me could not understand me because I could not open my mouth when I talked, for that deafened me, since I had not talked loudly for years. They suspected me of being a spy. When I told them that I was from Marcovitch Village, they could not find the village on the map. I showed them where it was on the map. They were very surprised that someone like me knew how to read a map. They took me from one place to another until I asked if there were any Jews among them. They answered that all the officers were Jews. I met one from Odessa who understood Yiddish. I met other Jews in the Russian Army. They helped me till I recovered. Then they transferred me to the City Luck in a Russian lorry. When I was left alone at the entrance of the city I was scared. I left all alone in the big world. For the first time in all these years I began to cry. I had a food parcel which the soldiers had given me. I went on and cried all the way until I got to the bridge in the suburb crossing near Luck. Near the bridge were guards who asked for papers, and I had none. Suddenly, I saw a girl dressed in rags like me. She was going with a boy. We came nearer to each other and I heard her talking in Yiddish. We embraced each other and I started to cry. She told me to stop crying and go with them. There were other Jews in the place. That was Fanya Lerner who survived with her mother Leika and her step-father Mottel. Now they live in New-York. She brought me to an empty house, where there was straw on which to sleep. When I opened the door, a girl I knew fell on my neck and told me that Mousia Pearlmuter from Horchiv was alive too. She herself was a daughter of a Jewish family from Sadov Village. Her mother with her six children who were hiding in the forest also survived. We were all hungry. I opened the food parcel and told them to eat.

In April 1945, I met Israel Gyraph. He was imprisoned in Russia and survived. We married and went to Poland and then to Germany and I began to look for my relatives. I knew that I had Rachel Eisen in Canada who worked in a public library. I published in all the newspapers and she soon answered. I shall never forget the day when I got a letter from her. She wrote : "Dear Sara, I am sending a letter to the wide world, just as Noah sent the dove" Afterwards, with her help, I got in touch with my relatives in the U. S. A. My uncle Tesler and his sons sent us visas and brought us to America.

[Page 68]

WITH THE RED ARMY
FROM STALINGRAD TO BERLIN

The Last Years of Polish Rule.

I began to manage the household's affairs (my father had died a year before I graduated from High School), and to think about making a living. More than anything I longed for some sort of change because I knew that I should not be able to endure the present situation for much longer. Most of the other young men of Horchiv felt the same way and expressed their hopes for a change in endless discussions and conversations.

The First Year of Soviet Rule.

Two days before the Russians entered the town a meeting of students was held under the chairmanship of Kozachok, a White-Russian bookseller who suddenly decided to change his political opinions in order to appear as a Communist sympathiser. He called a meeting of the intelligentsia and proceeded to preach cooperation with the new regime, in what he imagined was a Communist spirit. In fact Kozachok knew less about Communism than any of us and his calling the meeting did not stand him in good stead as later he was among the first to be deported to Siberia. The new regime immediately began to make changes. Overnight people who had been well-to-do were thrown out of work. Economic life suffered and there was a general reorganisation of all sections of public activity. One change for the better was that the schools were thrown open to all sections of the community and people were encouraged to study. Work was now obtainable in the various government departments.

Although we of the younger generation were Zionists, we did not suffer under the new regime, and this fact is to the credit of the Jewish Communists in our town, who did not take revenge or inform on the rich, the merchants or the Zionists as Jewish Communists in other places had done. After some time nearly all my friends, even those whose families had been rich, received jobs. Most of us worked as teachers. The "Tarbut" Hebrew School became a government institution with Yiddish as the language of instruction. Simcha Perlmutter was the director and among the teachers were : Naomi Hevel, my relative, Yisrael Goldfarb, Herschel Bierfeld and others. I taught in the High School with Niomka Fisch, Raizel Blechmann and others. I also began to study at Lvov Uuniversity at this period. One had to get used to new times, new people, new habits and new demands. We, as Jews, knew how to adapt ourselves to new conditions and it was not long before we settled dwn to our work.

Only a few of us managed to get out of Russia, but among those who managed to reach Israel after many trials and tribulations were : Yaakov and Gedalyahu Sprach, Leib Rantz, Ben-Tsion Tehori, Chaim Litvin, Marder, Galeider and Yosef Newmann. Those who remained behind adapted themselves to the new way of life.

Conscripted by the Red Army.

Other Jewish boys left Horchiv at the same time to serve in the Red Army, and amongst them were Wolf Shemesh, and Berl Rosentzweig, who were sent to distant places in Russia and were never heard of again.

After a week's journey we arrived at our destination, the town of Nikolaev on the Black Sea near Odessa. The wonderful climate and reception accorded to us did much to improve our mood. During the journey we had been depressed because nobody had known where we were being sent. We now discovered that we had been allotted to an amphibious tank unit.

I was pleasantly surprised by conditions in our camp, which compared very favourably with the Polish Army barracks in Lvov where I had spent a month prior to sitting for my final examinations at school – one could not take the examinations without having attained the rank of corporal.

The Russian officers treated the men in a friendly and understanding way. Discipline was self-imposed and there were no cases of activities devised merely to aggravate the other ranks. After daily training there was no distinction made between officers and men, and they would go together in search of entertainment. This system made a favourable impression on all our group and its results were evident in our serious attitude to our work and in our attempts to carry out orders to the best of our ability.

The soldiers were naturally exposed to the full force of the Soviet propaganda machine. The aims of the many Politruks, who worked side by side with the professional Army officers, were to teach the soldiers about Communism, to cirticise the world of yesterday and to describe the world of tomorrow in glowing terms. I kept in touch with home. They wrote to me nearly every day and I replied, sending them press clippings which told of my success in the army, In this way I wanted to assure my mother and my brother that I was well and that they had no need to worry about me. My letters were read by the censor. I wrote in Yiddish, sprinkled with Hebrew expressions, and on several occasions the censor asked me to explain expressions or whole sentences to him. After serving with my unit for several months I was posted, in view of my education, to a signals unit in the same camp. This was a new unit, set up to instruct officers in the reserve, I stayed here until the outbreak of war between Russia and Germany.

In the months just before the war I was sent to the Headquarters in the camp and was asked to teach the senior officers German, particularly military terminology. I now had more free time and I utilised it by registering at the Nikolaev College in order to further my studies.

My work as a German teacher often put me in a delicate position. Explanations of words or terms provoked historical discussions and most of the officers were more interested in hearing my explanations of history than in learning the meaning of the words. They often asked me provocative questions. I knew that I was not at liberty to answer them because I had to be careful of the party members who were always present and who paid particular attention to my replies. I was called before the Divisional Commander on one occasion and he gave me a friendly warning that I was not to be involved in historical explanations. He advised me to confine myself to the literal meaning of words and not to answer questions about other matters. The General, who had fought in the Spanish Civil War, was quite frank with me and I gathered that he himself enjoyed my explanations, but nevertheless I had to be careful. I was employed as a teacher until the outbreak of war.

The Russian Retreat.

Retreat followed retreat and military defeat followd miltary defeat. Whole brigades deserted to the Germans. German paratroopers were dropped behind the lines and town after town, district after district fell to the invaders.

A stream of refugees, composed mainly of Party members, N.K.V.D. men and civilian government personnel, began to flow eastwards. Unfortunately no Jews from Western Ukraine came with them.

After I graduated from Officers School and had received my rank, I was immediately posted to a combat unit which was leaving for the front. It is very hard to describe the position of a soldier at the front during the retreat. Perpetual battles, a confused situation, the fear of being surrounded by the Germans or betrayed by his own officers were all mingled with the determination of the Russian soldier, who was usually very patriotic and willing to die for his country. The Germans were routed in every case of hand to hand fighting. After the initial confusion, the Russian government somehow succeeded in reorganising the Army and the German advance was halted in several places, one of which was the River Dnieper. However, German planning, combined with an army equipped with the most modern weapons and provided with cover in the air, confounded all the Russian generals in the first period of the war.

I remember one night, after a bitter battle on the Dnieper when the Russians had themselves blown up the dam, we received orders to retreat. While leading my company from the village of Silnikov to Novomoskovsk, I saw a familiar figure in the distance. When I got nearer I found myself face to face with Mordechai Greiver, Aharon's brother, who was marching to the front with his unit. It was a moving encounter. He told me about his brother who was also in Russia but did not know where, and about his departure from Horchiv at the begining of the war. We parted after a few minutes conversation and expressed the hope that we should meet again. That night the Germans bombed the surrounding area. Several railway wagons, loaded with bombs, which stood in the station, received a direct hit and began to explode. It was very dangerous to remain in the vicinity and we decided to get out as soon as possible. However we stumbled onto a minefield and only twelve men of the company remained alive. I met Greiver again several days later near Voroshilovgrad, in the Donbas. This time he was coming from the front and I was on my way there. I never saw him again.

We could not hold out against the German armour, and so we began a large-scale withdrawal. Our unit covered 40– 50 kilometres a day. We had traversed the whole of the Ukraine and were very tired and depressed. Many of the Ukrainian soldiers deserted. The situation was confused. In some instances Jews also deserted thinking that they would be better off on the other side and ignorant of the German treatment of the Jews.

On the 11^th December 1941 our unit was completely surrounded by the Germans near the village of Yaroiskoi Khutor. For three days we fought back, standing in trenches up to our knees in water and without food because our supply lines had been cut.

Only the superhuman efforts of the officers of the unit prevented us from surrendering to the Germans and when we counter-attacked we broke through their lines and managed to lift the seige. After the moving out, I contracted pneumonia and was hospitalised in the town of Cherniska. For sixteen days I had a temperature of 40 degrees Centigrade and was in a very bad way. I recovered, thanks to the devotion of a Jewish woman doctor from Moscow. The hospital was not far from Stalingrad where my unit was stationed.

Stalingrad.

The battle for Stalingrad was very bitter. The Germans began a series of heavy air-raids and artillery bombardments. They paid a heavy price for every house and every position they captured. The city was gradually destroyed in spite of the stubbornness and heroism of the Russians. Only a small area, on the western bank of the Volga, remained in Russian hands, but the morale of the soldiers was still intact and nearly every man stayed at his post to the very last even though the losses were enormous. The counterattack began on the 20th of November 1942. We received the news at headquarters that the counter-attack was to begin and fresh, fully-equipped troops were brought up to the front along side roads. The soldiers listened to the order of the day in holy dread and the attack on Stalingrad, which was to decide the result of the war, began.

I took part in the first assault but was wounded and while unconscious I was transported by helicopter to the town of Guryev where I remained in hospital for some time. I was then sent on leave to the own of Kolsari where large quantities of oil were discovered during the war.

At this period the Russian newspapers began to hint, between the lines, at the fate of the Jews under German occupation. There was no concrete mention of what had happened, but I gathered that the situation was very serious. Because of this, I, in company with several friends, decided to volunteer for service with the Partisans who were operating in the Western Ukraine. I completed a detailed questionnaire, in which I stated that I knew the vicinity, spoke all the languages of the region and that as an officer with battle experience I would be of use. I was called to headquarters and was given a permit to join the Partisans. I was told that I had to wait a week before I could be integrated into a Partisan unit, but after only two days I was called back to headquarters. They asked me several more questions, including one concerning my national identity. I replied that I was a Jew. I received an evasive reply immediately and was told that I should have to wait. I appealed to a Jewish officer serving at headquarters and he told me privately that it had been decided not to send Jews to the Western Ukraine.

Soon after this I received orders to report to a new unit. I was posted as a signals expert to an army camp in the town of Soma where a Polish army was being trained and organised by the Russians.

A Visit to Horchiv.

On the 15th of May 1944 I left for the front and after a few days reached Luck, where I met the Dickstein family (my wife's family) and Musia Perlmutter. They told me all the details of the destruction of our town and the liquidation of the Jewish community.

Battles were now raging in the heart of Wolyn. I was operating in the Chopniov-Rosyszcza sector and later in the vicinity of Kovel. The Germans were putting up quite stiff resistance and more than once we had to withdraw from places that we had captured. Our town, Horchiv, was liberated by a Russian General, by the name of Zakarov, on the 18th of July 1944. I had no desire to return to Horchiv at the time, my only inclination was to stay as close to the front as possible in order to take my revenge on the Germans and their Polish and Ukrainian collaborators. In the villages of Golova, Midniovka and Grosovka (near Kovel) I gave the underworld characters in my unit a free hand to deal with any collaborators and they did their work so thoroughly that I received a severe reprimand from General Headquarters.

Although my actions were justified in view of the clear proof that the Ukrainians and in some instances, the Poles, had ill-treated the Jews, looted their property and handed them over to the Germans, the Soviet authorities took no immediate action against the collaborators, several of whom managed to hide or escape. My answer was to allow my men to mete out justice themselves and they carried out my orders to the letter. However the General Staff did not agree with me and I was moved to another sector. We did not remain there for long as we crosed the River Bug and advanced in the direction of Warsaw. I was wounded for the second time near Warsaw and was sent to a hospital in Lublin. While I was there there were no significant advances at the front. I attended the Maidanek trial in Lublin and later saw the murderers executed.

When I came out of hospital I returned to Luck, where I met Mania and Yaakov Berger and we decided to visit Horchiv. The roads were still dangerous because of the presence of Banderists who murdered every Jew that they met. Nevertheless we set out. In Horchiv we met Sonia Gyraff and Musia Perlmutter.

It was hard to recognize the town, which was like a wilderness. All the wooden houses had been pulled down and not a trace of them was left. Only the brick houses remained. Where the Ghetto had been there was a large empty space, only the Beth Midrash was still standing. I went into the Beth Midrash and found a number of shoemakers working there – it had been turned into a cooperative workshop. I saw with a heavy heart that tombstones from the Jewish cemetery had been used as paving stones. The grave by the brick works was not even marked. I asked some Ukrainians, whom I knew, for details, but I received no answer. The answer to all my questions was the same : they knew nothing about what had happened.

It was hard to sleep the night in Horchiv. I thought that I should go mad at the sight of faces of the Ukrainians who spoke of the fate of the Jews so calmly and disclaimed all responsibility, laying it on the Germans. In my heart, I knew that the Germans would have been able to do nothing without the active help of the local population.

I left Horchiv on the following day, accompanied by Mania and Yaakov Berger. At Boroczycz station we met Yaakov Wecksler who had also returned from Russia. He was in charge of recruiting volunteers for the Donbas mines. His task was not an easy one in view of the bad feelings of those sent to work in Russia and he was in constant danger of being killed by the many Banderists in the area. I heard later that he completed his mission without mishap. He is now in Poland, near Warsaw.

The Battle for Warsaw.

Many Jews had fallen near Warsaw. Some of them had been in the Polish Army and had tried to enter the city in order to look for relations. Others had been in hiding in the city and had tried to cross the lines in order to escape from the Poles and the Germans. More Jews fell in the Warsaw offensive than in any other battle. Fortunately I rejoined my unit in time for the great offensive which continued, with short intervals, until the Red Army reached Berlin.

My unit was placed under the command of the Polish General Staff. My job was to act as liaison between the Polish and Russian Armies and also between the Polish General Staff and the headquarters of the Polish units in the Russian Army itself. In the course of my work I often met senior Russian commanders, including the famous Zhukov to whom I reported on occasions. Although it was rumoured that he did not take kindly to Jews, Zhukov always behaved towards me in a most correct manner. In fact the opposite was true, he was deeply moved by the fate of the Jewish people and he said as much in public It is true that he would not allow Jewish officers to be employed in the quartermaster's department or other support services, but he did appreciate their ability and their work.

It made me happy to witness the collapse of the German Empire, every day more territory was captured and I waited impatiently for the moment of crossing the German frontier. My joy was somewhat dampened by the sight of the Poles welcoming the Russians with open arms and becoming devoted Communists overnight in order to claim their share of the vast booty and in order to enjoy the new privileges they had been granted. I knew that most of the population of Western Poland cooperated with the Nazis in the extermination of the Jews.

The Collapse of Germany.

I heard of many acts of revenge at this period. One had only to hear that there were families of Nazis in a village and it would be burnt to the ground. A great deal of Nazi property was destroyed. There were also cases of imitating methods used by the Germans in similar circumstances.

I remember the matter of the clock. I went into a house in a German village and saw a large clock on the wall. When I looked closely I saw that the clock had a Star of David on it. When I asked about it, the woman of the house said that her husband had bought it as a present for her, before the war. I wanted to be sure, so I went into the neighbouring house. I decided to employ a trick and told the man that his neighbour had informed us that he had been a Nazi. At this he flew into a rage and told us that the woman next door was the wife of an S. S. officer who had ill-treated German Jews before the war and had afterwards participated in actions against the Jews on the Eastern front. When I told the woman who owned the clock, she burst into tears and said that all the people in the village were Nazis who had enjoyed property looted from the Jews and had received presents from the Eastern front. This was enough for the soldiers of my unit and they decided to make the women of the village pay for what their husbands had done.

Unfortunately this situation lasted only for a few weeks because the General Staff issued an order forbidding acts of revenge and the looting of German property. Any such offense rendered one liable for a court-martial and a minimum sentence of ten years imprisonment.

During the advance in Germany I had the opportunity to liberate a large group of Jewish girls who were being transported from one camp to another. My unit had stumbled on this camp by accident. After the German guards had been killed I took all the girls to a small town. I requisitioned as many vehicles as I could get my hands on and sent soldiers to bring food and clothes. After distributing the basic necessities, I received permission from the General Staff to transport the girls to centres behind the lines, where I got in touch with Jewish organisations who took care of my charges.

The advance into Germany was rapid. Whole regions fell into our hands without any resistance being offered. The German soldier lost all his confidence and arrogance. He began to behave more badly than any other soldier : He surrendered in a cowardly fashion, slavishly followed all orders and eagerly allowed himself to be captured. The German population's lot improved tremendously after the order issued by the Russian General Staff. The German soldier was defeated at the front but his wife and children conquered the Russians behind the lines. The Russians are easy-going and looked after the German women. It made our hearts bleed to see Nazi girls walking about in the company of Russian officers and men, enjoying the benefit of military supplies.

The Fall of Berlin.

The night which was supposed to be an occasion for general rejoicing at the end of the war, when fireworks and coloured rockets illuminated the sky, was a night of mourning for the Jewish soldiers. Groups of Jewish officers gathered together and we felt that the ground had been snatched from under us. During the war we had had a job to do and we had not thought of the future, but suddenly we were brought face to face with bitter reality and we did not knew where to begin or where to go.

Release from the Red Army and Journey to Israel.

Finally, by using my influence with some Polish generals, I managed to obtain my release from the army. I was not satisfied with this. I told my friends that I wanted to leave Poland and come to Israel, they understood my feelings even though they were confirmed Communists and promised to help me if I had any difficulty, even though it meant them breaking the law. Fortunately I managed to cross the frontier with a large group of people at Stettin and reached Germany in 1946. I worked in Germany as a teacher for Youth Aliyah for three years and finally came to Israel in 1949.

Herzliya.

* A regulation which permitted only a certain percentage of Jews to be accepted as students in institutions of higher learning. return

[Page 78]

HORCHIVER IN THE U.S.A. 1964

Mrs. Celia Adam

Mr. Mrs. Morton Abzug

Mrs. R. Rosito Auerbach

Mr. Mrs. Joseph Becker

Mrs. Sarah Berger

Mr. Sam Berger

Mr. Mrs. Nathan Bick

Mr. Morris Binstock

Mr. Mrs. Chaim Birenbach

Mr. Mrs. Morton Blechman

Mr. Mrs. Sidney Birnstein

Mr. Mrs. Abe Bradie

Mr. Mrs. Albert Bregman

Mrs. Reisl Bert

Mr. Mrs. Rubin Bruick

Mr. Mrs. Sam Cohen

Mr. Hyman Cooper

Mrs. Esther Shlengel Cooper

Mrs. Ida Cooper

Mrs. B. Deitch

Mr. Mrs. Wm. Diamond

Mr. Mrs. Benig Dolman

Mrs. S. Ehrlich

Mrs. Toba Eisenstein

Mr. Mrs. Morris Fishman

Mr. Isidor Fishman

Mr. Mrs. Asher Fishman

Mr. Mrs. Philip Fishman

Mr. Mrs. Herbert Wm. Fleisher

Mr. Mrs. Ben Fishman

Mr. Mrs. Harry Friedman

Mr. Mrs. Paul Friedman

Mr. Mrs. Teddy Feldman

Mr. Mrs. Teddy Feldman

Mr. Mrs. Charles Funt

Mr. Mrs. Stanley Frankel

Mr. Mrs. Jacob Feldman

Mr. Mrs. Edward Feldman

Mr. Aaron Fein

Mr. Mrs. Jack Fein

Mr. Mrs. Harry Fein

Mr. Mrs. Samuel Fein

Mr. Mrs. Irving Frankel

Mrs. Sadie Feifer

Mrs. B. Felder

Mrs. Rose Frank

Mr. Mrs. Irving Gaskin

Mr. Mrs. Isidor Garber

Mr. Mrs. Harry Garber

Mrs. Bella Goodis

Mr. Mrs. Nathan Goldberg

Mr. Mrs. Sol Goldstein

Mr. Mrs. Harry Gold

Mr. Mrs. Charls Goldstein

Mr. Mrs. Rubin Glazer

Mr. Mrs. Morris Grant

Mr. Mrs. Abe Granswitter

Mr. Mrs. Sam Greenberg

Mr. Benny Goldman

Mr. Mrs. Judah Glachman

Mrs. L. Goodman

Mrs. F. Grubman

Mr. Israel Gromish

Mr. Mrs. Louis Hoffman

Mrs. Celia Hudis

Mr. Mrs. Charles Hamowitz

Mr. Mrs. Wm. A. Jackel

Mr. Mrs. Hyman Jenkins

Mrs. S. Jackel

Mr. Mrs. Sam Kamish

Mr. Mrs. Sam Klapper

Mr. Mrs. Max Kleiner

Mr. Mrs. Max Kaminer

Mrs. Z. Koren

Mrs. Sarah Kabel

Mrs. Sarah Kundil

Mrs. S. Kraft

Mr. Louis Lorber

Mr. Mrs. Al. Levine

Mr. Mrs. Sam Lerner

Mr. Mrs. Jack Lefshitz

Mr. Mrs. Harry Lifshitz

Mr. Mrs. Gerald Litwak

Mr. Dave Litwak

Mr. Mrs. Morris Lifshitz

Mr. Harry Lifshitz

Mrs. A. Leshniver

Mrs. B. Levine

Mrs. Fanny Lifshitz

Mrs. Mindil Litwak

Mr. Mrs. Benny Magid

Mr. Nathan Magid

Mr. Mrs. Jack Magid

Mr. Mrs. Abraham Magid

Mrs. Oosio Moore

Mr. Mrs. Sol Magel

Mr. Mrs. Abe Meizkish

Mr. Mrs. Max Miller

Mr. Mrs. Meyer Miller

Mr. Mrs. Morris Miller

Mrs. A. Meinster

Mr. Hershl Michal

Mr. Joseph Michal

Mr. Mrs. Louis Naiditch

Mrs. E. Newman

Mr. Mrs. Morris Ordewer

Mr. Mrs. Sam Portney

Mr. Mrs. Philip Porter

Mr. Mrs. Jerry Porter

Mr. Mrs. Louis Prepon

Mr. Mrs. Harry Pincus

Mrs. H. Pincus

Mr. Sam Perlmutter

Mrs. Benny Pripon

Mr. Mrs. Lee C. Rothstein

Mr. Mrs. Louis Rubin

Mr. Max Richman

Mr. Mrs. Louis Richman

Mr. Mrs. Louis Rosen

Mrs. A. Rosenson

Mrs. Mania Rodaf

Mr. Mrs. Stanley Sachs

Mr. Mrs. Louis Shapoff

Mr. Mrs. Abe Schickler

Mr. Mrs. Abe Shmoskler

Mr. Mrs. Joseph Shultz

Mr. Mrs. Simor Schneider

Mr. Mrs. Louis Schimel

Mr. Mrs. Wm. Skolnick

Mr. Mrs. Eli Skolnick

Mr. Abe Smith

Mr. Mrs. Louis Spigner

Mr. Sol Stamm

Mr. Mrs. David Schwadron

Mr. Mrs. Morris Suriff

Mr. Mrs. Joseph Schwartz

Mr. Mrs. Leo Schwartz

Mr. Abe Schlein

Mr. Mrs. Ben Schlain

Mr. A. J. Smith

Mr. Jordon P. Smith

Mr. Mrs. Abe Shulkis

Mr. D. Schmookler

Mr. Abe Schneider

Mrs. Rose Shapiro

Mrs. Ana Singer

Mrs. Ida Stillman

Mr. Harry Teitel

Mr. Mrs. Jack Teitle

Mr. Mrs. Paul Wallach

Mr. Mrs. Charles Wald

Mr. Mrs. Harold Wald

Mr. Mrs. Jashen Wallach

Mr. Mrs. Sidney Wallach

Mrs. Telma Winik

Mr. Louis Wechsler

Mr. Mrs. Abraham Weiner

Mr. Mrs. Irving Weiner

Mr. Mrs. Benny Waldman

Mrs. Bertha Wallach

Mrs. Maleg Weiner

Mr. Mrs. L. I. Zane

Mr. Mrs. Herman J. Zoberman

Mrs. B. Zeitz

Mrs. G. Zoberman

Mrs. Ethel Zimmerman

Mrs. Hannah Zimmerman

Mrs. S. Zusman

DECEASED

Joseph Singer

Benny Weiner

Israel Zoberman

Morris Keren

Don Lin Wallach

Benny Prepon

Melech Eisenstein

Max Nemzer

Dr. Motel Auerbach

Isidor Alzug

Enach Zimmerman

Joseph Schneider

Harry Suchman

Nathan Wager

Max Cooper

Sam Moore

Pinchos Litwak

Sol Traub

Hyman Wallach

Aran Friedman

Sali Friedman

Max Fleisher

Sam Skolnick

Mordish Frank

Max Jeckel

Sam Richman

Abraham Steinberg

Lionel Abzug

BALTIMORE

William Berger

Paul Huddles

Jack Portney

Philip Cushner

Yetta Kruger

Sam Meizlish

Ida Wecsman

Jack Katz

J. Klein

Irving Steinberg

Matel Fishman

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