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Shimon Shimonowicz		Leah Shimonowicz

Memories, memories – of our dear little shtetl Belica, even though many years have flown by, they remain etched into my memory.

I remember the last year of The First World War. We never derived any good from the local gentiles, to whom the Russian soldiers came. The last of them remained in the forests, after the Czarist Russian military retreated from the Germans. These very soldiers organized themselves into groups of bandits, and with the help of the local peasants, fell upon the Jews from time-to-time, who would travel along the roads, robbing them, and some of the time, killing them.

In 1918, when the German forces had already become weakened, they also permitted themselves to assault the Jews in the towns, among them also Belica, where the killed and robbed several families. Later, when the Germans abandoned Belica, we organized a “self-defense” unit together with the local gentiles, consisting of 30 Jews and 30 Christians. There was no enough arms for everyone, and according to this arrangement, we would use what little arms we had, to defend the shtetl.

I remember one Wednesday (which was the regular market day), a large group of bandits fell upon the town, together with the gentiles from the vicinity. We attempted to defend ourselves, despite the fact that we were small in number, and deficient in arms. However, in the end, we received an order to save ourselves. All the Jewish stores, on that day, were robbed, and 6-7 Jews were murdered.

Also, with regard to the successor Polish régime, we were not always secure regarding our lives. I recall, when on a certain early morning, the entire family of Shmuel-Nahum the Smith were found murdered in their own home. Despite this, which everyone knew, that the murderers were Poles, who were building the bridge over the Neman, the Polish authorities did not intervene in the slightest, in order to reveal and punish the murderers.

Despite the abuses of the Polish régime and the burdensome taxes, Belica managed to develop. A variety of institutions were created, which had no cause to be embarrassed in comparison with those of larger towns.

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It is sufficient to recollect: the public school, where the largest part of the children studied; the fire-fighting brigade; and the brass instrument orchestra; the amateur group which put on theatrical productions (previously in the barn of David the Butcher, and later in the “Serai” of the fire-fighters); the “HeHalutz” organization, thanks to whom, a part of the young people made aliyah to the Land of Israel; and many other institutions and organizations. All of this existed and continued to develop up to 1939, when the angry winds came from Germany, and we immediately began to feel this in our relationship to the local Christians. They immediately let us hear: “Wait, wait, Hitler will come and put an end to you.” And, indeed, that is the way it happened.

Even earlier, in the years 1939-1941, when the Soviets were in the shtetl, we already had to withstand trouble visited upon us by our Christian neighbors. I was forced to flee to Lida, because in their eyes, I was a “Bourgeois,” because I had previously owned a restaurant, and a shoe store. In Lida, I worked at carpentry, and when I would want to be with my family, I would come home at night, and travel back on that same night, in order that I not be seized and sent to Siberia. Yes, there was fear of the Soviets, but not a fear of death. the fear of death began on June 22, 1941 when the Germans began their assault against the Soviet Union. On that day, coming home, I found my oldest son readying himself to go off into Russia along with eighteen other young men. They made the distance of about 40 km to Mogilev, and there, a German landing troop was able already to apprehend them. Part of the young men with him were shot on the spot, but my son succeeded in coming back home, he had money and valuables in his possession, and he bribed the Byelorussian translator, who gave testimony that he was a Byelorussian.

The Family of Meir Shimonowicz

At that point, a whole list of “infractions” that we were accused of, were presented, that the Jews were guilty of, and we were asked what we had to say, because we were given three minutes to live. We asked that we be shot, however more quickly as possible. An order was immediately given: “Fire!” and all twelve fell to the ground. I was not hit by any bullet, but I feigned death, the others screamed, and were fired upon once again, until they expired. This was on Saturday June 29, 1941.

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When there was no one left at that place, I stood up, ran home, and then I saw that my house, along with other houses were burning. I went in through the fire into the house, and did not find anyone from my family. I went off to the cemetery, and hid there for the entire night. Before daybreak, I went off to a Christian of my acquaintance, and asked, if he knew where the Jews were, and he sent me to the Neman. In passing through Wygon, I encountered a Christian woman. And when she saw me, she began to cross herself, and shouted: “Jesus Maria! Szlomka, I saw with my own eyes how you were shot, how is it that you are here?”

I found my wife and children by the Neman, and we came back to the shtetl. In passing by the group of Jews that were killed, I told my wife how it was, by a miracle, that I had remained alive.

As a group of Jews, we gathered together at the home of Noah-Abba Gapanowicz, there being: Israel Zlocowsky, Ziss'l Kalmanowicz, Hirsch'eh-Lejzor and Mot'keh Shimonowicz, Yehoshua Stotsky, Chaim Wiszniewsky, and others. We cried ourselves out, and took leave of one another without any hope that we would remain alive (and indeed, only very few did remain alive).

My family and I traveled off to the ghetto in Zhetl, where my brother's family also was to be found (seven people), and who were killed in The Second Great Slaughter. Also, my two sisters Hinde and Bayl'keh were in the Zhetl ghetto and were killed there.

All the residents of the ghetto were forced to go work outside the ghetto. I worked in a Christian school, where the young gentiles got food, which created an opportunity for me to bring a bit of food home. I would steal potatoes into my pockets, and in order to be able to take more, I made holes to allow the potatoes to get in deeper.

The Family of Benjamin Shimonowicz

During the last slaughter in the Zhetl ghetto, we hid ourselves in an underground hideaway. In this hideaway, along with us were: Lejzor Kreinowicz with his family, and son-in-law Tul'yeh with his family. The German

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murderers, together with their Polish and Ukrainian accomplices, uncovered many such hideaways, threw grenades into them, and killed out the Jews. They came near our hideaway three times, but to our great good luck, failed to discover us.

At twelve o'clock at night, I said that we must flee, but my wife attempted to restrain me, saying, that the drunken murderers are wandering about, and they will catch us. I had already seen death before my eyes, and therefore I said: better to fall from a bullet while escaping, than getting shot in a pit.

We fled to the Zachepichi Forest. It was the summer of 1942. Nothing was growing on the fields, and we would go to the villages to beg for bread. The gentiles did not want to give us any, especially, in seeing as they stood by their window, that I am without arms. It was, indeed, very bitter, we did not yet have any contact with partisans. Later, when we reached the Lipiczany Forest, we encountered partisans, but they didn't want to take us along. They argued: “First kill a German, and get a gun, then we will take you.” Later on, when we already had arms, and the arms assured us of sufficient bread, we were still uncertain about our lives.

During the thirty months that we were in the forests, many Jews died during the German assaults on the forests. In the final days before the liberation, we suffered hunger, because we were afraid to come out of the forest. I, along with a comrade, Mikhail Grodznik, decided to go to a peasant to obtain bread, and we had to traverse about 5 km in the middle of the forest, because it was dangerous to use the open road. We succeeded in reaching the peasant, who needed to prepare the bread, but on the way back we were spotted, and they began to fire at us. I ran into the corn, and Mikhail ran into the forest. He was captured and ordered to call to me. Lying in the corn, I heard how he was shouting: “Shimonowicz, Naszy!” (Meaning “Ours”). When he began to shout in Yiddish, I came out of the corn, and saw six Russians in front of me, and they began to question us to find out if we were not some sort of bandits. So I said to them, that we were partisans. One of the Russian officers said to the others, that we were Jews, and Jews are not bandits. I wept for joy, and he stroked me on the head and said: “Do not cry, Papa'cheh, you are liberated; just be careful because of bandits that can still be found in these forests.

Along with my family, and a few other families that had remained alive, we returned to Belica, where all there was to be found were the local gentiles and “White Poles,” who caused us so much trouble in the forests. There was no organized authority in place in the shtetl yet, and it was dangerous to remain here, and indeed, others, out of fear, fled to Lida, and only I and one other family remained behind. A few weeks later, we received an order to enlist ourselves in the Soviet Army. My son, Shimon, voluntarily enlisted, and my son Hirsch was drafted into the Истребителнй–ОтриЯд, meaning the “Extermination Brigade” that would wipe out the Germans and bandits in the forest.

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I was not mobilized, I left Belica and went to Lida. I received permission to travel out to Poland, and using the permission of my sons, we all crossed the Polish border, arriving in Lodz and immediately registered to go to The Land of Israel.

The Family of Shmuel Shimonowicz after the Liberation (1945)

May family and I moved from one camp to another several times, doing this until 1949, because we had registered to emigrate to America. I had the opportunity to get in contact with my brother Joel, who had lived in America since 1912, and he got the permission for us to come to America.

My brother Joel was greatly concerned for us, and after we came to America, he provided a residence for us, with furniture, and helped us until we were able to start earning a living and get ourselves on our own feet.

– Quite a few years have passed already, the children have all gotten married, and make a nice living. Also, thank God, I am not in a bad way. but all of this cannot wipe off the memories that have been brought out of those bitter days of the ghettoes and murders. For lo, these very memories, will bore into the memory, and clutch at the heart until the last day of life.

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E.M. Savitzky		Leah (Lila) Savitzky ז”ל

Mounds of smoldering cinders Mounds of blackened brick; Once, years ago I had a warm little home here. And in this house stood My only child's cradle; On which the sun sent Its mild rays from heaven. Abandoned mounds, desolate Mounds overgrown with wild grass; Once here, we drank L'Chaim Clinking one glass with another. The glasses were full With a sweet strong wine; And from shining faces A pale glow would emanate. Mounds of discarded ash Mounds of wrecked buildings; Once cleaned so decently, Always swept out so clean. Plains clothed in greenery Flowers around and about; And people – busied themselves about, Come enjoy our fragrance, come, come. Not a shred remains, Everyone went away – annihilated; Like a wild nightmare-dream Everything was ruined and obliterated. The tiny grasses are no more, The fragrant flowers are no longer; Everything mired in deep sorrow, In dumb silence. The little house is no more, The cradle is gone; And no longer is heard The mother's tender cradle song. Only, from time-to-time, One hears the sighing of the wind; It demands, requires and asks: For which and whose sin?

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Tell me, say, my child: What does your transgression consist of, your sin? Did you insult-embarrass someone? Did you oppress-make someone anxious? Tell me, say my child: What does your transgression consist of, your sin? Oh, no my Pa! Oh, no my Ma! I did not insult-embarrass anyone I oppressed-made anxious no one. My one transgression, my one sin: I am the child of the Jewish people.

Oh! A black thick darkness Who can find his way in you? Only the heroic grandchildren of grandfathers Took revenge in dark days… Darkness diminishes and swallows small steps A poor wanderer remains in his place. The night has consumed the noisy roads Sha! Quiet, there is no death, no sound, no word, And there, on the other side of the Neman Under the wing of darkness, the shtetl rests. Each hut, each little house, each byway A corpse laid out on the purification table. The forest also stands sunken in sleep Under a gray-bordered sky. Only he, the broken Moshe-Leib Lies restless in his house of earth. He lies there, dreaming of new Gideons Hearts burdened with the sacred fire of revenge

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Drawn from stone by the dusty gate… One two, one two, they tremble Under the grown of the wintry earth. With containers stoutly made in hand With wooden kindling tied onto their backs. They are moving to smash the enemies steel walls To upset, interdict his intent. And the old man lies until the middle of the night He daydreams, dreams and thinks. The first shot breaks the silence suddenly And the old man begins to take stock. His prayer, a pitiful one, a complaining one, Poor words, a prayer saturated in bitter gall. Extended echoing of heart-rending sighs From a black-deep frozen wellspring. Suddenly the second shot is heard The old man senses this is the full measure. His prayer and tone is changes He begins anew with cutting words. I don't beg, I demand, I require! From You, because I am carrying Your holy banner. O, Creator! I do not have to pray before You I don't beg, I demand, I require! I demand vengeance for my little child, the pure one For those who had to wait for death. For hearts congealed before death For eyes extinguished while yet alive. Vengeance for a hoary gray old age A holy soul, a pure heart

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For a grandchild pure and small With well-formed limbs and a beautiful face. Suddenly the old man's plea for vengeance is disrupted There is a rustle in the nearby branches. He quickly picks himself up from his earthen bed, and listens to the noise and movement. Ahah! They are returning from their work The heroic brethren of Gideon. They, the carriers of the sabotage mines Tell how a train flew off the rails. The old man hugs them, and kisses them A joy and a blessing from a our soul. He casts his glance to God in the heavens: We! We have taken revenge!… (Written in the Forest, 1943)

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The bad premonition of a new World War had awakened in the beginning of the year 1939. The drive to seize and destroy Poland ripened in the Nazi-German régime shortly after the occupation of the Sudetenland (1938). Hitler and his government strove to rule all of Europe. Among the entire population of Poland, the feeling spread that any day, the war was going to break out, and was especially evident on the Jewish street.

Anti-Semitic outbreaks and abuses became daily occurrences. The economic condition and the morale of the Jews became more and more difficult, and life worsened in every respect. As was the case in other cities and towns, in Belica also, one could see the depression and sense of being beaten down.

The war broke out on September 1, 1939. the battles did not last very long. Within two weeks, the German army occupied half of Poland. The Soviets occupied western Byelorussia and the Western Ukraine. Belica fell into the zone occupied by the Soviets.

The Soviet authorities quickly installed their new order in the area, and nationalized all the larger businesses, factories and the estates of the nobility. The balebatim who owned the factories and businesses, as well as the nobility were arrested and exiled. Also, a part of the more prominent of the community activists also fell under the decree to be exiled.

In the long run, matters stabilized themselves under the new Soviet régime. We became accustomed to the new life, and things became ‘rather good.’ As equal citizens of the Soviet Union, many of the young people took to getting an education, and also occupied responsible positions. A part of them traveled off to other cities, in order to arrange to get work for themselves.

In the beginning of 1940, the terrifying news began to arrive about the plight of the Jews on the other side of the border, under German control. Thousands of Jewish refugees from Warsaw, Lodz, Krakow, and many other cities, which fell under the German régime, began to flow towards the Soviet-occupied areas. They brought with them, the frightening news of gruesome acts, ghettoes and forced labor. Literally, the mind was not capable of believing, that the Germans were actually doing such sadistic things as described by the refugees.

The diplomatic relations between Soviet Russia and Germany were sufficiently good until the beginning of 1941, and nothing [ominous] was yet anticipated for the future. It was first in the summer of 1941, that the politics was seen to be undergoing a change, and the Soviets began to build aerodromes and many other important defense points.

Not far from Belica, they also began to build an aerodrome. Everyone spoke about this project, and it was thought that once again, we were not too far off from a war.

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The First Week of War

On Sunday, June 22, 1941 the terrifying news reached everyone about the sudden German attack against the Russian cities, and their bombardment. At that time, I was working at the aerodrome, and I was among the first to know about these events. The Soviet command knew about nothing. The panic became great, and everyone began to flee their place of work. By midday, the shtetl was on war-footing and the shtetl was under guard.

On Sunday night, a mobilization of those from 18 to 45 years of age was announced. Everyone assembled at the municipal building, and went off to Lida on foot. At that time, the bombardment of the city of Lida began, and the fire spread all over. The recruiting offices, and of the central city command, were destroyed, and half way there, everyone turned around and went back to the shtetl.

On that same Monday, from morning on, German airplanes came back again, and bombed Lida and the Neman Station (10 km from Belica). By midday, the entire city of Lida was engulfed in flames, and the smoke could be seen for tens of kilometers.

The incineration was frightening, there being both killed and heavily wounded already on that same day. The Jews of Lida began to flee en masse. Many refugees from Lida fled to Belica. Everyone's home was filled with those who had fled, and the Jews of Belica did everything for the refugees, that was possible. As long as there was anything, it was shared among everyone to the last, and everyone was taken in with great warmth.

The war continued at its full intensity, and the Germans began to draw near. The young people set themselves to flee with the retreating Russian army. From Belica, the young boys and girls got together who also went off (this was Monday evening). Among those who fled, were: R' Shmuel-Joseph Itzkowitz and son, Lejzor, Shimon Boczkowsky, Yankl Dziencelsky, and Rachel Belicki with Yankl Kremen. All of these reached Russia, but all the rest, who left later, were compelled to turn back half-way, because the Germans caught up with them at about Minsk.

The Red Army ran hungry, and barefoot without shoes. On Thursday, we received word that Grodno had been occupied, and we got ready for the imminent arrival of the Germans to where we were. The Christian residents (Mieszczany) of the shtetl immediately began to plunder the cooperative businesses, and the shtetl remained lawless. Before night, a couple of fleeing Soviet recruits barged in, who maintained a bit of order, and three of the robbers were shot (Ciechanowicz's two brothers and Burba).

The night of Thursday into Friday we heard shooting that was quite close by, and we braced for the arrival of the Germans. On Friday morning, rumors spread that spies are going around, and apparently an investigation had been launched here, and one is advised not to go outside into the streets. By Friday night, Zhaludok had been taken, and the fear gripped everyone and there was no place to hide one's self.

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The Sabbath day dragged on like it was a year. At 3:00PM the first of the German advance scouting parties penetrated the town (two men on a motorcycle), coming from the direction of Zhaludok. About an hour later, the regular German army began to arrive in the shtetl, but in the meantime, a residual group of Soviet soldiers arrived from the aerodrome. The Soviets arrived from the opposite direction (from Vasiliski) and a great battle ensued. There was heavy gunfire, but after an hour, it got quiet. The Germans smote the Soviet soldiers and began to take to the Jewish residents. They began to burn houses, going from house to house and igniting them. The Mieszczany slandered the Rabbi to the Germans, saying that the Rabbi had fired on them from the Bet HaMedrash, and so they took the scrolls out of the Holy Ark and the volumes of the Gemara, and burned them. They blew up the Bet HaMedrash with dynamite. Whomever they caught, they shot on the spot. Eleven men fell at that time (most of them refugees from other cities), and among them the first Belica victim: Not'keh Baranchik (Azrieľs son). The murderers shot him in the head, on the porch of his nephew, Mendl Fysh'eh's. In the shooting, Lejzor Gapanowicz was wounded in the foot, and was saved only by miracles. Jews, frightened by the great misfortune, began to flee the shtetl in the direction of the forest, or to the nearby villages.

Our family (together with that of Yoss'leh and his wife) fled in the direction of the nearby village of Kriwiecz, and there, we lay in a cornfield for the night. On the following morning – early Sunday, the owner of the field came to us (Wietuczka), and he told us about everything that had transpired in the shtetl. During the day, this Christian had gone into the shtetl, and coming back he related that the entire shtetl is burned down, but many Jews are going back. Our house had been burned down, and we decided that we would remain where we were for another couple of days, and see what will happen further. On Thursday, we returned to the shtetl, and went off to the family of Lejzor the Shokhet (their house remained after the fire). In the meantime, the mieszczany took control of the authority, and began to demonstrate how they were going to exercise it. The Belica Christian Antak Balabanski became the burgomaster of the town, and began to pepper the Jews with all sorts of decrees, with the police driving [the Jews] to hard labor on a daily basis, and beating them with murderous blows.

When the special S. S. group arrived, all the men were driven together near the house of Chaim-Reuben Baranchik, and declared that from now on, Jews have no rights to move about freely, and each German soldier can do as he pleases with them, whatever his heart desires, every Jew must put on a white badge with a blue Star of David on the left arm. Among these men, was also the Rabbi of Belica, Rabbi R' Shabtai Fein ז”ל. The Germans told him that since the Jews of Belica had fired upon the German army from the Bet HaMedrash, they will be specially reckoned with at this time. Ten men were selected, the Rabbi among them, the pharmacist Wismonsky, etc. and told them to haul a wagon full of guns and radios to the village of Paracany where their headquarters were. The Rabbi and the pharmacist were harnessed to the wagon, and the rest pushed, and the murderers beat them without pause, the entire way. In Paracany, they read them a list of ‘communists’ that were being sought. Among the names was that of the pharmacist Wismonsky, Yankl Kremen, Zerakh Kremen, Meir Eizh'keh's. This group of ten Jewish men was held in Paracany, then they were all released to go home, broken and beaten, for several days.

Several days later, the same S. S. troops once again, burst into town, seized Chaim-Itcheh Kremen (Chaya-Sarah's son) and Fyv'eh Sotsky (the youngest son of Moshe-David) and ordered them to collect eggs

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throughout the town. They were escorted under guard from house to house, and after collecting the eggs, the murderers led them off out of town, where they were killed (near the village of Nesilovtsy). After this event, the situation became very tense. Everyone trembled against the wall, and took care not to go outside in the street, because after the Paracany incident, it had been strictly prohibited for anyone to simply be going about outside in the streets without a white badge with the Star of David in it, and anyone caught this way would be shot immediately.

These same S. S. troops, again burst into the town one early morning, encircled the Jewish houses, drove all the men to the place opposite the Polish church, and beat everyone severely. My brother and I concealed ourselves in an attic, while the murderers were crawling about and sniffing out all the holes in order to drag out people who had concealed themselves. They found both of us, and threw me off the attic violently, and beat me with the rifle but and hard rubber truncheons, on my feet. I ran to the marketplace all bloodied, and found all of the men form the shtetl there, waiting for a judgement, many of them very severely beaten, such that blood flowed.

The murderers surrounded everyone with machine guns. We were certain that they were going to shoot us all. A half hour later, the commander arrived, and inspected everyone from top to bottom, and meted out murderous blows. The burgomaster (Balabanski) approached, bringing a li8st of the ‘communists,’ handing it over to the German, and he read out [the names of] fourteen men, among them Shimon Herzľs, the pharmacist Wismonsky, Meir Eizhik'eh's and a few others, who were again taken off to Paracany. There, they were taken into a barn, confined and held in arrest.

Of all the others that remained on the place, the older people were allowed to go home, and all the younger ones were placed in a line. The murderers began to uproot the boards from the fences, and used them as well as rubber truncheons, and they beat them nearly to death. This murderous detachment consisted of about 80 people, and every one of them had to run the gamut between people who beat them, who were arranged in two rows. The murderers hit people in the head in order to knock people out, and even when one already lay motionless on the ground, they would still rain down blows.

On Wednesday July 23, 1941, these same murderers again, in the morning, stole into the town, and began to rampage anew. Young and old alike began to flee into the nearby forests and fields, in order to hide from these marauders. The Polish nun, who was a nurse, Maria Liszycka, who was a virulent anti-Semite, incited these people against the Jews. The S.S. troops sat at her home for a half day, and drank, and she gave them encouragement to wipe out all the Jews of the shtetl. At about 2:00PM, they began to seize people to go to work. Whoever fell into their hands, were taken to the Russian Orthodox Church. The Rabbi was again arrested, and the pharmacist, and with them, a group of the intelligentsia. These murderers especially subjected the Rabbi and the pharmacist to the greatest tortures, both were ordered to wash a horse, and drink the waste water from the washing. Later, the Rabbi was tied to the horse, that ran speedily, and dragged him over the ground. After that, the hairs of the Rabbi's beard were pulled out one at a time, and subjected him to painful tortures and suffering, until he expired from great pain.

On that day, 36 men were shot not far from the Russian Orthodox Church. The screams of the hapless, could be heard several kilometers away, and many of them were buried alive. Among those who were killed were: Yitzhak Kamenietsky, Shlomo Kremen, Itcheh the Shammes, Shef'teh Kaufman, Abraham-Hirsch Kaufman,

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Zechariah-Shlomo Niegniewiecky, Yud'l-Ber'keh's Reisner, Yaakov-Tzin'keh's. Reuven Rothstein (a son-in-law to Faygl Sotsky), Iliutowicz (a songwriter, and son-in-law to Abraham-David Dobkowsky) and others. The mieszczany of the town later, buried them, on this same ground, but for weeks after this, the ground there was not steady because of the fresh blood.

After that bloody day, decrees began to be heaped on those frightened Jews that remained in Belica. Only two Jews had the privilege of meeting with the burgomaster Balabanski, and talk to him about meeting the terms of his decrees – Israel Zlocowsky and Eliyahu Sokolowsky. These two men invested their entire energy, health and lives in order to rescue the general community, but none of it helped. Every day, they drove people to the hardest labor, beating them, and taking away the last of whatever was of value that they might have still had. In this manner, several months of tribulation and torture went by, until a decree was issued that all the Jews of Belica must transfer to the larger cities, where ghettoes were being created. Belica was supposed to relocate to Lida, and the date of the expulsion from Belica was supposed to be in the first half of November, 1941.

Before the expulsion, the marauders levied a ‘contribution’ on the town of one-hundred fifty thousand rubles, and immediately gave warning and arrested 25 men as hostages. Israel Zlocowsky addressed this matter vigorously, and ran on foot to all the towns (Zhetl, Lida and Scucyn) until it worked out for him to accumulate the money and save the 25 lives.

On November 10, 1941 the expulsion from Belica took place. A special group of (S.S.) Murderers arrived that day, and violently drove everyone from their houses, beating everyone, and not permitting people to take anything along. On the following morning, there was not a single, solitary Jew to be found in the shtetl – the largest part having gone off to Zhetl, and the rest traveling off to Lida and Scucyn.

The mieszczany in Belica knew of the expulsion in advance, and provided requests to the area commissar in Lida, that the Jews were dangerous, and it was necessary to remove them as early as possible, in order that whatever assets were left behind would fall into their hands. The time of travel was circumscribed, and the mieszczany did not permit access to wagons from the villages to cart of belongings. They had to be rented, and there was a lot of trouble, until they were able to come to an understanding over the cost for the use of the wagon. They would tear the skin off us for every little thing, especially when the travel to any of the towns other than Lida, needed to be done stealthily. The burgomaster Balabanski took money and gold, to permit an earlier departure, so they would not be detained at the bridge over the Neman and that they would not be shot at. Thanks to Israel Zlocowsky and Yitzhak Krasnoselsky, all of this was made to happen, and everyone left and traveled through unmolested.

And so, it was in this manner that our family, together with others, left for Zhetl with the last bit of our poor possessions. My mother, at that time, already had a very bad premonition, and she said: ‘All of us are leaving, but God knows how many of us will ever come back?’ (We were deceived and told that we were going for only three months). The column of wagons dragged itself along for the entire night, along with the little but of junk and impoverished possessions, all of us following the wagons, broken, our hearts drenched in blood,

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with no future, homeless people, going where? – to death! The residents of the villages along the road come out of their houses, they stare at us, part of them mourning us, but the larger part laughing at us: ‘Zyds, the good times for you are over, now we will be able to live!’

We arrived in Zhetl at daybreak, our uncle Yoss'l having arrived earlier and he came out to greet us. We had no domicile, and temporarily we remained standing in the street. It was immediately communicated to the gendarmerie that a fresh load of Jews had arrived, and the gendarmes came running forthwith, to stop all of the wagons containing our things. Thanks to the fact that our mother spoke a good German, she began to plead fervently, and our wagons were released, and we took up residence with five other families together. Our family was very poor when we arrived in Zhetl, we had no money, and all our possessions had been burned. All we had was some food for a few weeks (potatoes, and flour for bread). After a short while, we began to feel want. Troubles began again. Every day, we were driven to hard labor.

On February 2, 1942, it was on a Friday,^[1] a decree arrived from the area commissar in Novogrudok about the creation of a ghetto in Zhetl. A fright and panic seized the entire populace. Everyone thought that simultaneously, a slaughter would take place, as had been the case in other cities and towns.

On the following day, the murderers surrounded the Jewish quarter, and drove everyone out of the houses. Also, all the Jews in the surrounding villages and towns were rounded up and driven into the ghetto. The territory of the ghetto encompassed the entire synagogue street, Lisagura and a part of the houses on the Slonim and Dvarec streets. Until evening, everyone was driven into this ‘territory,’ the ghetto was created, and the Judenrat and Jewish police took over control. A tall fence of board and barbed wire was constructed on all sides, and in the principal street, opposite the German gendarmerie, a large gate was erected. On one side of the gate stood a Byelorussian policeman (the ghetto constabulary) and on the other side stood a Jewish policeman from the ghetto. On leaving the ghetto, everyone was required to have a special work pass.

Each morning, the worker colonies would each go off to various working places through the ghetto gate, to the outside. A special guard of Germans would inspect the people, and control those leaving to assure they were not taking anything out. After this control, the groups would go through the gate, and the same process was repeated upon their return to the ghetto. The Christians had no right to come into the ghetto, and no Jew was permitted to get close to the boundary. Anyone caught outside the ghetto, without a pass, was shot on the spot. Within the ghetto proper, the Judenrat provided the authority to maintain order, under the direction of the Zhetl lawyer Alter Dworecky. Without a yellow Star of David on the left side of the breast and back, it was forbidden to even leave one's home to a neighbor (in instances when a German saw this, he had permission to shoot).

As soon as it began to get cold, every day, the people were driven to the hardest of labor. My brother and I were then young boys (13- 14 years old) and the Judenrat sent both of us with other youths to Navaeľnja (in

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the Zhetl area) to work in the train factory. The work was a very hard sort for those of our age, given the food intake of 120 grams of bread a day with a bit of watery soup, and we had to sleep out in the street in great fear, and we would work under the rubber truncheon for 12 hours a day, loading grain, and wood, or pulling stumps. It was not only once that we were murderously beaten, the S.S. trooper standing with a revolver in one hand, and a rubber truncheon in the other, driving us without any pause.

During the initial period, our father was not driven to forced labor, but later, as winter approached, when there was a shortage of workers, the older people had to go to do snow removal on the roads, where one had to work hard until late in the night. In a short time thereafter, collective stores were created for the tradespeople, where Jews works for no pay, and in fear of their enemies. Other craftsmen received jobs where they worked under special passes, and had more privileges granted to them by the Germans.

The Christians from the villages in the area had the right to place goods in the Jewish stores at no cost, but the more decent Christians would bring a gift for the work performed, and thereby made life much easier on the craftsmen. Other specialists, who would go to work, would take out a bit of clothing, selling it outside the ghetto, and upon returning, would bring back some sort of food. Those people who could not do this, suffered terribly from want and hunger. Rumors were heard in the ghetto that because of the good work done by the craftsmen, Zhetl was one of the best ghettoes in all of Byelorussia (the murderers were particularly pleased with the work of the shoemakers).

Very often, the gendarme-murderers would come from Novogrudok and Minsk, and demand that a variety of items be provided to them, which could not even be procured for money. Once, they ordered that 75 varieties of goods be provided, and the Judenrat ran from house to house and with the expenditure of a great deal of effort and energy, got all these items together.

With great bribery, my father got a job as an illegal worker in a brick factory, not far from the town. The work was very hard, digging loam, fabricating and transporting the molds, just like the Hebrews did in Egypt… despite this, we were fortunate, that we were able to work, since this might be a means to stay alive. People were left with one shirt to cover themselves, but this did not affect anyone, since everyone was more concerned with how to live through this terrible time.

On March 23, 1942 and order arrived from Novogrudok that all the Jews must turn over all of their gold, silver and copper, valuables, watches and fur coats, and if anyone is found to have any of these items afterwards, they will be sentenced to death. Everyone brought whatever they had, in order to buy their way out of the decree, but the sum of the items turned over was a small one, and the murderers demanded even more. A woman from Zhetl (Liebeh the Baker) brought all of her assets, but during the inspection they found a little gold ring that was hidden away in a purse, and she was sentenced to death.

A new sewing machine was found in the possession of a Zhetl Jew (Krawiec) (it was strictly prohibited that a Jew should own such an item), and the Judenrat intervened, asking that the Jew be released, but nothing helped. The murderers shot him the same night of the inspection. Tens of such instances took place on a daily basis, always with the statement that the Jews had violated the laws of the German Reich. No mass slaughters had yet taken place in this interval of time, but one could begin to sense the blood-thirstiness for these gruesome acts.

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The days were made bitter by fear, tribulation, suffering and hunger. We would be on guard entire nights, waiting while fully dressed. The situation in the ghetto became very tense, and everyone became hopeless. News circulated that not far away, in Horodec, a slaughter had already taken place, and afterwards in Kazlouscyna, and after that in Novogrudok, and here, the Zhetl ghetto is in line. Many thoughts run through the mind, chasing about: to hide one's self, to seek some counsel, maybe we will live through this? People were digging hideouts – we will hide ourselves, and maybe the murderers will not find us.

On April 25, 1942 an order arrived at the Judenrat from the district commissariat from Novogrudok, that 800 men are to be provided, older men, women with children, who have no work skills. The leader of the Judenrat, Alter Dworecky, understood the danger in this order, which was nothing more than a provocation. A day later, the Germans let us know that they had captured a Jew with arms, who was going to the partisans. At the outset, it was thought that this too, was a provocation, but it showed itself to be, indeed, correct. A Jew had been seized outside of the ghetto without yellow badges, this was the young man, Sholom Fialon, a refugee from Poland, who, during the time of the Soviets, had taken up residence in Zhetl. He was a liaison for the Jewish underground movement, which had developed a plan to lead out the entire ghetto into the forest to the partisans.

Alter Dworecky belonged to the underground movement, and indeed, after the incident with Sholom (with a group of youths all of whom were armed) fled to the forest. The murderers demanded that he turn himself in, and they looked for him all over, for an entire day, but did not succeed in finding him. In the evening, the murderers declared that if Dworecky is not found, there will be frightening consequences in the ghetto. Late in the night, when he did not present himself, the murderers arrested the remaining members of the Judenrat, and murdered them. They permitted only one member of the Judenrat to remain alive – Alin'keh Fy'tcheh's, who had to reconstitute a new Judenrat.

On April 30, 1942, the ghetto was surrounded on all sides by a special guard of S.S. troops and Byelorussian police. On that night, nobody slept anymore, and everyone was fully dressed, Our family hid themselves in a hideout. There was considerable shooting for the entire night. On the following morning, as soon as the sun rose, it became quieter. In the ghetto, a movement of people began, and it appeared that the guard had been removed.

The Jewish ghetto-police went through the houses and called people to work. They entered our premises and called me to work in Navaeľnja. I came out of the hideout, washed myself off, took something to eat, and took leave of my nearest. I understood very well that this matter would not go through this way, even though the guard around the ghetto had been removed. I went in the direction of the Judenrat office, and the policemen told me that the Germans are demanding only laborers. But half way, I perceived the calamity, and immediately wanted to run back. I saw many people near the Judenrat, as well as two rows of S.S. troops, and Byelorussian police. The murderers detained me, and led me into the Judenrat, and there, we encountered many people that we knew. All were concerned about this created situation. Nobody knew what was supposed to happen, some thought that some of the people will be taken as hostages, or to be shot for

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the entire shtetl. All of us were kept under a strict watch, not even letting us out to take care of bodily functions.

The great calamity began at nine o'clock. The group of murderers, that was arrayed near the Judenrat, surrounded the ghetto. Part of them went off in the direction of the old cemetery, setting up posts there. They then began to drive people out of the houses to that place (on the cemetery). The group of workers, that were sitting in the Judenrat, were also brought here. The area filled up, and in these minutes they began to beat and torture. The tragedy became clear, and everyone understood the great calamity. There was no evident way to escape. For several consecutive hours, these unfortunates were driven to this place, until the entire cemetery was filled up. Then the Great Robber arrived, the area commissar, and we were ordered to array ourselves by family (husband, wife, children). We were told that now, that great criminal Fialon would be brought before us, and shot as an example to the others, then the entire assembly will be released, to go home. The reality was, that we understood this to be precisely the beginning of the sorting out of who would live and who would die.

The murderers looked into each person's eyes, to determine if that person was still capable of doing work for them. Whoever satisfied the murderer, was let go to live, and they pulled out of the row those whom they condemned to death. A part of the young people that had work permits, were set aside to the left, sent to live. After another couple of hours of sorting, when the number of those set aside for living had gotten large enough, all the rest were compelled to go to their death.

If you were not there, you cannot imagine the gruesome acts of atrocity that then ensued, when this colony of people began to be driven to their death. Tens of people were killed or trampled under the feet of the mob that had gone mad. Many people lost their minds right there, and did not know what was really happening. Out of terror, a blind man suddenly was able to see. The pandemonium became very great. The weeping and crying of the women and children could be heard for tens of kilometers. The heavens could have split open from the heartrending voices of the innocent young lives.

The murderers hit with their truncheons and rifles, and shot into the mass of people. Many older people, who could not follow the colony, were shot on the spot by the murderers. Before my eyes, they shot a young man (Gercowsky) who ran from the ranks of the ‘living’ to rescue his bride. Also, the elderly woman, who could not move, and an old blacksmith aged 96 years, who struggled against a policeman, were killed with sticks by the murderers.

I, personally, was sorted out by the murderers to live, but my family was sent to death. Several times, I ran from the ‘living’ back to my family, in order to either be saved with them or to die with them. I did not want to remain alive alone, and I went off with them to death.

The murderers said we were being taken to Navaeľnja (not far from Zhetl) to work. The mass stretched in a long file in the direction of the Belica road. It looked terrifying, the living dead were walking, half crazy from torture and beating, with no means to save themselves, like sheep to the slaughter. Every three meters an S.S. trooper went along, and rained down murderous blows to the head with his rifle, in order that one fall, and be trampled by the feet of the others. My youngest brother Mott'leh ע”ה begged me: ‘Let me be, I am

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a small person, and I will flee and save myself, I want to live, and I do not want to go to the slaughter…’ My mother comported herself well, and said: ‘Break out a board from the fence, maybe it will enable him to save himself and he will remain alive.’ I broke out a board from the surrounding barrier, and Mott'leh fled through the hole and he no longer returned to us. A Byelorussian policeman observed this and began to beat me with a rifle butt on the head, and to drive me further on.

On the marketplace I noted the German who was my overseer at work in Navaeľnja. I ran over to him and began to plead fervently with him, that he should save us. He recognized me, promised to do this, and asked ‘do you have a family?’ I became confused out of joy when he said ‘you will remain alive.’ I called to my family and he saved us all. With another group of people, who had been rescued from death, among them my lady neighbor Bronstein, we went, under his protection, back to the ghetto (he led us through a back street, in order that we not be observed).

The mass that had been sentenced to death, went on further in that long echelon, accompanied by beating and shooting. People whom we knew, who saw us, said farewell to us from a distance for the last time. I heard their cries for a long time, and they became stronger when they approached the pit – three kilometers from the shtetl, on the way to Belica. Christians from the nearby villages had dug a pit the entire previous night, about fifty meters in length, four meters wide, and five meters high.

When the entire mass came close to the pit, the murderers ordered everyone to lie down on their stomachs, and not to dare lift up one's head. A thin wood separated the hapless from the place where the atrocities and mass murders were carried out.

The sun shone warmly, the day was like a midsummer's day, and the surrounding nature did not sense the great calamity. The murderers would count off up to 25 men, and in a group, they would lead them off to the other side of the wood. Beside the pit, each victim was required to take off their clothing till they were naked, and was then searched to make sure he did not have any gold in his possession, or anything else of value (they would extract gold teeth from anyone who had them). Each individual had to ascend a platform, and face the murderers, who would shoot at the hapless people with machine guns, the half-dead and wounded would then fall off the platform into the pit, and many would expire even before they were shot.

For the pitiful little ones, they did not want to waste bullets, and so they were thrown alive into the pit, or speared with the bayonet on a rifle. Of the onlookers who nevertheless were able to save themselves and returned from the pit, many of them lost their minds. The executions lasted for four hours, until the murderers sated themselves with Jewish blood, and more than one thousand unfortunate Jews were slaughtered in a few hours.

While this was going on, the Christians of the town were rampaging through the ghetto, having broken into Jewish homes and robbed them. The Byelorussian police shot into the ghetto from the other side and tens of people fell this way, who had saved themselves from the pit. Many corpses lay strewn in the streets, who could not be given a proper Jewish burial.

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It became somewhat quieter at night. the Jewish ghetto police went through the houses, calling on people to come out to bury the dead, that lay strewn in the streets. I went off with other young men to do this work. My parents, with my younger little sister, remained at home broken, with hearts drowned in blood. (My older brother Moshe was in Navaeľnja at work, and in this manner, avoided the calamity).

On my way, I went into the house of my uncle Yoss'l, to see what their situation was. Out of the entire house where five families lived, only the lady of the house had saved herself. She told me that her children had been killed in the slaughter and that our Yoss'l, along with his wife also were beside the pit. She did not know what happened to them. She does not even know how she became separated from her children. In the middle of this narrative, my uncle and his wife came into the house, both as pale as the wall, the living dead. A hysteria seized us all, and nobody could hold in their crying, because we had not believed we would ever see one another again.

I went off to the cemetery, and together with other young people, buried the dead. There, I became aware of a part of my acquaintances and close friends from Belica, who were killed on that day. Here, only fifteen names of families are given: 10 Shimon Novogrudsky (a son of Herzl), his wife Min'cheh, the daughters Bash'keh and Dob'keh; 2) Leib'keh Odzhikhowsky (a son of Ber'keh); 3) Dvora Galiansky (a daughter of Chay-Sarah); 4) R' Zalman Fleischer and son Velvel (Joch'eh's son); 5) Moshe Savitzky (son of Itcheh-Leib the carpenter); 6) Faygl Stotsky and her daughter Dob'eh (a daughter of Reuven Szamszka); Alta Milikowsky ( a daughter of Itchkeh Min'keh's); 8) David-Leib Szeszko (a brother of Yehuda the floor maker) and wife; Yosh'keh Szeszko; 10) R' Lejzor the Shokhet's family (his wife, Chaya-Baylah, the oldest daughter Frum'keh, with her husband and little children, the two younger daughters Gitt'l and Dob'keh, the youngest son, David'keh); 11) Benjamin Green and family (from Husztat); 12) Hinde Leah'cheh's; 13) Chaim Baranchik and family (Lieb'keh's son, Yankl Tsin'keh's grandson); 14) Yeshaya-Moshe Kusielewicz (a son of Zalman Eliyahu); Luzer Shmulewicz.

Inside the ghetto, people like skeletons walked about in the streets, and could not come to themselves after seeing these terrifying images, which stood before their eyes. In our hose, we strongly felt the absence of our youngest brother Mott'leh, since he stood before our eyes wherever we looked. The fear of death was so great, that we would not sleep for whole nights, remaining on our guard. Days stretched out interminably. The workers went back to work, and everyone wanted to excel at their work, in order to find favor with the murderers and thereby obtain the fortuitous pass permitting us to live. Many of the young people left work along the roads, and into the forests about 10 km from the shtetl. Upon their return, they would bring back news about the war, and about the organization of the escaped Russian prisoners into partisan groups. Nobody wanted to believe this, and it was not possible to discourse about this extensively either, so that, God forbid, it should not reach the murderers.

A few weeks later, we received information that on May 5, 1942 there a slaughter took place in Lida, and more than 4,500 Jews were killed there (my great-aunt Yenta and her family were killed at that time). In the ghetto, we were again plagued with fear and unease, and again, we began to seek counsel about how to

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conceal ourselves. Many began to construct hideouts, while others began to plan how they would flee into the forest.

The larger part of the young people joined up with partisan groups, which had the objective of planning a flight from the ghetto into the forest during the time of a danger of a second slaughter. Everything was done is strict secrecy, with liaisons from the partisans coming into the ghetto bringing news from the front and from the underground movement. They would take along necessary items and medicaments and relate battles and clashes between the Germans and the partisans.

The gendarmes from Zhetl went off to launch an attack against the partisans, and then we began to believe that there really were partisans and that the news we were receiving was correct. The Germans encountered the partisans in a village not far from Dvarec where a battled ensued. Several Germans fell dead, and the murderer Grifinger of the Byelorussian police was severely wounded, and a Byelorussian policeman from Zhetl was also killed. The news of this immediately reached the ghetto, and we greatly feared the arrival of the day they would bury the plunderer. The members of the Judenrat went through all of the houses and gave strict orders not to be found in the streets on that day.

The day that we feared so much passed quietly, but a few days later, August 4, 1942, in the middle of the night, intense gunfire erupted in the ghetto. The panic became great, and we did not know what had happened, thinking that it is nothing other than a slaughter yet again. Many hid themselves in the hideouts, and stood watch all night, listening for every small sound. When the gunfire died down, we learned that partisans had entered the ghetto and shot at the gendarme posts. The Germans fled, and only later, did they return to search the ghetto, to find out who shot at them. The Byelorussian police shot at everyone, anyone who attempted to flee the ghetto. Among those attempting to flee, at that time, they killed a youth from Zhetl, and wounded a girl from Belica (Sarah Kremen, Israel Meiram's daughter). A Byelorussian policeman shot her in the stomach and after severe suffering, she died.

Many fled as far as Dvarec, and not far from the town, a group of young men and women hid themselves in a field of corn. Christians noticed them, and conveyed this to the police, who made a sweep of the field, and found them all. Very few had the opportunity to escape and save themselves, most having fallen into the hands of the murderers and they met a terrifying death. The following from Belica were killed: Moshe Shimonowicz, Ber'l Odzhikhowsky, (a son of Leib'eh Ber'keh's) Jonah'leh Leibowitz (a son of Chana Shy'keh's) and many other young men and women from Zhetl. The situation became very sorrowful, when the news about this reached the ghetto. Nobody any longer believed in staying alive, every day, we anticipated the arrival of a fresh calamity, and that fresh calamity felt imminent.

Translator's footnote:

1. Not verified by the calendar. Return

Yenta Trotzky (Yosselewicz) & husband		Eliyahu Milikowsky

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vehicles woke up the sleeping populace, the murderers had arrived with all the military equipment that you might expect for the largest of battles. On the second side of the fence, the streets became full of the murderers: Germans, Latvians, Estonians, and Byelorussian police.

We dressed immediately and ran out into the street. The panic in the ghetto was terrifying, the cries and screams of the pale, frightened Jews, mixed in with the tumult of the plunderers. Everyone ran to the high fence in the ghetto, looking for a way to break through the blockade of the murderous S.S. troops and Byelorussian police. However, the murderers had surrounded the ghetto in such a way, that there remained no means or possibility to save one's self by fleeing into the forest, or even into the nearby fields. A group of young people (boys and girls) were able to get out of the ghetto proper, but there were fields around the town, through which it was not possible to pass alive. A frightening outburst of gunfire ensued, aimed at those fleeing, and in this way the lives of tens of them were cut down, young boys and girls, the finest budding youth of the ghetto.

The murderers did not enter the ghetto until nine o'clock, and only shot through the barrier. With the moment that the order arrived, the murderers broke down the barrier, and like wild beasts, they forced their way into the Jewish houses and drove everyone to the marketplace.

On the marketplace, the murderers sorted out 225 craftsmen to be sent to the labor camp in Novogrudok. Another couple of hundred men (mostly young, strong boys) were set to dig trenches at the front beyond Smolensk and Vitebsk (the larger part of them died there later from cold and hunger). All the rest of the Jews were driven in long rows to the Zhetl cemetery outside the town, on the road to Belica and there they were shot in groups and thrown into deep pits. This was the way the first day of the slaughter ended.

In the ensuing days, the murderers sought out Jews who had hidden themselves in hideouts, extracted them one at a time from houses, took them off to the cinema building and then took them in groups, by auto, to the cemetery, and there they shot them. During the course of seven days, the murderers emptied out the ghetto. They left only one female Jewish dentist and three other people with special skills, whom they needed for their purposes. During these seven days, the houses were robbed by the Christian mobs that had run wild, which fell upon them like bees on the remaining wretched belongings that were still there.

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When Hitler's bestial murderers entered the shtetl, they immediately burned our houses. Only a few houses remained on the Netzana side street, and it was there that all of the residents of the shtetl gathered themselves. the crowding immediately became very great, because tens of people had to live in each little home. It was in this fashion that the “Jewish ghetto” in our town came into being.

A few days later, a punitive command arrived. They drove all the men together at the horse marketplace, ordered that they arrange themselves in two rows, and then the leader of the murderers, Goldmann, informed us that we Jews no longer had any human or ownership rights.

They took the Rabbi out of the rows, and a few other men, and they were hitched to a wagon. Several of the murderers sat themselves in the wagon, and the Jews were compelled to pull them to Paracany, 8 km from Belica. A great panic broke out in the shtetl, and everyone felt that sorrowful days were coming to settle on us Jews.

Several days later, a band of Nazis arrived again. On a Sunday, before daybreak, these [Nazis] again drove all of the men together on the place opposite the Roman Catholic church. On that same day, other German murderers shot all the Jewish men at the Neman Station. As we were later told by our mieszczany, they had pleaded for our lives that day with the Germans. However, the murderers did not release us entirely. In a rampage, they broke up the fence around the Polish school, and arranged themselves in two rows. Each of us had to run between the rows, and the dissolute killers beat us murderously.

A few days passed, and again, a band of plunderers arrived in the shtetl. This time, our mieszczany received them with gladness, and got them good and drunk. The drunken Nazis let themselves loose to seize Jews. On that dark day, they seized the first thirty-six men, among whom were the Rabbi and the finest balebatim of the shtetl. These 36 Jews were subjected to various forms of torture, and in the end, they were forced to dig a pit, in which they were all shot.

After this tragic event, the men stopped sleeping in their houses, rather they lay hidden in the fields surrounding the town. Also, in the few remaining houses, they began to make hideouts, thinking that this would save us from their murdering hands.

But very quickly we saw that the Germans were not going to let us remain in the shtetl. The larger portion of us quietly fled to the surrounding cities.

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The Polish burgomaster of the town (Balabanski) carried the news to the German authorities in Lida, that the Belica Jews are moving out, without any order from the authorities. As a result we, indeed, received an order, to provide 25 men for work. Seeing that it was already difficult to gather 25 men in the shtetl, there were women who were included in this group of 25.

When we presented ourselves for work, we were suddenly surrounded by the Polish police. The burgomaster read an order from the German command in Lida, that the Jews of Belica must donate a contribution of 150 thousand marks as a punishment for abandoning the town without an order from the authorities. In the end, he added: if this sum will not be provided at the end of five days, all of you will be shot. We were all locked up and the police posted a guard at the building.

A hue and cry went up immediately from the women and children. We began to look for means to put the money together, because from the first day of their arrival, the German murderers burned the shtetl and the larger part of the residents were left with nothing. It was decided to send emissaries to the surrounding cities to ask for help. Ziss'l Kalmanowicz traveled to Lida, and a second person^[1] traveled to Zhetl. A few days later, an elderly diminutive, little Jewish man came from Zhetl, R' Israel-Lejzor and brought money. At that point we no longer needed the money, because with our own effort, we were able to come up with the money, and the hostages were set free.

Mordechai Fleischer & wife

Rachel Fleischer & Rachel Shelyuvsky		Zalman Fleischer

Rachel Liebeh Fleischer and her little son

We parted from one another, and dispersed in all directions: some went to Lida, and some to other towns, the majority having gone to Zhetl. In the winter of 1941-1942 we resided in the Zhetl ghetto, and from time-to-time we got news that the Jews in the surrounding towns were all killed out. We got this news from the few who managed to save themselves from the towns where there had been a slaughter, and had managed to reach Zhetl.

On 13 Iyyar 5702 that being April 29, 1942, before dawn, we were driven out of the houses and assembled us on the old Zhetl cemetery. there, we were ordered to array ourselves by family, and then the murderers began to sort out who would live and who would die. The people became confused, and didn't know where

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to go. Then, the murderers began to shoot into the assembled Jews. Many people were shot and fell at that place.

I saw with my own eyes, how the murderers arrayed all of the handicapped people on the park area of the cemetery, and shot them from the rear.

Later, those of us sorted out for death, were driven away to the pits, which had already been prepared. Driving us out of the ghetto, I saw vehicles filled with the elderly, who were being taken to the pits. The cries of the elderly, to the heavens, was terrifying.

My wife and I, and our four young children, kept ourselves together at the pits. We were toled to lie down on the ground, face down. On arrival, I found there were already many people lying there like this. Lying like this, my wife and little children wept in fear, but my heart was hardened and no tear fell from my eyes. During these frightful moments, all I could think was that the pain of the bullets not be any greater. With my dried lips, I quietly whispered “Shema Yisrael” and thought of the World to Come.

Suddenly, my youngest child began to beg in a wailing cry: “Mama, some food please.” The second whined: “I am cold.” and the two older ones began to ask: “Papa, when are they going to shoot us already?” I called out to my Rachel-Lieb'ehchkeh “Do not cry my dear, you are frightening the children, and perhaps God will still take up our cause and yet help us out...” Near me lay David-Velvel from Zhetl, and he heard my words, and he spit in my face and said: “Where is there a God, when Jews cry out 'Shema Yisrael' and they are being shot?”

All at once, my wife stood up from the ground and said to me: “come Joseph, I cannot bear to watch how they are shooting here, come, let us try to go.” I took one child in my hands, and she had the second child, while the two older ones held on to us and in this fashion we went off for about a hundred meters, and a miracle took place, that nobody stopped us. We went over to a place where the German murderers had sorted people out to live, or to die, (to live to the right, to die to the left). My wife and I fell before the Germans with a great outcry, and we began to plead: “We are still young and skilled workers, let us live.” And again a miracle happened – my wife and I and our four children were sent to the right, to live. We met many people that we knew in this group, and also David-Velvel from Zhetl, the one who had previously spit in my face. We did not speak one to the other. He was ashamed to raise his eyes... I also encountered my sister Sarah'l and brother-in-law Niss'l with their children. When my sister spied me, she fainted away, and we were barely able to bring her around.

They detained us here for an entire day, until the killers were done with their murderous work.

I saw how Leib'eh Odzhikhowsky led his daughter Chaya-Baylah, who had been sorted to live, and he was sent to his death. When she was separated from her father, she flung herself to the ground and cried out: “Papa, where have you gone away from me?” I saw many other frightful things on that terrifying day, and I can still hear the shooting off to the side, where the pits were located for those sorted out to die.

[Page 272]

Before nightfall, those who had been sorted out to live, were led back into the ghetto. In the house, where I had lived with my entire family, I encountered my younger brother, Zalman, who had hidden himself in a cache. When he came out of the hideout, and did not find any of us, he broke out into a frightful weeping. People comforted him: “Perhaps someone will yet return from the pits?” And indeed, this is what took place.

We returned immediately, and for a short time, our joy was great.

Immediately, Israel-Meiram Kremen came into us in the house, and called us to come and bury the [murdered] handicapped and others, who had been shot at the cemetery. I immediately went and helped to gather up those who were killed, and gave them a proper Jewish burial. No matter how frightening this might seem to people who did not live through it, this is the way it was. We, meanwhile still alive, were envious of the dead, who at least were privileged to have been given a proper Jewish burial, because we, personally, were not at all certain that we would have the same “privilege.”

After The First Great Slaughter, the German murderers ordered the Judenrat to shrink the ghetto, and made assurances that no more evil would befall the Jews in the Zhetl ghetto. Those who remained alive, were again driven to a variety of hard labor. Everyone went off to work with the hope that perhaps, after all, they will remain alive. However, deep in their heart they did not believe the assurances of the murderers, and this secure status did not carry on, so sorrowfully, for very long. In my conversations with my wife in those days, I would always say that I will no longer ever go to the pits.

Immediately news

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began to arrive from other cities and towns, that additional slaughtering had taken place there, and this time, the murderers had killed everyone and made those locations “Judenrein.”

Three added frightening months passed in this way, in the Zhetl ghetto, until our time came to die in Sanctification of the Name.

During those three months, I would get up very early, cry myself out thoroughly, and then go to the synagogue to say Kaddish for my father, who had been killed in the Lida ghetto, and for my brother Chaim, and his wife Min'cheh and for my sister Rachel, who had all been killed in the Scucyn ghetto.

The Family of Sarah (Fleischer) & Nissan Baranchik

On the way, I encountered many people already, who were also running to the ghetto gate. We immediately began to break the gates, and the plunderers began to shoot. The tumult and pushing was frightful. Many people immediately fell dead, and a few broke through and fled. I, personally, ran for 3 km until I came to the forest and there waited for a day and night. On the following day, I sent a Christian of my acquaintance to Zhetl, so that he could bring me news of what was going on in the ghetto. He returned with the frightening news that everyone in the ghetto was being killed, and they are only going to let 170 of the young men, skilled for work, remain alive, who would be taken to the work camp at Novogrudok.

On receipt of this tragic news, I decided to go back, but not to Zhetl, where I had lost everyone, but back to my familiar home area in the Belica surroundings. Beaten, orphaned, and alone, I went off to try my luck in the forests around my hometown.

Translator's footnote:

1. From other narrative, this would appear to have been Israel Zlocowsky Return

[Page 274]

Among the mekhutonim that will attend this lavish wedding there will be two categories of guests: “forest-people” meaning those that lived through the years of the frightful World War in the forests, after it was given to them to flee from the burning ghettoes, and – real “Yankees.”

This will certainly be a wedding just like all other joyous Jewish occasions. A good time will be had by all, and the attendees will derive great pleasure. But e the center of attention of this festive occasion, the groom, is a finely built young man, somewhat above average height, with a pair of blue eyes, is one of a kind. The invited guests, who do not know his “biography,” would certainly not guess that this young man has a “past” that sounds nigh unbelievable.

As previously said, Sender is not more than 24 years old, but what he lived through for the first five years of his life, reflects the horror, torture and suffering of the Jewish people in occupied Europe during those blood years of extermination of The Second World War. He symbolizes the victory of the Jewish spirit over the enemies of the Jewish people.

The details about the childhood years of the groom, Sanford May, which are weighed down with so much tension and beating of the heart, were conveyed to me by his parents, Joseph and Dvora Maywesky. They live today in Flushing, and they came to America as refugees from a camp near Munich, Germany, in the year 1947. Joseph Mayewsky is now a builder, and is a scion of Belica near Lida, and his wife, from the Shmuckler family, who before they married, lived in the town of Iwje. A daughter (Masha) was born to them in America, who is now 14 years old.

The Mayewskys who ran an ironmongery on the market street in Belica, married in 1939, shortly before Hitler's Germany attacked Poland. A year later, Dvora gave birth to a son, who was named Sender. This was already in 1940, when the shtetl in which they lived – as a result of the German-Polish war – belonged, just like the rest of western Byelorussia did, to the Soviet Union.

Time passed, and June 22, 1941 arrived, when Germany attacked the Soviet Union. Joseph, Sender's father,

[Page 275]

was mobilized for a short time by the Russians, but they discharged him literally a day before Hitler's airplanes flew over the Soviet cities. This alone shows that the Kremlin was not anticipating the German attack, believing the “treaty-bound” Hitler, may his name be erased, and taking him at his word. Six days later, on June 28, there were Gestapo people to be found in the shtetl, arriving from the direction of Lida and Zhaludok. the Germans immediately burned down the marketplace in Belica, where approximately 130 Jewish families lived, among a population of Christians twice that number. Jewish assets were carried away in the smoke. But this did not suffice for the German murderers. To this, they levied a “contribution׆ of 75,000 rubles on the local Jews, and in order to secure it, and assure that the Jews would come up with the money, the murderers took 40 hostages.

For the Belica Jews – burned out – this was an astronomical sum. But precisely on that same day, an elderly Jew from the town of Zhetl, he was named R' Israel Lejzor, brought 25 thousand rubles on foot to Belica, expressing his readiness to go back home and bring more money from the Jews of Zhetl, if it was needed. “This was an act of exceptional devotion,׆ Joseph Mayewsky (May) told me. The distance from Zhetl to Belica was a walk of 20 versts.

Several months later, Belica became Judenrein, and the Jews who remained alive were transferred to the Zhetl ghetto, where the local Jews there shared their overcrowded accommodations with them, and with the last bit of food that they had.

The First Great Slaughter in the ghetto took place in the month of Iyyar in 1942. The Mayewsky family was able to save itself, thanks to being able to hide themselves in a double attic, that Joseph who knew carpentry, had prepared for them. However, things were different during The Second Great Slaughter, which commenced about three months later (23^rd of Av) when the venerable and famous Jewish community in Zhetl was exterminated.

On the first day of the aktion, Joseph, Dvora and their two-year-old son Sender'l managed to survive in a pit, that Mayewsky had provided for in a side location. But as soon as it became clear that they were not going to get out of that place alive, they fled to the forest on that first night after the extermination, with their child in their arms. In fleeing, they saw dead bodies of their nearest and dearest before them, that were splayed all over the ghetto.

Coming to a small brook (a canal of sorts), they were so confused, that the couple and their child nearly drowned. Only by a miracle did they manage to get to the other side, reaching the forest, in Zachepichi, where in the dawn hours, they encountered other Jews from the shtetl, who had also fled the fire. “We were deafened by the cries from the martyrs, which we could hear the entire way,” Mrs. Mayewsky told me, during the interview for the Morgen-Zhurnal.

* * *

The fate of the Jew was hard and bitter under German rule, whether it was in a ghetto or in the forest, or in a concentration camp. But it was even worse when it was necessary to carry around a two year-old child on

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one's hands. A child is not aware of any tricks, and if it is hungry, or thirsty, it begins to scream and cry. and this was a time when every noise could precipitate a German assault, which would have eradicated whatever trace remained of the Jews.

While they were still in their own shtetl of Belica, the Mayewskys gave away their child to a Christian woman, Katya Lebiecka. But two days later, that woman regretted her decision, regarding the “bargain.” She would have taken a little girl, she said, but not a little boy, which can be identified as a Jew. The Christian woman apologized for not wanting to put her life in danger. The truth is, that when they were still in the Zhetl ghetto, Sender'l already had a blond head of hair, and he already understood that he was not allowed to cry and not to speak loudly. However, upon arrival in the forest, where he suffered hunger, thirst and cold, he didn't know about any answers – the two year-old child cried.

His mother fed him with grass, but the little boy would throw up with blood. She worked at slaking his thirst, when he lay stretched out as if dead, with other means, but they also did not help. In the forest, people who knew them, distanced themselves from them, because they were afraid that the child, with his screaming would attract the attention of the Germans, or their Byelorussian or Polish informers. Being hidden in the caches in the forest, the Jews had to be wary not only of the Germans and their accomplices. Also the “White Poles,” the so-called Armia Krajowa, which fought for Poland's independence, murdered Jews. The Vlasovites did the same, and even the partisans of the Soviet brigades were far from treating the Jews charitably.

Nevertheless, there were Jews that risked their lives and helped the Mayewskys with their little boy, by carrying him from one location to the next, when the Germans pursued them. Such dedication was shown by a young man named Velvel Kreinowicz הי”ד.

* * *

However, since father and mother thought that the war was lost, they approached a Christian that they knew, Sasha, in the village of Novoselki, requesting that he come into the forest at night and take the child with him, in order to hide him until the war was over. For this, as a price, they turned over everything they had in the way of valuables, that they had buried in the property of yet another gentile in a nearby village.

At night, Sasha came into the forest, with a large empty grain sack, into which he put Sender. Sasha tied up the sack with a thick rope, and threw it over his shoulder, being ready to return home.

“However, as soon as we saw Sasha beginning to rise and take his first step,” the tearful mother told me, when her husband was crying along with her, “we began to tear at our own flesh, and Joseph began to shout, “Sender was so difficult for me to come by, and I will not give him up so lightly.”

Upon hearing such words, the Christian became confused. He began to cross himself and said: “I do not want to sin, God will punish me, because I have my own children, so here, take back your son.”

[Page 277]

When the sack was untied, little Sender was lying glassy-eyed, with dried out lips, which desperately longed for a drink. Everyone thought that his little heart had stopped beating, and that it was over... but in a few minutes time, he again began to show signs of life.

All of a sudden, the parents realized that, in the forest, their child had no prospects of staying alive. So, again, they began to beg the peasant that he should take Sender with them. However, at this point, Sasha did not want to hear of it. “Your weeping has broken my heart, and I will not take your child away from you,” he answered them.

Other efforts were made to find a way to get Sender out of the forest. Several times, it even occurred that he was “suffocated” in order that he not cry out, when the Germans surrounded the sunken earth huts, but the child survived intact. It was his fate to survive the war in the Lipczanska “Puszca” and emerge intact. It was not only once that his parents saw him as being “dead,” but it would not take long, and he would revive. He already knew that when the Germans were “shooting” that he had to “keep quiet.”

On a certain day in 1944, when Sender's father went off to a village to look for potatoes, and the child remained in the forest with his mother, the Germans suddenly attacked. The Jews from the surrounding “pits” began to flee. At that moment, the little boy, with his mother at his side, went to Yaakov Molczadsky, who today lives in Toronto, and shouted to him: “Dear Yankl, take us along, I want to live, take pity, don't leave me alone here with my mother, we will be killed here. I promise you that I will not cry.” Sender kept his word.

It also happened that the little boy would go about wrapped in rags, and one frosty day in the forest, he fell into a pool, and it was no simple job to pull him out alive. His mother recalls, that when Sender was stretched out on the rags, his skin also peeled off of him.

* * *

And what does Sender, or Sanford look like now? I saw him, when I met with his parents. He is a handsome young man with many fine attributes: he is refined, smart, intelligent and has a good sense of humor. Young women always pursued him, and he had a grace that can enchant those who converse with him.

The 24 year-old young man graduated from Queens College and is close to finishing his studies at “Brooklyn Law School.” He has always been an outstanding student, and also works, in order that he can support himself, and not have to depend on his parents, who, by the way, live quite comfortably. He is independent, speaks Yiddish as if he had just yesterday arrived from Belica...

When I finished my conversation with Sender's parents, it was already one o'clock in the morning, and a deathly silence reigned in the street. For long minutes, I thought about the iron of this fate...

I thought of the nerve of the Bonn régime, that just twenty years after the end of the war, was ready to grant an amnesty to the German murderers of the Jewish people.

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