Courtesy of:
Simon Wiesenthal Center
Los Angeles, CA 90035
Yaakov Kaplan
Yaakov Kaplan was born in 1922, in the townlet of Dolhinow, but his
parents moved to Krasne in his youth. The family owned an estate, which was
used by the Zionist youth movements to train their member in agriculture in
preparation for settlement in Palestine. As the son of Zionist parents,
he was educated in the "Tarbut" school system, and he hoped to continue
his higher education, but the German - Polish War destroyed his plans.With
the division of Poland between Germany and the USSR, overnight he found
himself under Russian rule, and with a high school education, he was appointed
as a supervisor of construction, a post he had almost until the German -
Russian War in 1941. In May, 1941, he was recruited into the Red Army, and
stationed with the Engineering Battalion #981, in the Armored Force of General
Lelushenko, located in the Daugavpils (Dvinsk) area of Latvia, where he
was given an accelerated military training course.Military Service
On June 26, 1941, immediately after Germany attacked the USSR, he
engaged in his first bloody battle against the German conqueror near Daugavpils,
and from this point there began the terrible, hasty, disorganized Russian
retreat that resulted in horrible losses of manpower and equipment. Every
Russian attempt to cease the retreat and half the enemy was quickly shattered,
and at a great price. They were forced to abandon Valeika - Luki, Ostshkov,
Turupetz, and Salizrov, one after another, and when they were in
Satriya - Russa, the Germans encircled them, leaving a few weak and hungry
survivors.
Realizing that as a Jew, his situation was even more precarious, he
succeeded despite the danger, to sever his connection with his group, and to
escape encirclement. He reached the Belgoya area on the main highway from
Moscow to Leningrad.In September, 1941, all those who originated from the western
territories that had been annexed by the Russians in 1939, and whose
loyalty was suspect were transferred eastward, and there they were assigned to
labor - battalions. Yaakov belonged to Battalion 394, and so he was joined to
military operation 183. He was appointed head of the communications
apparatus on one of the factories that was evacuated from Kharkov, and was
engaged in the manufacture of was equipment.When Yaakov learned of the formation
of a military force of Polish expatriates, though still vague, and the
murder of Jews by Germans in the ar eas vanquished by them, he decided to leave
his job, which was far from the front, and he and a group of other Jews traveled
to Tashkent, determined to enlist and fight against the Germans, the
murderers of their brothers. They saw no justification for avoidance of danger
and remaining in a secure place; their conscience demanded that they
volunteer and enlist for army service. They arrived at Jambol in Kazakhstan,
where they enlisted, and Yaakov was sent to Riazin for officers training school.
In December, 1943, he became an officer and was dispatched with a group,
the First Polish Parachutist Battalion, where they were subordinate to the
partisan movement headquarters - "The Ludova Army.", and in a short
time he was appointed Company Commander. In August, 1944, while still in
Valamus, Yaakov began dispatching to the rear of the German Front, crews of
parachutists that were trained under him, and they carried out very
bold sabotage actions. With the front advancing, they came to Rowne, whence
Yaakov, with the approval of headquarters, sent crews of parachutists
on very dangerous missions, in which he personally participated. These crews
succeeded in eliminating German units, suddenly appearing at their rear
in surprise attacks, causing confusion and departing. Their purpose was to
arouse insecurity in the hearts of the Germans and to annihilate them.
After the liberation of Warsaw, Yaakov continued in the framework of the
First Army of the Polish People's Army, as a Company Commander - his participation
on the battle front, and especially in the Sandomierz area, ceased at the
German Border, because it was decided to transfer his company to battle the
national Ukrainians, who collaborated with the Germans in the liquidation of the
ghettos. It was in their destruction, that Yaakov saw an act of revenge
for the spilling of his brothers' blood, and he completed his service in
the Polish Army as a Deputy Head of the "Officers' Training School."