« Previous Page Table of Contents Next Page »

[Page 75]

Brazlaw
(Bratslav, Ukraine)

48°50' / 28°57'

Translation of chapter
“Berschad” from Volume II:

Geschichte der Juden in der Bukowina

Edited by: Hugo Gold

As told by: Max Rendel, Caracas Venezuela

Published in Tel Aviv, 1962

Translated by:

Jerome Silverbush z”l


This is a translation of the chapter “Brazlaw”, Geschichte der Juden in der Bukowina
{History of the Jews in the Bukovina} Edited by: Dr. Hugo Gold,
As told by: Max Rendel, Caracas Venezuela, Published in Tel Aviv, 1962


Brazlaw

As told by: Mordechai Rones (Ramat-Gan)

On June 6, 1942 we were taken from our homes by the police in Czernowitz and taken under guard to the marketplace. Although we were only permitted to take hand luggage and therefore had very few possessions, on Makkabiplatz we were subjected to a thorough luggage and body search and had to give up all gold, money and other valuables.

From the Makkabiplatz we were marched under military escort to the railroad station where we were loaded into waiting cattle cars. Approximately 60-70 people were packed into each car. After a long and difficult trip - the cattle cars were locked and no one was permitted to leave them during the trip - we arrived at Cariera de pistra in Transnistrien, where after a three day stay, we traveled further to Czetvertinowka, where we arrived on June 16, 1942. Here we were housed in cattle stalls where we - under the most miserable conditions - remained until August 18, 1942. On this day, an SS Kommando led by the Hauptsturmführer Christophel arrived. We were registered under his command and then guarded by the military we were brought to Ladejin in Transnistrien. Here we remained only a short time and then were brought to Barken above the Bug River and carried in trucks to the work camps in Brazlaw which were under German command. At that time, there were approximately 1000 of us. Right on the first day we were marched in columns to the work site, that is, the men to road building and the women to stone breaking.

In spite of the difficult work which lasted all day, we were given miserable food, hot water for breakfast and for lunch, pea soup with worms plus a daily ration of 200 grams of bread.

On September 23, 1942, the first “liquidation” of the inmates took place in which all people over 50 years old and all children up to 14 years old were shot. At that time, a total of 64 people were murdered, among them the publisher of the Czernowitzer Morgenblatt [Morning Newspaper] Julius Weber.

On October 15, 1942 a further 150 people from our camp were taken over the Bug to Berezowka and after a short time there were “liquidated.”

On February 15, 1943 the second “liquidation” action took place in Brazlaw in which 30 people were shot, among them Engineer Berman and his mother.

On March 27 6 inmates tried to escape from our camp, but they were soon captured and shot.

Of the 1000 camp inmates, at the end only 217 were still alive.

On January 10, 1944 our camp was disbanded and a portion of the inmates were sent to Tulczin and another portion were sent to Pecioara.

On March 16, 1944 we were freed by the Russians. A large number of the survivors live today in Israel.

« Previous Page Table of Contents Next Page »


This material is made available by JewishGen, Inc. and the Yizkor Book Project for the purpose of
fulfilling our mission of disseminating information about the Holocaust and destroyed Jewish communities.
This material may not be copied, sold or bartered without JewishGen, Inc.'s permission. Rights may be reserved by the copyright holder.


JewishGen, Inc. makes no representations regarding the accuracy of the translation. The reader may wish to refer to the original material for verification.
JewishGen is not responsible for inaccuracies or omissions in the original work and cannot rewrite or edit the text to correct inaccuracies and/or omissions.
Our mission is to produce a translation of the original work and we cannot verify the accuracy of statements or alter facts cited.

  History of Jews in Bukowina     Yizkor Book Project     JewishGen Home Page


Yizkor Book Director, Lance Ackerfeld
This web page created by Max Heffler

Copyright © 1999-2024 by JewishGen, Inc.
Updated 9 Apr 2007 by LA