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by Yosef Apelfeld
Translated by Barbara Beaton
Edited by Moshe Kutten
When the war between Germany and Russia broke out on June 22, 1941, the Germans occupied, among other things, eastern Galicia, and assigned S.S. companies, Gestapo, ShuPo [Schutzpolizei–state protection police], Gendarmerie [rural police], etc. to it. According to a report dated June 6, 1943 from General S.S. Katzmann to General Krieger, the chief commander of the S.D. [Sicherheitsdienst-Nazi intelligence agency] in Krakow, and according to statistics from 1931, the Jewish population of eastern Galicia was 502,000. In April 1942, the deportation of Jews from Galicia began, and by June 27, 1943, 434,329 Jews had been deported and murdered in forced labor camps. Geographically, Radekhov was close to Volhynia, while administratively it belonged to Tarnopol. The grain trade, forestry industry, and timber trade were concentrated in the hands of Jewish residents. Additionally, there were Jewish landowners, and the flour mills and sawmills in the vicinity were run by Jews. The economic situation of the Jews in Radekhov and the surrounding area was not bad.
In almost every village in the area, there were several Jewish families who worked the land and owned shops. These villages included Barylov, Vigoda, Uwin, Potoki, Zavitsh, Synkov, Dombrova and others. The rural population was mostly Ukrainian, but there were also Poles and on isolated farms, there were Germans. The relationship between the Jews and the Ukrainian and Polish townsfolk was quite good for a long time. But, gradually the antisemitic propaganda of the government and the nationalist parties began to increase, leading to increased hatred of Jews.
Jewish residents welcomed the occupation by the Red Army on September 17, 1939 because it was preferable to the Nazi invasion, though not all were satisfied with the Soviet authorities. The nationalization of factories and property adversely affected a certain segment of the Jewish population. The acceptance of Jews into government positions also aroused anger and resentment in the minds of gentiles.
The war between Germany and the Soviet Union broke out on June 22, 1941 and struck the Jewish population like a thunderbolt on a clear day. No one foresaw the terrible danger. Many guessed there would be hostile treatment from the Germans, pressure and persecutions, but no one imagined complete annihilation. The illusion that it would somehow be possible to manage was widespread. This was also the reason that only a small number of Jews fled with the retreating Red Army to Russia.
[Page 558]
This step was only taken by those who collaborated with the Soviets, and they were mainly single people. With the chaos and disruption of transportation that abounded when war broke out, escape was considered dangerous almost from the first day.
At the same time, with the withdrawal of the Red Army, unrest began among the Ukrainian population. Horrifying news of riots arrived. The Ukrainians declared the establishment of their own state, and the Bandera gangs[1] began committing acts of robbery and murder against Jews. A Ukrainian state failed to materialize, since the Germans annexed this region into their occupied zone. The Ukrainians, nonetheless, were given a free hand to harm Jews, and notices appeared that announced persecution and decrees for the Jews.
All Jews were forced to wear a white armband with a blue Star of David on their right arm as a distinctive sign and also to facilitate kidnappings and other actions. A special curfew was imposed on Jews, and contact and transportation between Jews and Christians was prohibited. Jews could obtain food only at great risk to their lives and only at skyrocketing prices. In October 1941, the German authorities issued an order demanding that Jews hand over all the valuables, furs and jewelry in their possession. (They had forbidden Jews from wearing furs.) The Germans carried out terrifying kidnappings for forced labor. The fear was not of the work itself but rather the risk to life it entailed. This was an excellent opportunity for the oppressors to abuse Jews with sadistic cruelty.
My parents had a farm in the village of Vigoda and our relationship with the Ukrainian villagers and the Poles was quite normal. We lived near the village called Potoki, and all around were forests. Among the villagers, there were also those who risked their lives to provide help and shelter for Jews – they were truly the Righteous Among the Nations. Among them were Shlichta, a Ukrainian and Mrs. Sobetska who was Polish.
The Jewish settlements in the area were liquidated and only a few Jews were given shelter by the Christians. The expectation was that hiding places would only be needed for a short time with the hope that the defeat of the Germans would be imminent. But when this situation continued for a long time, it became extremely difficult for the Christians who provided shelter. All of them looked for a way out and all had their own solution. Fear gripped some of them and they considered turning out those they were protecting. They worried that if the expelled Jews were caught, their identities might be revealed to the Germans who had vowed to shoot anyone caught hiding Jews. There were Christians who killed Jews hiding with them, and indeed bodies of Jews were found in pits in various places. There were also those who invited “Bandera” gangs to come, take their victims, and murder them by shooting them. When my brother and I found temporary shelter with a Ukrainian neighbor in Potoki, the neighbor brought a gang of murderers one night, and this gang took us to a nearby forest and shot us. My brother David was killed and I was wounded in the shoulder. The murderers were sure that I was also among the dead. I received first aid from Shlichta, who had been a medic since the days of the First World War,
[Page 559]
and he helped my remaining brothers and me build a bunker in Mrs. Sobetska's cowshed. The roof of the bunker was covered with animal manure, and we stayed in this bunker for many months. At night we would go out to the barn to breathe “fresh” air. Despite her fear of being exposed to the authorities or to the neighbors, Mrs. Sobetska cautiously provided us with food.
The Righteous Among the Nations who worked to save Jews, even without expecting recognition for their actions, will be remembered for generations. – Only in April 1944 were we liberated by the Red Army. –
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Translator's footnote:
by Yosef Apelfeld
Translated by Barbara Beaton
Edited by Moshe Kutten
The rural communities where Jews lived in eastern Galicia were largely agricultural. If there were 18 families in the village, half of them would earn their living solely from agriculture and the rest from petty trade. There were also Jews who owned estates and the remnants of estates which they had purchased from Polish nobles in the second half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century. In the eyes of the Ukrainian people, it was very natural to see Jews as estate owners. Relations between Jews, Ukrainians, and Poles were generally normal and even friendly. The same was true in the Radekhov district. One of the typical Jewish families in the area was the Tzvi (Heki) Krantz family from Vigoda [Wygoda]. This family was notable for its generosity, goodness, and self-sacrifice. These qualities were especially evident during the war years. Heki Krantz had six children, five daughters and one son: Zissel, Yetl, Ela, Gina, Joseph, and Nina. Unfortunately, no one from this family survived, and I have not been able to find even one photograph. Tzvi (Heki) Krantz owned a farm in Vigoda. Somehow, he managed to escape the Russian confiscation, and the farm remained in his hands until the Germans arrived. From then until the German-Russian war in 1941, his economic situation, relative to those times, was quite good. Many Jews were displaced from their homes immediately after the outbreak of the war. This home was always wide open to anyone who knocked on the door. Here is one of the many instances that reflect the generosity of this family's heart.
Two months after the German onslaught arrived, a young Jewish man from the nearby town of Leshnev [Leshniv] came to the house at night. Frightened and wounded over every part of his body, he said that during the Russian occupation of 1939-1941, he was a police officer at the Leshnev police station, along with many Ukrainians and Poles from that same place, something that was normal at that time. With the arrival of the Germans, the local Ukrainians began to persecute the Jews and collaborate with the Germans. The Ukrainian police (militia) in particular “excelled” at this. This was almost their entire method of operation. Among other things, they targeted this young man who served in the police during the Russian era, and they accused him of being a collaborator and informant for the Soviet NKVD. The Ukrainian police could arrest people for political reasons. The young man was arrested and severely tortured by the Ukrainian murderers. However, he managed to escape from their hands and found refuge with the Krantz family. Heki Krantz and his family received him with open arms. They fed and clothed him and hid him in their granary, undertakings that were considered dangerous because the Ukrainian militia often conducted searches for the purpose of robbery. The young man managed to hide in the house for several months until one day, when he was seen by chance, by a farmer from the town of Leshnev.
[Page 561]
It seemed that the farmer did not recognize him, but… a few days later, the Ukrainian militiamen appeared at night at Krantz's house, and after a vigorous search, discovered him and arrested him, but not before abusing the entire family. They led him in an unknown direction. Heki Krantz traveled furiously to Leshnev in the hope that he would be able to rescue him from the hands of the murderers in exchange for a decent ransom. After a few days of delay, he learned that in the meantime, the young man had been murdered. Despite the pleas of Leshnev Jews to cease his contact with the police in this matter and not put himself in a dangerous situation (dangerous from the point of view of the local Jews), he did not stop trying until the last glimmer of hope vanished. He even made an effort to bring him to the Jewish cemetery.
This house was always open to those who were persecuted who could not be in their own homes. Because of this, the house was always full to capacity. When the German Gestapo began to carry away Jews for forced labor, this house, isolated from the rest of the village, was the most convenient place to hide. When the “Aktions” began in September 1942 and when they learned that the city of Radekhov and the surrounding area were also in danger, Heki came up with the idea of sending girls to work in Germany in order to try to save them from the clutches of the Nazis. He did not make use of this plan for his daughters, who, based on outward appearances, could pass as Aryan. In this way, sending girls to Germany, several girls from this place managed to stay alive. Only his family did not survive. They were not so lucky.
In the last days before the Jews were deported to the ghetto, when economic hardships had reached their peak, the Krantz family shared a loaf of bread with anyone who entered the house. During the deportations to the ghetto and the Aktions, there were more than 20 people in the house. At the end of November or the beginning of December 1942, after being informed on, the Germans, accompanied by Ukrainians, attacked the house. Every living soul they found there at that moment, about 20 or so people, including Krantz's wife Chaya and four of his children, Zissel, Ela, Gina, and Nina, were brought to a nearby forest and shot dead. Chaim Suchman and his two sisters were also among these holy victims. Heki Krantz himself, his daughter, Yetl, a friend, and his son, Joseph, managed to hide until May 1943. In that month, they were found murdered in the fields in the village of Kulikov [Kulikiv]. Since no remnant of this family remains, it is imperative that we remember them here for the sake of future generations.
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