A Motherly Poem
Miriam’s Story - PAGE 357 Miriam (nee Aygas) Tokarski was
born to the Aygas family of Globokie (Vilna/ Vitbesk region) in 1919.
Amongst the partisans from Minsk she was known by her nickname “Katia”
She immigrated to Israel from the Soviet Union in 1960. During the years
1963- 1975 she was the secretary of the union of the immigrants from
the Soviet Union. A resident of the coastal town; Ashdod.
David Cohen interviewed her for this story
As soon as the Germans enter Minsk, they ordered that all the men, with
no specification for nationality, must come to a certain area. Every
man from the age of 16 to 55 arrived and from there, they were all taken
to a camp not far from Minsk. There, they were split up, and the Christians
and Jews were separated. All the Christians were free to leave while
the Jews were imprisoned in this camp, outdoors and under the skies.
During the daytime, due to summer, it was extremely hot and at night
they would light the whole area up with spotlights to make sure nobody
would escape. It was located in the vicinity of a POW camp the German
erected.
They didn’t supply the men with any food, but they permitted the
women and children to bring food to their family members. There were
no restroom facilities and people were forced to go outdoors. After
sometimes, the Germans started murdering the POWs, and the few that
were fit were taken to work. Some of the POWs were able to escape. Among
them, was a Russian man named Mikhail Gromov, who would later be prominent
in my daughters’ life. He was shot at during the escape and as
soon as he arrived to the center of Minsk, he sat in a garden, wounded
and exhausted. A woman named Helena (Lina) Balndovitz passed by and
saw him, and since she knew the regular people who lived there, she
realized he was in great danger and took him to her home. Some months
later, these two people saved my little baby daughter from a certain
death that I will tell u about later. Amongst the POWs, there were also
some Jewish soldiers who fought for the Soviets. A few of them succeeded
in escaping by using women’s clothes that the Jewish women were
able to bring with them. Together with the women who brought food, they
escaped from the camp. At one time, the German authorities announced
that all their professional people among the Jews they held should register
with the German authority and they would receive decent jobs. Many Doctors,
Teachers, Engineers, Musicians registered. The Germans sent trucks that
took them, and that was the last these people were seen; they were all
killed.
After six days in this camp, they transferred all the remaining Jews
to a prison in town where they were held for a few days. Here, they
were beaten up mercilessly later the Germans announced that they should
go home and get their wives and children and together they would be
transferred to the ghetto that was going to be established. In the ghetto,
they established a Judenrat committee that was accountable to the Nazis.
They served as connection between the Jews and the Nazis. The first
head of this committee was Eliyahu Mushkin, a bright and ethical man.
Immediately after the committee was established, the Germans requested
a bribe. They demanded that the Jews bring them money; silver, gold
and jewelry. Mushkin came to the Jewish population and said “these
are there demands, and since we all want to survive, then maybe by supplying
them with there demands, they will keep us alive.” People greatly
respected him and accepted his request and gave him jewelry and gold
watches and other possession but it was impossible to supply all the
demands that the Germans kept coming with. One time I was near the committee
building, I saw a German national who lived in Minsk by the name of
Goradski come with his car to the building. Mushkin came to him with
a beautiful Candelabrum. He handed him the Candelabra and received a
merciless slap on his face and harsh beating that produce great wounds.
After some time, the Nazis murdered Mushkin because he could not supply
their demands that kept increasing.
Moshe Yoffe, who was also a very intelligent and talented man, replaced
Mushkin. The Judenrat was divided into various departments. A man named
Rodizer, who was very decent, was appointed as the head of the craftsmen’s
department. He succeeded to secretly transfer most of the products that
were produced by the Jewish craftsmen to the Resistant. Products included
winter clothing, boots and soap. One day he with his wife and a daughter
were murdered during an action in the ghetto. Sadly there were also
some corrupt Jews in the ghetto and there were even provocateurs. One
of them was a woman named Mira, who everyone knew to be very careful
of. In the end, the Resistance killed her. They were others; Rosenblatt
who lived lavishly at the expense of the other Jews. There was also
Mr Epstein from Danzig who lived like “the God of Odessa”
in the ghetto. Another one was Mr. Veinstein who would beat the heads
of the Jewish women with rubber bats but never touched the men out of
fear. All these people were later assassinated by the resistant.
During the first days of the establishment of the ghetto, there were
19,200 Jews crowded in the small area. This was the official number
of the registered Jews but many did not register. Originally there was
no rule for participating in the forced labor troop in the ghetto, at
that point you could sustain yourself without a job. You did not receive
any food, but many still had possessions and the Jews would go to the
fence that encircled the ghetto and would swap their possession in exchange
for food with the local Christian population. The ghetto was surrounded
by barbwires. In each home, there lived a few families and after much
difficulties, I found a small living space with the family of Zalman
Rosenbloom on Shasenco street. I lived there with my mother, sister
and little daughter. As the head of the family, I was forced to go to
the barbed wire fence and try to exchange possessions for food, even
though the punishment if being caught was imprisonment or even death,
but there was no other choice for me at that point. These were the fears
and horrors during daytime but the truly dreadful hours would take place
during the nights when people would hide in the dark and lock themselves
inside their homes and no one would go out. One night, the usual deathly
quiet of the ghetto was pierced by the anguished screams “Save
us!” followed by gunshots. We all ran for our hiding places and
nobody came out to help the people who were yelling. The next morning,
we found out that a group of Hitler tugs came in the ghetto and raped
the women, tore their limbs and then shot them. Once again, there was
days were they caught men and took them to a central location while
beating them with rubber bats. Wounded and bleeding, they threw them
in trucks from were they would never be seen again.
On November 6 th , 1941 at dusk, the air was permeating with danger
and once again there was a rumor of impending action in the ghetto.
I looked at my mother helplessly, my little sister looked deathly fearful,
but what was I to do? I held my little girl in my arms and ran to the
Judenrat building to find out what was going on. In the yard of the
Judenrat, there were many people, consisting of committee people with
their families and professional people with their families. The folksDeutche
(of German descent) Goradski announced that he would take them to Shiroka
street where they would hide until the Nazis would finish the action.
I hid amongst a group of men from the Judenrat. Soon I realized that
every time that they announced the name of a man, a women and children
would join him. So I quickly whispered to the Jewish men, “Is anyone
of you single?”, and none of them answered. I stood there hopeless
with my baby in my arms and finally someone pointed at a guy and said,
“he’s single”. I begged the single guy to tell me his
name so I could pretend to be his sister and join him but he remained
silent. When they called his name, I just followed him. When the policeman
asked him if I was his sister, he replied “NO.” I started
screaming to him bitterly, “You were never a good brother to me!
And even now you wont come to the help of your sister!?” I shielded
my baby waiting for the policemen to beat me up, but all of a sudden
I heard him scream to me “stop!” I stood erect and saw the
Policeman with his beating stick motioning to me to follow the man who
I claimed was my brother. I left with the group to Sheroka Street. Here,
they took us to the barns and there were bunk beds stacked everywhere.
The next day, a young boy came running from the ghetto to his father
who was with us in the shiroka camp and told us that in the ghetto they
killed many people. After three days, when the killing subsided, we
went back to the ghetto where I was very happy to find my mother and
sister alive. In this action, 15 thousand Jews were killed and two weeks
later they killed another 5 thousand. Jews who survived the mass killings
in neighboring towns replaced them in the workplace. We knew that death
is eminent for all of us, so all the Jews started digging hiding places
under their homes. My situation was very precarious since most Jews
refused to let babies come to the hide out because they feared that
their cries would betray the entire hiding place. If someone at times
of danger brought a baby to the hideout, immediately with the baby’s
first cry, the people would strangle him. For this reason, I never took
my baby to the hideout. Every time when there would be suspicion that
something would happen and people would run to their bunkers I would
take my baby, rip the yellow Jewish star off and with the help of my
sister I would crawl under the barb wire to the Russian area. Once I
reached the other side I would run to far away allies. One day, I befriended
a Christian woman by the name of lIma Barsalska. I told her about my
little girl and she said she would agree to take my daughter to her
home which was near the fence of the ghetto. On March 1, 1942, in the
evening when I found out something was going to occur in the ghetto,
I took my baby and crawled under the barbed wire on Corona st through
the cemetery to the Christian women Lima. I quietly knocked on the door
and deposited the baby on the doorway and ran away quickly because I
couldn’t stand hearing the screams of the baby.. March 2 nd , the
Gestapo arrived in the ghetto and demanded to collect five thousand
Jews for a ‘Special mission”. Everyone hid and refused to
come. The Gestapo member became enraged and marched throughout the ghetto
and shot with pistols and automatic guns everyone whom they encountered.
They went to the Jewish home for the children and murdered all of the
children. This home for the children was established for the orphans
of the ghetto on Zalona Street. Some kind women who lost their own kids
took care of the children. The was no food supplied for them so the
children became beggars. They would go to the homes wearing a necklace
that had an empty food container and people would fill them with leftovers.
It was heartbreaking to see the children and they could hardly walk
from starvation. When I gave my child to the Christian woman where I
knew she would be fed and taken care of, every time I was able to get
bread, I gave it to those children. Many of them knew me and would run
to me every time I came near by. During that day, they also killed the
poet/ Artist Moshe Levin. Moshe came to Minsk from Vilna with his wife
and two daughters. He was a very talented teacher and artist, a graduate
of the teachers’ seminar in Vilna. In the ghetto, he headed a labor
group and was planning to escape and join the resistance. One day, when
he returned for work, there was an action in the ghetto. One of the
German officers who Moshe was at the time drawing his portrait wanted
to save his life. But Moshe was very responsible and said “I have
a group of about 35 people who work with me and I must bring them them
to be saved.” The German agreed to save the entire group and send
him to get them. On the way to get the group, he was caught by other
Nazis who killed him on the spot. His wife, Sarah Levin, stayed in the
ghetto with her oldest daughter Ininca. The youngest daughter already
died at that point. Sarah was at work during that action, so the neighbors
took her daughter Inica to their hide out . At one point, there was
one girl in the hideout who was very thirsty. After four days past in
the hideout, the father of the girl looked outside and saw that nobody
was around so he left the hideout and entered the house to bring water.
A policeman saw him and followed him quietly until the father returned
to the hideout. The Germans then surrounded the hideout and killed all
the people who hid there. In the ghetto I also encountered the two sisters,
Deena and Sessia Modioscar, who were the sisters of one of the heroes
of the Vilna ghetto, Sonia Madiasker. Dina worked as a nurse in one
of the hospitals for wounded soldiers. From there she will retrieve
medicine and first aid supplies for the ghetto. Her sister sessia became
the contact between the resistant in the ghetto and the Soviet resistant
in the Minsk region. In July of 1942, she was caught in the ghetto with
her baby girl who was one year old. They were both pushed into the most
dreaded “gas truck”* where they were killed when monoxide
gas from the engine streamed. On the July 28 th , 1942, after we were
taken out to work, a ten-year old boy came to his father at the working
place and said that the ghetto was surrounded. My head became dizzy
with worrying what would happen with my mother and daughter (my sister
was working with me). Since I didn’t know when I left the ghetto
about what was about to occur, I did not prepare ahead for the situation.
For four days, we were left in the workplace and they didn’t let
us go back to the ghetto and we could hear gunshots. We stayed in the
university classrooms where we worked and finally on the fourth day,
they returned us to the ghetto to a big yard on Republic Street. There
we were met by dozens of people who were bitterly crying and they were
amongst the few who were able to hide during that action., Already at
the entrance of the ghetto, I encountered a neighbor and I asked if
my family members were alive and he shook his head negatively. My eyes
darkened and I lost the will to survive. I always told myself that I
must be strong because my beloved are alive but now I lied on the ground
holding my head in my arms in deep mourning. all of sudden I heard someone
shouting to me “Quickly go get your mother and daughter, quickly
run they are in my yard.” I ran to the yard near our house, when
I go there a policeman stopped me and said
“Don’t move one step ahead or I will shoot”. But when
I saw my mother almost collapsing holding my daughter, I didn’t
pay any attention to the policeman and caught my daughter in one hand
and pulled my mother out of the yard. After this action, it became clear
to me that I cannot safely leave my daughter with my mother in the ghetto
when I go to work. I suggested to my mother that she should wear a cross
on her neck and move to the Russian side with my daughter. Both of them
had blonde hair and could be mistaken for non-Jews.
My mother refused to listen to me and she said “I was born a Jew
and I will die a Jew. Why should I look for death far away from you?
Death will find me soon enough right here.” I was determined to
save my daughters life and decided to leave her in the Russian area
no matter what. My daughter was a beautiful blonde girl and she spoke
Russian very fluently (for her age) and I was hoping that someone would
find her and have pity on her. My friend of whom I told you about; Sarah
Levin, the widow of Moshe levin the artist, was the head of the “Kolona”
(working group). Daily we would go out of the ghetto to work in small
‘Kolonas” with policeman or German guards watching us. At
the head of the group (Kolona), there was always a Jew who could speak
fluent German, Russian and Polish. The German guard would only address
the head of the group. The head of the group would translate the instructions
to the Jewish workers. Sarah Levine asked the policemen who worked with
her group to ignore the fact that their would be a women with a child
coming from the ghetto who is planning to split from the rest of the
group. At this point, there were hardly any Jewish children left alive
in the ghetto. Early in the morning of September 1, 1942, I tensely
walked carrying my daughter to the gate of the ghetto. At first, it
seems like my luck was not with me since at the entrance of the gate
stood some policemen and Gestapo. I was sure that we are lost and I
approached the first row and held my daughter in her waist and her head
was below my shoulder so they wouldn’t notice her. It seemed like
a miracle occurred because they did not discover my baby. When we reached
nonvano cosko st. I saw two burned buildings in the corner and escaped
from the line to one of the buildings. I put my daughter on the ground
and put a doll in her hand and ran and hid behind one of the buildings.
I stood there for awhile and I could hear my daughter crying. All of
a sudden she stopped crying. I looked from behind the wall and saw that
a man who was limping carried my daughter in his arms and she hugged
his neck in a trusting way. I wondered who this man was and where he
was taking her. My first instinct was to run and take her back but I
controlled myself and took off my yellow Jewish star, covered my face
with a kerchief, and followed them for awhile from a distance. When
they arrived to Radakofka St. they disappeared in one of the backyards.
It was about 6 in the morning. I left and went back to the ghetto using
backward alleys. When I arrived in the ghetto, the group I usually worked
with was ready to leave and I joined them and stood next to my sister
who I always walked with and together (We had to walk in lines as pairs)
we both cried bitterly. Days of starvation and Sorrow filled with a
longing for my two-year old daughter followed. One day, A Jewish woman
name MANYA told me that a Christian woman who she bartered with told
her that her husband found in the street a blonde girl who spoke very
good Russian and appeared like she just arrived from “Moscow”.
After some investigation, I found out that it is my daughters and tears
choked my throat. I told Manya and other people in the ghetto that my
daughter had passed away, since I was afraid that someone would tell
the wrong person out of jealously (most lost their children at that
point). In a naive tone I told Manya that this Christian girl that she
told me about reminded me of my daughter who passed away. I have a strong
urge to meet her. One day I joined Manya and her working troop and she
motioned to me which yard the girl lived in but there were four apartments
there and I didn’t know which apartment it was. Manya came running
to me and pointed to the right apartment and I went through the hallway
that took me to the room. I moved the drapes and I could see my daughter,
and when she noticed me, she sat in her bed. The woman who was at the
house thought the girl was afraid of me and took her in her arms. I
couldn’t stop myself and I started petting the leg of my daughter
and crying bitterly and my daughter joined my cries. The woman immediately
understood everything and she told her husband to shut the door, and
this how I became acquainted with mother Lucia who saved my daughter.
As soon as a realized my daughter was in good hands my will to survive
increased, Mother Lucia suggested that during the actions I should run
away from the ghetto and hide in her home. I refused and said “death
is following me and your home is more dear to me then my own life. God
forbid I should endanger the house to save my own skin”.
Mother Lucia promised me to keep my daughter safe with her as long as
she is alive.
On March 30 th , 1943, my sister and I escaped from the ghetto. To explain
the escape, I have to go back to November of 1941. In another part of
the ghetto, Jews from Germany were brought. A German officer named Villy
Shultz who was about 40 years old served there. He fell in love with
young Jewish girl named Elsa who was from Frankfurt on the main. He
decided to run away to the Soviet resistant with his Jewish lover. He
asked her to get in touch with the Russian Jews in the ghetto who he
assumed knew how to get in touch with the resistance. He promised that
he would give the group that escaped a truck with a driver. Elza got
in touch with Lisa Perimoter, a Russian Jewish woman and they organized
a group of 30 Jews from Russia and Poland who could be trusted with
the secret. ON that day of March 1943, the German came with the truck
and a driver and took all 30 of us. We were hiding in the truck and
at first we were very fearful that the German officer would betray us
to the Gestapo since we knew such things has occurred. As we left Minsk,
we started believing that things will turn well.. The German officer
asked who knew how contact the resistant. We really didn’t have
a contact but there was one Jew named mendel tonmomp who knew where
to find the resistant. The officer put model near him on the front seat
and continued on the road. We arrived at the river Patsi near the village
recovistas and we found the build that would transfer us to the other
side was burned and we couldn’t stay by the river for too long
since we knew the Germans would look for the officer who left with the
Jews for work. We decided to send someone to swim across the river to
find the resistance. We were lucky that amongst us was Zolia Takorski
who used to be a sailor. He jumped to the river with his clothes and
pistol to his mouth. After a short time, he returned with a boat. The
first person to be transferred was the German officer and we could see
the people of the resistance waiting on the other side. They quickly
realized that we were Jewish so they transferred us in a hurry and burned
the truck. A short time later, the Germans arrived there and started
shooting toward the village. After two days of walk, we arrived to the
second brigade of Minsk. While we walked on the road, we had save the
life of the german officer who the villagers wanted to kill. We explained
to them that he saved our lives. We stayed in the village zania for
a few days. One day when we were by the head courters of the resistant
village, we met with a partisan who was wearing a leather jacket with
an automatic machine gun riding a beautiful horse. He went near us and
entered the headquarter of the resistant. After a short time, a partisan
came out of theh headquarters and called Zolia quartksi to enter. Before
that, Zolia told of the person on the horse is his Jewish childhood
friend Israel xagoliam, the head of the fifth brigade. As soon as Israel
found out about the heroic deeds of Zolia who swam across the river
and saved us all, he demanded that he should join his brigade and Zolia
was the first of us to join the resistant. In the fifth brigade, there
was 30 Jews amongst 400 people. Despite the fact that there was only
30 Jews, the brigade was nicknamed the “Jewish brigade” since
the Jews volunteered for all the most dangerous mission. Zolia became
the commander of the explosives troop, His specialty became planting
explosives on the railroads. They would go for missions carrying 16
kilograms of explosives on their back. Zolia was capable of geting very
close to the German who were guarding the trains and right under their
eyes put the explosives under the train tracks and then pull the rope
until the train arrived. Then he would light the rope as soon as the
train came near, and when the explosives would go off they would run
to to the forests not be discovered by the Germans.
Even amongst the soviet partisans there were some who were anti-Semites
and could not hide their hate to the jews. With Zolia, there was also
two young Jewish boys and one of them yonka dordodale fell in one of
the actions. As soon as I joined the partisans, I asked my commander
to transfer my daughter vilia with her savors Mikhail and vilana to
this area. He kept asking why do you want to bring your daughter. I
explained there that they are always surrounded with Germans and I believed
they would eventually be discovered. The commander said here we are
also surrounded by Germans but I explained its not the same because
they are helpless and we have weapons here. Finally, they agreed and
michelle and wife Helena and her son who was 8 years old and my daughter
arrived at the partisan. At first, the soviet partisans were very suspicious
with Mikhail and were wondering why a soviet soldier stayed such a long
time in Minsk and never joined the resistance. I defended him and said
that the fact the he saved a Jewish girl know that if he would be found
he would be killed proved that he was a decent person. Eventually, he
joined the resistance in their missions and showed his bravery but to
my great sorrow, shortly before the liberation of Minsk he was killed
during a battle with the Germans. I would like to tell about my meeting
with my daughter in the partisan camp.
One day, a partisan came to me and said “katya, I came to say hello
from your daughter.” I couldn’t believe what I had heard.
After a few minutes, I was told to come to the headquarters and thre
they told me that they had seen my daughter. I was so excited that I
fainted. They spilled some water on me and woke me up and told me the
name of the village where my daughter was located and which route to
take to get there and the code words that I needed to say if I encountered
other partisan units, This was about 15 kilometers away from the base
and immediately I left. I arrived to a village where I slept that night,
and continued in the forest to the next morning where I encountered
some partisans. I asked them about the camp and explained about my daughter
who they knew about. I arrived there that evening and met a woman guarding
the area with a rifle. After I told her who I am, she explained how
to find my daughter. As soon as I saw my daughter, I ran to her and
said “Velictcka, do you know who I am? She said
“yes you are mother Katya”. I squeezed her to my heart and
started crying and I felt as if the entire forest was crying with me,
I don’t know where all these people came from but I found myself
surrounded by many people of the camp who joined my crying. As soon
as lucia who worked in the kitchen found out about my arrival she took
me to the underground place where they lived and I spent the night there.
When I returned to my headquarters, I asked to bring my daughter there.
In my camp there was some children who was age 8 and 10 but there was
no young children and my daughter at this point was only 3 years old.
The commander said this is not a nursery school and your first priority
is to be a fighter. I asked at least that my daughter would live in
a village near the camp which they agreed to and they gave me a horse
and a carriage to bring my daughter. This was my first time running
a carriage with a horse and the horse was very stubborn and it took
me many hours to arrive to the village, but my daughter was very excited
to see and she hugged me as if we had separated. In a nearby village,
they found an arrangement for her in the home of one of the local villagers.
Twice a week, I received free time for four hours to see my daughter.
The road to the village took about two hours since I had to swim across
the river and hike thorough the forest so I only spent about two hours
with her. I always brought a few potatoes and pieces of bread and sometime
I even received some meat and a bottle of milk. The villagers were she
lived was very kind to her and treated her like his own daughter. Whenever
I had to leave her, she would cry so I pretended as if I was going to
get some water and then I did not return. Sometime I would look at her
and see that she would sit by herself very sad and her eyes would fill
with tears and she would look to the entrance hoping that I would return.
My heart would break and I would run crying to the camp hoping that
I would not be late so they would give me another chance to visit. These
things continued until June of 1944. The Nazis started a blockade against
the resistant and a few German divisions surrounded the area where the
resistance was aiming to kill all the partisans. I was located with
a resistant group who eventually had to retreat and we arrived to the
center of the partisan area. Valia, my daughter, stayed in the village.
Lucia who missed her came to the village and took her to be with her.
During the retreat through the forest and the field, I saw my daughter
Valia who was dressed in winter clothes walking in the fields. At first
I thought she was all-alone but then I saw lucia. Many of the local
citizens of the villages were escaping from the Germans who were firing
at the village. I said to lucia our fate is joined, lets go together.
I walked ahead with my daughter in my arms and lucia and her son followed.
My daughter who was already four years old was heavy so I tied her to
my back and we walked and eventually Lucia and her son stayed with the
villagers and I came to my daughter to my troop. The commissar the head
of the troop said our situation is very bad. We will have to cross the
marshes and we will be in water up to our necks and you with your daughter
cannot walk with us because we cannnot help you. I suggest you stay
in the forest. I answered I am a partisan and I will go with my brigade
and I will go with my daughter.. When they realized I was determined,
they let me join them. We crossed the river in a raft and I walked with
my troop and in the back of us walked another group led my yanki levage.
Also with me, walked henia goldberg who was a widow of a partisan who
was killed in action. She also had her daughter with her. There was
also the partisan asu dlten who had his wife and daughter with him..
I joined all of them since they all had children. Shortly after, the
partisans surrounded us with our weapons and said that we shouldn’t
go with them. Many troops went ahead of us and from far we could already
head the dogs and the Germans but the soviet partisans did not let us
go. We were about 14 people among us women and children and only two
men. Ayonki levage stayed with us since his daughter was only ten years
old. Only he and esigoten had rifles. We started crawling from bush
to bush until evening arrived and rain started. The two men went to
the village that was nearby and found an empty of residents who ran
away fearing the germans. They brought back hay from there and we layed
down under a carriage on top of the hay. While lying there with my daughter,
I had an idea. Why shouldn’t we dig a hideout here in the ghetto
where we were guarded by germans and we couldn’t make much noise,
we were able to build bunkers under the homes and here in the forest
it would be much easier. I told my idea to the wife of yankio leage
who lied next to me and she told it to her husband. We remember that
on the road we saw an Axe and digging tools and many tree branches so
the men went at night and brought everything where we hid. We started
digging and took some of our clothes off and put the dirt that we dug
and took it far away from the digging place so the Germans would not
realize the earth was dug there. We dug along and narrow tunnel and
camouflaged it. The tunnel was not that deep so we could only lie in
there. My only trouble now was hunger because I only had a piece of
bread that I gave to my daughter. I wet the hard part of the bread and
gave it to her and I ate nothing. We stayed there for four days and
early in the morning the men would go out to check the surrounding area
but would return quickly because the would hear dogs barking and Germans
yelling nearby. On the fourth day, I became very sick since i didn’t
eat anything and I started crawling out to breathe for air and people
gave me water to wet my lips. Most of the water in the bottle was used
for children. All of a sudden we heard a man walking out loudly and
practically yelling to eachother. What has happened to them are they
crazy we thought.. Yanki ylovage had a good sense of humor, he came
to the dugout and said “you’re lazy get out of there”
As we found out later, the Germans stopped the blockage after 13 days
and since there was a new soviet offensive in the Ukraine,
we left our dugout and returned to the camp. I became very weak from
the starvation period and couldn’t carry my daughter on my back.
Now she ran ahead of me and ordered me to rest and then motioned to
me to come to her. As soon as I came near she would run form me again
and this is how we walked. Most of our brigade already arrived except
for me. A rumor spread that I was killed and everyone was very sorry.
So when I finally arrived, everyone was cheering. Zulia also came out
and carried my daughter in his arms and like this we returned to the
brigade. The next day, the commissar ordered my to take my daughter
to the village and give to lucia who returned. After a few days, I came
to see my daughter and she was swollen from starvation and tiredness
and she developed some fever. I could not stay there, I had to return
to my brigade. I was responsible for the food supply and when the female
physician who checked the food came around, I stated crying. She asked
me what was wrong and I didn’t want to answer her because I knew
she also had a child who stayed in one of the villages. She keep insisting
I told her why I was crying and I told her about the situation in the
village. She immediately went to the quarters and demanded that they
send food. I was sent with some left over soup to bring to my daughter
and Lucia and her son. And like this I fed them for two weeks. I had
an assistant who was a political person and she was jealous of me that
I who a political was above her so she lied to the people and said I
was transferring meat to the village although I was only transferring
only the leftovers. I was called to the commisar katya you must know
that if the soviet nation would exist, your daughter will exist, but
if there will be no nation, you will have no daughter.. you must not
forget you are a partisan. I abruptly left the room not wanting him
to the tears the uncontrollably came out of my eyes. Days later, after
the liberation, I met the commisar , he was drunk nimika st in minsk
he was happy to see me and he said don’t you recognize me? I said
oh I know you very well. I answered during war period the inferiors
lead and the superior go under but now each one of us is in his appropriate
place. One who is a mench stays a mench.
*Gas vans were sent to... ( Minsk). These strange vehicles carried spurious
windows and curtains and otherwise externally resembled family trailers.
Women and children were lured into them with the announcement that they
were to be resettled and that they would meet their husbands and fathers
in the new place. Once inside the truck, the doors automatically and
hermetically closed, the driver stepped on the accelerator, and monoxide
gas from the engine streamed in. By the time the van reached its destination,
which was an anti-tank ditch outside the town, the occupants were dead.
And here they joined their husbands and fathers who had been killed
by rifles and carbines in the hands of the Einsatzgruppen From
Military Tribunal II
Palace of Justice
Nuremberg, Germany
8 April 1948
http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/nuremberg/einsatzdec.html
to Drozdy camp
Five strands of barbed wire surrounded the ghetto
Jews, under the penalty of death, were forbidden to buy or trade
food.
A major pogrom took place on November 7, 1941. About thirteen
thousand Jews were taken into Tuchinki and brutally killed there. Thousands
of bodies were laid out in trenches that had been prepared in advance.
The Jews themselves were digging the trenches as part of their work.
On November 20, 1941, another massacre took place in Minsk. Seven thousand
Jews were killed on that day. http://ghetto.actiweb.com/minskghetto.html