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After the Holocaust

G-d is a G-d of recompense. He will surely repay.

(Jeremiah 51:56)

You will pursue them in anger and destroy them from under the heavens of G-d.

(Lamentations 3:66)

Cursed are you, O cruel nation Cursed be your name For ever and ever, a curse from on high Shall lay upon you forever! Cursed are you more than any person, And a curse shall rest upon you As long as you see the light still shining, And it will descend with you to the netherworld! Let your strength be erased, let your vigor be dried Your soul shall bear your iniquity… – – – – – – You will drown in the blood of your victims The tears will ring in the sea And you will be awakened at night, at night By the screams of the victims, the atrocities…

1. From Moscow to Lakhva

A unique feeling overtook me when I entered the railway center in Moscow, to leave toward Homel. It seemed that from there, I would reach my city, my family circle, my friends, acquaintances, and relatives within another day or two.

The journey was not interesting until the Dnieper, and one could immerse oneself quietly in reading a book or a newspaper, or engage in conversation with the travelers in the car. The travelers began to feel nervous six or seven hours before the Dnieper Bridge. The year was 1945, the bridge of the Dnieper was temporary, and these were the first days after the war. A fear overtook everybody because the train tracks went over the floor of the bridge that was lacking support. However, we finally arrived in the Homel railway station. It was difficult to find the tickets for the train leaving in the direction of Brisk. At that time, the desire to already be in the Lakhva station grew stronger. In the Mikashevitz station, we began to peer into the eyes of those getting on and off, searching for a recognizable face. We already had heard the first stories from the eyewitnesses about the killings in the area. We arrived in Lakhva toward morning.

When I got off the train, it seemed to me that the wagon drivers would certainly be present, the ones who used to make the journey between Lakhva and David-Horodok, and that they would grab the baggage of the traveler, as in previous times. However, a deathly silence pervaded in the station. The station itself was not in its regular place, but rather in a small wooden hut. A steward sat inside. To my question, “How does one get to David-Horodok?” He responded, “By foot, there are no longer any Zhyds who will transport.” While already in the wagon, I was made to realize that not one Jew remains here. Having no choice, I took my suitcase and marched by foot. At a distance of three or four kilometers from there, I met a gentile who knew me from home. He was employed in carrying the mail between the two towns twice a week. Success was with me, for specifically on the day that I arrived, the gentile was traveling with the mail.

The entire route from Lakhva to David-Horodok was partially paved during the wartime. The Germans had brought an electric grid with generators to the place. They cut the trees in the forests and turned them into boards, with which they had improved the road. The gentile Stachiko, in whose wagon I was traveling, told me on the way about what had happened to the Jewish community in David- Horodok. I sensed some strange reticence in his words, and it seemed to me that he wanted to hide the truth from me. “The gentile is behaving according to his manner,“ I thought, “I will come home, and I will know.” The wagon reached the small bridge near the former house of Slobodnik. Stachiko asked me to get off since he was turning toward the right, to his house in front of the post office. When I got off, I felt homeless.

I continued on foot. The houses of the Jews between the small bridge and the large bridge were empty and locked. The windows had been removed from their frames and were boarded up instead. As I crossed the temporary bridge over the Horyn, built of barges and boards, the local priest recognized me and politely invited me to his home. I accepted his invitation and began to pester him with questions. His answers were evasive. Their essence was “We ourselves were afraid of the Germans. We were locked up in our houses and did not see anything. We only learned about the slaughter afterward.” When I expressed my wish to go to my parents' home, the priest's wife said, “There is no placed to go. Your house was bombed by the partisans since it was used as a bakery for the German Army.” Nevertheless, I went there.

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4. The Destruction

A fear overcame me at the sight of the destruction and ruin around. From the house of Kopel Lichtenstein, it was possible to see through an open-air line directly to Meir Milman's home. Between it and Rimar's home (a distance of 500-600 meters), there was Pitner's home, which remained intact. Next to the ruins of the stone store of Groshko I encountered gentiles who were taking down the remaining stones and loading them on their wagons to take them to “Raditch” [the gentile section of David-Horodok].

I approached the town hall, the offices of which were located in the house of Gottlieb-Meinkin on Luchnikovska Street. I found out from the officials that there were two Jewish women remaining in the city. The daughter of Eizik Furman (the wagon driver) had returned with her Jewish husband (a Soviet citizen) from the Caucasus to live in her native city. There was a young man from the village of Azdamitch named Gitelman (his father had owned the flourmill in the village) who was saved by a Christian woman who had hid him during the conquest. He married her as a token of appreciation. I set out to the house of Furman's daughter (in Boloto [the section of David-Horodok near the marshes]). She lived in the house of a Christian. I spent my two days in David- Horodok there.

The Christian homeowner was the only one who gave me details about what had transpired during the German occupation. The man began his story, “One day toward morning, they demanded that all the Jewish men present themselves on Kosciuszko Street. Within a few hours, all those summoned had gathered, apparently for work. They were ordered to march forward. Ten Germans were in charge of the operation. Their assistants were local gentiles who had been integrated with the Jewish community. They beat and pushed the Jews with sticks, some of whom were good acquaintances. Next to the observation outpost at the entrance to the town of Olshan, the caravan veered leftward off the main road. The murder aktion of the entire caravan took place a few meters from there. According to an eyewitness, the caravan numbered over 1,000 individuals. A few days later, some of the women were gathered together with the intention of taking them to Stolin. For unknown reasons, the caravan returned from there, and remained on the road next to Lisovitz for days. The cold and rain that afflicted them aroused feelings of bitterness and rebellion against those who were their sole guards. Yaakov Gertzulin's wife stood at the head of the revolt, demanding that they be taken back to David-Horodok. Then, they were all sent to the ghetto that was set up in the Boloto area of the town.

On the first day of my visit, I began to pass through the streets of the city. The moment when I arrived at the house of Wolf Eisenberg (Bielke's) and the synagogue yard (Shulhof) will never be erased from my memory. All the synagogues were completely destroyed, only the four walls of the Hassidic shtibel remained. I stood in a corner, with the Pravoslavic Church jutting upward from one side in the center of the marketplace. Only its dome had been damaged. On the other side, there was the destroyed synagogue. It seems as if the church was opening its mouth to say: “You have come to the graveyard of your nation. See, your house has been destroyed. Your nation has been annihilated and will never rise again. Indeed, my head has been damaged, but my nation is with me. My wounds will heal and I will continue my existence. But you, you will not rise again.”

Most of the Jewish houses that I passed were empty. Offices of the Soviet government were in some of them. Soviet officials lived in others. Gentiles from the suburbs of the city lived in several houses. The houses were standing in their desolation. The next day, I went out to the market that took place every morning as in days of old. I heard a gentile woman selling fish. She wished to praise her merchandise, and added, “Had the Zhyds been here, they would have paid nicely for them.”

That day, I continued to the village of Olshan, the site of the mass murder. After walking for an hour,

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I found the lookout pillar (the only sign I was given for the location of the mass grave). I stood on the road and asked the passers-by about the exact place of the grave. I received no response. I decided to enter the village and I asked. In return for a significant payment, the first resident I met showed me the place. The victims were buried in four large graves. From lack of experience, the murderers did not cover the graves with sufficient soil. As the person accompanying me said, wolves appeared about ten days after the murder. They began to ransack the soil with their paws and remove body parts. Then, tens of Olshan residents were summoned to cover the graves with additional earth. The remnants of bones, pieces of cloth and hair that I saw there confirmed the words of my accompanier.

Tears flowed from my eyes. With difficulty, I overcame my emotions at that moment. I gathered some of the bones that I found and buried them in the ground. After an hour, I left the place and parted forever from this holy place, and from all the dear and beloved ones who remained there.

A. Five who Returned

Bas-Sheva Lin, the niece (daughter of the sister) of Meir Eliyahu Kushnir, was the only resident of David-Horodok whom I found in the city when I returned after Rosh Hashanah of 5705 [1944]. The water carrier who worked with me for four full years did not recognize me. Her house was full of Jewish goods. From there, I went to 1 The Greble Street. She sent me to a gentile who had taken over the house of Litman Nachmanowitz. “The gentiles of David-Horodok received a high medal of excellence for their proficiency in murdering Jews,” that gentile told me. The next day, I requested a place of residence from the authorities. When they offered me a Jewish house, I refused and demanded permission to live in the place of my former butcher shop. My request was denied. However, I ignored the denial, and set up the butcher shop as a dwelling. The authorities even arranged a grocery store for me. In time, Noach, the son of Bezalel Yudovitz, assisted me. He had come to Horodok on crutches, and received full material and medical assistance from the government. After that, Zeev Shalom Lachovsky and Moshe the son of Yisrael Reznik also returned to Horodok.

A butcher shop in David-Horodok In the photo: (from left to right) Meir-Hershel Korman – from the butchers of the city, Berl Farber – a customer

Eliyahu Kushnir was the first victim of David-Horodok. After he was expelled from his house, he lived in Raditch [the gentile section of David-Horodok], and was murdered by the Horodtchukas [Christians of Tartar descent from David-Horodok] while he was walking to the marketplace during the time of the German occupation. After him, Zeev, the son of Grunya Kunda, was murdered on Olshan Street, next to Fleishman's house. On the 17^th of Av, the Jews were gathered in the yard of the Catholic Church and transferred to Chinovsk, where the Horodtchukas had dug graves. It is difficult to describe the means of torment there. Clothes were removed, limbs were cut off, and the slaughter was perpetrated with whatever implements they had – sticks, stones, firearms. After that,

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they were tossed into the pits that were dug by the gentiles. Their blood flowed through the ditches for three days, and the ground lifted and moved from their death throes.

The father of the pogrom perpetrators was the medic Maraiko, who travelled specially to Pinsk to fetch the S.S. Before his journey, he gathered up and hid the gold of the Jews that was given to him to watch.

After the selection, the gentiles began to search for Jews in hiding. Avraham Slutsky the wagon driver was the first to be found. The son of Mendel Moravchik was found between the beds of beans, and was murdered on the spot. Reuven Kolozny was murdered in the toilet of the gentile Markovitz – and he remained there. Baruch-Yosef Katzman and his two sons who survived after the slaughter were murdered in their rooms by Dimitry Pozik. Isser Gurevitz was dismembered and his eyes were poked out. Yehoshua Zager from Tury was hiding in an oven. He was removed from there and murdered. Aharon Slomiansky was cast in the Horyn River, and was pulled out of there dead by gentiles who were hired by his wife Rachel. Thus, he at least succeeded having a Jewish burial.

My two children, Bracha and Baruch, who had been smuggled by a gentile woman to the Dubinitz Forest, were brought back to the city by the Horodtchukas and murdered by dismemberment in the market square. My son Yaakov succeeded in escaping the vale of murder.

Simcha Mishalov found refuge in a cellar. The maid of the house sustained him for four months there. Finally, she turned him in, and he was taken out to be murdered on The Greble Street. Before he expired, he succeeded in calling out three times : “Scoundrels, what do you want?” The children of Matityahu Korman later informed the Soviet authorities that Boris Sraiko murdered Simcha – and he was arrested and exiled to Siberia.

Rabbi Moshe Ginzburg was spared by the Germans, but out of fear of the Horodtchukas, he disguised himself as a woman. A year later, he met his death during the period of the existence of the women's ghetto. Yitzchak, the son of Berl Schmutz, also disguised himself as a woman, but he was recognized and was murdered.

After the slaughter of the men, the women of Horodok were expelled to nearby villages. Some were absorbed into them, and others died along the way. Those who remained and returned to Horodok were murdered by the gentiles and buried in the graves of the men.

Rabbi Moshele's daughter was with the partisans in the forests of Wysokie and was killed. The family members themselves were also subsequently killed.

Golda Rachel, the wife of Meir Eliyahu, met her death in the “chapel” in Choromsk, where she had been hiding.

Shmuel Katzman, Leibel's son, wandered about for four months after the slaughter. The gentiles captured him in the forests of Orly and tore him to pieces.

Nishka Kirzner, Chaim's wife, was found with two other women in their cowshed, and they were murdered there. Leah Kolozny was murdered by the gentiles on the bridge.

Day by day, wandering Jews came to me from the entire region, and I supported them. The gentiles plotted to kill me. One night at 11:00 p.m., a gentile came, dressed up. I warned him, threatened him, and shouted at him – and the police were summoned and saved me.

Finally, I could no longer maintain myself in Horodok due to the hostile attitude towards me – and I left.

1. This article is very similar to the article “Impressions” by Meir Hershel Korman on pages 447-449 in the Yiddish section. Both were written by the same person (Hershel in Yiddish and Tzvi in Hebrew are equivalent names). However, each article contains unique information, so both have been included. Return

This took place on the Torah portion of Bereishit^[1] in 1906^[i]. Zuchter, Zenko, and Klini – a group of murderous friends – set their steps to the house of the wealthy Meir Leib Korman to murder him and pillage his property. When they reached Malye-Orly on the eve of the Sabbath, it was still early, so they went to Gedalyahu Sosnik, who owned a small tavern. They ordered liquor and got drunk. When Gedalyahu returned from the Maariv service, he kicked Zenko and Klini out of the house. Zuchter was dozing at the table. He woke up at night and murdered all the members of the house, five people in total, as well as their brother-in-law who had come from Stolin to invite them to a wedding. Even after he perpetrated this iniquity, Zuchter's drunkenness did not pass, and he remained asleep next to the victims. In the morning, a gentile woman arrived to milk the cow, and found the door closed. She summoned her family who lived in the village, and the police searched and arrested the murderer.

During the First World War, Zuchter was drafted into the army and freed. During the time of the revolution, Zuchter stole pigs from an estate owner in the area. His path led him to Malye-Orly, where the soldiers captured him. Sosnik's children pointed to him as the murderer of their family.

One of the soldiers tied him to his horse and galloped back and forth on the village road until his innards spilled out. Thus shall they be destroyed!

1. This is the first Torah portion after Simchat Torah. Return

Coordinator's footnote

1. Although this article is in the “After the Holocaust” section, the murders actually did happen in 1906 as reported. Return

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