Resistance (cont.)

Kurenets 2000, Zalman Uri Gurevitz with a non Jewish partisan who helped to save many Jews

The First Battle

Only half an hour later we started seeing Germans. They walked in a chain formation protected by heavy fire attack. Then they lied down and waited for shots in response. They did the same three times. They were very close to Volinitz's troop and after awhile we heard our guys shooting. Immediately as the Germans heard the firing they began throwing grenades. They kept advancing, reached Norvitz group who also began firing at the Germans. Then the Germans approached us. When they reached about 30 meters away we were given the orders to fire. We saw some Germans fall down but others kept advancing closer and closer. Then they were quiet. The Germans were digging trenches. We knew we could not fight them so Vlodia gave the order to retreat. All the other groups retreated as well. We all separated and hid in different areas. I was with Vlodia and Nachoom until the evening came.

When it got dark we returned to the camp. The German's had left the area. The hiding places were left alone but the kitchen was burned, the food destroyed and the printing press thrown away. Near the radio we saw a body. Vlodia turned his lamp and we saw that it was our dear friend Eliyahu son of Reuven- Zishka Alporevitch with a bullet in his head. We couldn't find anyone else so Vlodia decided to retreat in the direction Krelietza. He was sure the Germans would return the next day to clear out the base. From far away we heard shots so Nachoom went to see what was happening. We waited ½ an hour and he did not return. We did not know what to do. Vlodia told me that I must return to Kurenitz and he would return to Volkovishtzena and after he finds out more information he will send Berta or Xina to get me. I returned to Kurenitz with one gun in my pocket. My family was ecstatic. They told me that Nachoom arrived earlier. My father told Nyomka that I returned and he came over with Yitzhak. He decided that we must be seen in town.

The first thing I did was to go Reuven-Zishka Alperovitz and tell him about his son death. We sat together and cried. Reuven-Zishka never forgave me for taking his young son to the woods. The Judenrat paid some money to the woodsman Silak so he would not tell the Germans that the deceased was a Jew from Kurenitz. Silak told Sina from the Judenrat that Eliyahu was wounded during the battle and the Germans investigated him about the partisans. Elik told them that there were hundreds of partisans with a lot of weapons. After a short time they shot him in the head. Silak never told the Germans who Elik was but he was the one that brought the Germans to the area for which he was punished later. But that is another story I will tell you about later.

Nyomaka and sister, Chana Shulman Nyomka was killed while fighting the Germans in 1943. Chana was killed with her father; Aaron and mother Elka, on 9-9-1942.

After that Tzintzivi battle our partisan head quarters realized it was not logical to put our base so near German bases. They decided to move east near Plaschesnitz. There they first joined the Otriad Brava and eventually with Otriad Distival they became part of Diadia vasia. Meanwhile we were waiting in Kurenitz for some communication. Most of the weapons we collected went with the Otriad. We did have some weapons that Nyomka managed to keep, not fully trusting the gentiles as to let go of our entire collection. He also purchased some new guns from Kostia. On July 5 Nikoli Shirotzin's wife came to me and told me that the Otriad went East and at this point they had to leave about 40 people in our area. She promised that in about 2 weeks they would collect the rest of us and take us east.

Every week we would go to Volkovishtzena to see if there is news from the Otriad. One time Nachoom went and he run into Berta with another partisan named Vorbviov. Vorbviov told Nachoom to join them at once to go east. Nachoom refused, he said he must get the rest of the guys. Nachoom returned and sent his mother to Nyomka. Meanwhile Xina bitzon arrived to take us, Nachoom, Nyomka Shulman and Yitzhak Einbinder looked for me but couldn't find me so they left a note to meet them in Volkovishtzena. In the evening as soon as I got the note I went to meet them. But it was too late. They had already left.

So now from the old troop only Chayim Yitzhak Zimmerman, Motik Alporevitch and I were around. It was already the middle of August and there is no communication. Most of the Jews that were left in the area were killed and we knew that Kurenitz turn was approaching. On Aug. 24 Motik and I went to Volkovishtzena hoping that we could make some communication with the resistance. Ivan said that Berta did come once looking for us but she had not returned. We decided to do something on our own. We went to Soroka in the village of Hog, and he told us that in the woods there were some Jews from Nieke. He also heard that there were partisans there but he never saw them. We decided to leave for the Pushtza (deep in the wood area that the partisans used for their bases) on the 20 of Sep. We were all prepared and then…

Lately I was sleeping in a hide out and I was doing the same on Sep. 9. At two in the morning Moshe Alporevitch our neighbor came to our house. He was very frightened, he told us that from his window across from the police station he saw a few hundred police men in cars and from what he understood today was going to be the day of slaughter. My father and sister and brother and the family of Moshe Alporevitch decided to hide in that sacharon (hiding place). I said I was not staying and would go at once to Volkovishtzena or the woods. I took my rifle and a gun, dressed very warmly and carried a few thing I prepared ahead for our departure to the forest. I left from the vegetable garden to the direction to the fields that would take me to the forest Savina. The fog was thick. At the edge of the field I saw many shadows running. Some of our troop members joined me; the two brothers Salim and Moshio Shnitzer, we were also joined by Chayim Shletzer, Chayim Alporevitch and 16 years old Zalman son of Moshe Alporevitch that later joined the Red Army. They all begged me to take them with me . They thought they would be safer because I know my way out. We started towards the fields, we crossed the roads circling the town and when we were two hundred meters away there was a bombardment of shots from all sides. From afar we could see the shadows of policemen circling the town. There was a distance of 20 meters between each. We immediately lied down and started crawling to the direction of Savina. But there was no chance to cross the ring of soldiers. Luckily for us the fog was very thick so we started crawling towards Vileyka street where only Christians lived. I hoped that there I would not find so many policemen. But I was wrong. It was clear now that the whole town was surrounded and that there was no way out. So I decided to go to one of the Christians barn hoping they would not search there. Three of the barns were locked. The fourth one was open. As I found out later it was Ingale Biruk's barn. We went on top of the hay that was all the way to the ceiling and we hid deep inside it. When I reached the barn I realized that Zalman was lost. Many hours past and we had heard shots from everywhere and that was the way we passed the night. At 8 in the morning we heard the sound of footsteps. Someone came inside, walked on top of the hay, but then left. We heard him lock the door.

All day long we heard shouts, cries and shots. The air was filled with the smell of burned bodies. We wanted to scream but we had to be quite. We waited for night to come to try to escape. At 11 o'clock at night we heard the door open and then close. We heard whispers but we could not make out what was said. It lasted a long time. At the beginning I thought it was a couple making love. I decided to leave the barn. We started rolling form the top of the hay and all of a sudden I heard Yiddish words and people running to the direction of the locked door. I understood they were Jews and I yelled to them in Yiddish, “don't run.” They stopped and to my surprise they were my mother's brother Gershon Iyashivski, his wife Etta and their two children, Yochevet, Etta's sister with a child and their father Zalman Mendel Zipelevitch who was lying on the hay dyeing. They told me that the gentile Ingale Biruk knew about their hiding place and helped them as he promised and brought them here. Ingle knew that there were some other Jews hiding in his barn so he locked the door after us knowing that the Police would not look in locked barns. I didn't know what to do. Little children and sick men. I offered my uncle to join us. He answered, “ No Zalman, you are a partisan, but where would I with little children go, how could I leave Zalman Mendel in such a state.” We kissed and while crying he said sounding very fatalistic, “My dear you will be saved but we are lost, say Kaddish after us. “ We broke the door and left towards the woods. We heard shots but they were not after us. After 1 km we started running. The forest was 50-600 meters away. Then I saw a man running towards us, it was Shimon son of Zishka Alperovitz, he was a member of our

Members of HaShomer Hatzair (and later the underground) in Kurenets in 1938 Standing on the left: Yitzhak Einbinder, Elik Alperovitz and Shimon Zimerman on the right

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