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Nekha & Mikhal Petrukhovich, emerged alive from the forest

We gird ourselves patiently and wait, [hoping] that the circumstances of the partisans will improve, and that everything will return to the status quo ante.

May 22 in the evening. Everyone is in improved spirits, even though we know that the danger that had stalked us a few days ago had not entirely passed. It is still risky to go out on the roads. Word reaches us that the following morning, May 23, the partisans are preparing to attack the German fortification in Nakrishok, a village near Zhetl. News of this nature always raised our morale and cheered us, despite the number of casualties we knew we would have to take in such a battle.

The young people around the fire ask Ruzha to sing a song. Ruzha immediately fills the request, and the dark still forest rings with the sound of her sweet voice rendering the song “Heimland.” I feel a sudden pounding of my heart, and a shiver runs through me like a spasm through all my limbs.

– Ruzha – I say, – It is not yet the time for singing. The wound is still fresh, and who is to know what the coming day will bring us…

– Don't think so much, Katya – Ruzha answers me, – you are a pessimist. You'll see, tomorrow we will hit Nakrishok, and things will return to what they were.

I answer nothing, let down my head and sink my eyes into the dying fire.

At 12:00 midnight, the fire finally goes out, only the smoke curls skyward, just as if the Lord were accepting a sacrifice… We say, ‘good night,’ to one another and retire to the earthen bunkers to sleep.

It is 7AM on the morning of May 23. I crawl out of the earthen bunker, and from the top rung of the ladder I look about the still forest. The day looks like it will be nice and sunny, but chilly. I go out and prepare to light a fire, in order to brew some coffee. Ruzha is already also awake. She says she has a headache. In the earthen bunker, a woman lies ill with blotches of typhus.

Around 8AM a shot from a gun is heard in the far distance. I descend to Ruzha and tell her about it. ‘It's nothing’ – she says, ‘certainly a shot by a partisan.’ All agree with her and are sure that no danger lurks in this place. I return to the fire, because I felt a chill in my extremities. Twenty minutes go by – and a second shot is heard, this time closer already. I go down to Ruzha and tell her that it is necessary to come out of the bunker. ‘Those are the sounds of partisan attacks on Nakrishok,’ – Ruzha decides with certainty, and adds: ‘I'll come up in a half hour.’ I go out again, and in 15-20 minutes we are beset with gunfire, with bullets flying from all directions. I run to the earthen bunker and shout: “Ruzha, save yourself!” And I am driven from the place by a strong instinctive force.

I run, the bullets flying over my head. I run with all my might in an unknown direction, avoiding all the ways and well-trodden paths, over bogs and waters. After running for several kilometers, I met up with several others who had saved themselves. I ask them about Ruzha but they don't know, they hadn't run into her while fleeing. An ominous feeling gnaws at me. We seat ourselves in a swamp in a damp wooded area, being certain that in that location we would not be hit by a bullet.

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And so we sat, each of us sunken in our own memories, for more than half a day. When it quieted down around us in the forest, we slowly returned to our former location. Along the way, we stumbled across people that had been shot. My heart beat like a trip-hammer. When we got closer to the earthen bunkers, a tragic picture unfolded before my eyes. Ruzha lay dead, she had just emerged from the bunker and gone about 30 steps and fell.

That is the way Ruzha lost her life, not knowing that her song of the prior night would be her last. And she was just last night so full of life and energy!

Poor sister, you parted from life with a song. With your death, you opened a permanent wound in my heart, a painful memory, a mourning for my dear sister, who fell on a spring morning in a faraway alien land.

In the evenings when there was respite, around the fire in the forest, when spirits were up, at times for no rhyme or reason, not only once was heard ‘The Land of Israel,’ from the lips of the partisans, and surprisingly the singing stopped, and conversations were stilled. And only in the eyes of the participants a bolt like a special lightning shone: God, is it conceivable that we could get out of this predicament alive and reach Our Land? Are we even permitted to think something ‘impossible’ such as this?

And this aspiration grew strong in our hearts even as all our [other] hope waned. The silence enveloped all of us on nights like this by the fire, until one of the company would open up with fragmented sentences about the years of preparation, about his desired over the years to go up to the Holy Land. Little by little, the atmosphere warmed up, a wave of memories and experiences, hopes, expectations and dreams would well up and rise in the heart, and the conversation would flow with vigor, and everyone was anxious to add and tell on his deep ties to the liberation movement of our people, of the expectations for a new life in the Land of our Fathers, and about all that was dreamed – until the Holocaust came and severed that skein of dreams.

A group of Jews sat in the thick of the Byelorussian forest, who had no place in the land where they resided, where even the wilderness would not offer them its harsh face – to the point where a physical pain would eat at them at the thought of the Land of Israel.

When the ache intensified, and the free-flowing conversation didn't mollify it, someone would very, very quietly begin to sing an Israeli song. His fellows sitting around the fire would immediately join in, and periodically the song would lighten the ache of longing.

In June 1944, the intensity of the pressure of the Germans on the partisans in our forest increased. Knowing that their downfall was at hand, the German troops and their loyal allies, the Poles, Byelorussians and Ukrainians, began to penetrate the forests, pursuing the partisans without stop, and inflicting heavy losses on them.

Even when the sounds of cannon from the approaching front began to reach us, and when the sound of the Soviet Katyusha rockets were reaching our ears, even in those days of the disorganized retreat of the Germans, many victims still fell among the partisan ranks. Many fell, with the yearning for the Land of Israel in the final beats of their hearts.

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We were liberated. On July 14, 1944 the forest ceased being our home, and the fortress that was created by the enemy. We went out onto the roads, the humming highways – to the desolated cities and towns.

The dream of three years came to being after our liberation from the Nazis. Will our dream for a life in the Land of Israel come to be as well? Will we continue to live on the ruins of our towns, or will we reach the shores of the Designated Land?

Note 1: The order in which these names appear has been made to conform to English alphabetization, and therefore does not follow the same order as they appear in the original Hebrew text.

Note 2: There are multiple references this text to the Pobeda Partisan Brigade. ‘Pobeda’ is the Russian word for ‘Victory,’ and this unit was under the command of Pavel Bulak. Further background concerning the exploits of this unit may be found in the memoir of Moshe Salutsky in the Zelva Memorial Book and in the Shapiro Family Book of Remembrances.

Agulnick - (see Ogulnick)

Alyovich, Chaim - Born in 1912 in a village adjacent to Dereczin. Fled from Dereczin with his brother Leib, and his sister Leah. He was a partisan in the Farkof unit. Shot after a trial on the grounds of falling asleep while on watch. This was almost at the point of liberation, a few months after his brother, Leib was shot on the same grounds.

Alyovich, Leib - Born in a village adjacent to Dereczin. Before the war, his family moved to Dereczin. Fled the ghetto with his brother Chaim, and his sister Leah. He was a partisan in the Farkof unit. At the beginning of 1944 he was sentenced to death under suspicion that he had fallen asleep on watch. Shot by a partisan firing squad.

Azaf, Moshe - A scion of a venerable Dereczin family. Fled with his family from the massacre into the forest. Fell in the forest battles under the command of Bulak.

Bardakh, Cherneh - Daughter of Reuven & Masha. Her parents owned a woven goods store. At the time of the Soviet occupation, she was a teacher at the Russian school. She reached the forests at the end of July 1942, originally in the Bulak Brigade, and afterwards joined the Kozeyev Brigade. In one of the German sorties, she was captured alive and tortured to death.

Barnovsky, Berel - Born in Suwalk in 1920. He was in Dereczin during the time of the Nazi conquest. After the great massacre, he fled to the forest and was taken in by the Atlas unit. He participated in the attack on the Dereczin military garrison. He was the first to break into the quarters of the Sonderfuhrer. The German shot and wounded him. He was brought back to the forest where he died from his wounds.

Beckenstein, Eliyahu - Born in Dereczin in 1926. His father was a tailor.

At the time he was being taken together with other Jews to be killed outside of the town, he jumped from the vehicle, and reached the Lipiczany forests on June 22, 1942. He joined the unit of Dr. Atlas in the Pobeda Brigade, under the command of Bulak. Despite his youth, he was given a mortar to operate. He participated in every single battle, and always stood out for his bravery, and readiness to put his life on the line. He provided assistance to the family compound that was set up in the vicinity of the Brigade.

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In the battle beside the village of Sliza-Podgrovolna, he fought fearlessly, ceaselessly raining fire down on the enemy forces; When a small tank drew near to the partisan positions, he stopped it with his mortar fire, and forced it to retreat. As a memento of his exploits, he was given a watch from the booty taken from the Germans.

On October 25, 1943, he participated and distinguished himself in the sabotage of a German train near the Ozernitza train station. It was a train fully loaded with troops and supplies. The train was totally wrecked with many Germans buried under the debris. For this feat, he received a medal citing him ‘For Courage.’

In February 1944, he went out with 8 other partisans to lay an ambush for the Germans, who were scheduled to pass the village of Ostrovo, near Dereczin. Their number was estimated to be about 150 troops. A bitter and heavy battle ensure for an hour and a half. The partisans could not maintain their position in the face of superior forces, and were forced to retreat. By firing his mortar, Beckenstein covered the pullback of his comrades, but he himself fell, along with the head of his unit.

A few hours after the end of the hostilities, several partisans went and retrieved the bodies of those who were killed, and they were buried with full military honors. Beckenstein was awarded the Red Flag posthumously.

Beckenstein, Shmeryl - Born in Dereczin, a shoemaker. Married and the father of two children. A partisan in the Pobeda Brigade. Fell with gun in hand during the first great sortie in January 1943.

Becker, Eliyahu - From Dereczin. A partisan in the Pobeda Brigade. After the liberation, he was drafted into the Red Army and died at the front.

Becker, Bella - Was shot in carrying out her duties in the forest, along with one of Shelovsky's daughters, because they did not return with their arms after fleeing the Germans, which they had hidden in a secret place.

Becker, Sonya - Born in 1923 in Kolonia [Sinaiska], beside Dereczin to a family of Jewish farmers. Worked as a cook in the camp of the Pobeda Brigade. Fell in the fierce fighting of the great sortie of the Vlasov troops against the partisan forests, days before the liberation came.

Bernicker, Herschel - Son of Shmuel, killed by enemy bullets at the time he was shepherding the partisan cattle flock.

Bialosotsky, Ruzha - Daughter of a large family from Dereczin. She was in the Zhetl forests together with her sister.^[1] Was felled by an enemy bullet during a sortie against the compound in the forest.

Bitensky, Shmuel - Son of Herschel Bitensky, fell in the forests of Ruda Velikaya.

Bogdanovsky, Aharon - From Dereczin. A partisan in Bulak's Pobeda Brigade, in the Ruda Dobrovshchina forests. Fell in one of the battles.

Boyarsky, Shmuel - Born in the town of Piesk, near Volkovysk in 1916. A carpenter by trade.

He was in the Dereczin ghetto. At the end of July 1942, he fled to the forest. He was in the partisan unit that was active on the left side of the Shchara [River], and from there went over to Bulak's Pobeda Brigade. When the Krasnoyarmisk Brigade was organized, he joined it along with other Jews. He participated in all the battles in which the brigade engaged. He was cited for distinction several times by the command of the Brigade. He offered considerable assistance to the family compound that was situated beside his unit.

On September 25, 1943 he was sent along with several other non-Jewish partisans to mine the rails of the Lida-Mosty' link. The group stopped to rest in a grove of trees beside the Sakribuba train station. The guide, who was a Pole, informed the White Poles who controlled the area, and they surrounded the group and took them as prisoners. The Polish

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partisans joined the Polish unit, and these in turn murdered Boyarsky in the most gruesome fashion. He was awarded the Red Flag posthumously.

Busak, Motkeh - Worn in Dereczin in 1908 to parents who were laborers. A tailor by trade.

A partisan in the Bulak Brigade. Distinguished himself in the battle of Ruda-Jaworska on June 30, 1942. He was beloved by all the partisans for his caring after all the needs of the unit, and especially – food. Everyone nicknamed him, ‘Mother of the Brigade.’

He was cited for bravery four times for his valor in combat. After the liberation, he was drafted into the Red Army and fell at the front.

Dombrowsky, David - Born in 1915 in Dereczin. A cabinetmaker.

During the years of the occupation, he took advantage of his work in the warehouse of the gendarmerie, and by many means, brought over parts of firearms and weapons into the ghetto. On the day of the massacre, he fled to the Ruda-Dobrovshchina forests, joining his brother, ‘Nioma’ in the Pobeda partisan Brigade, under the leadership of Bulak & Bulat.

He was badly wounded in the attack on the military garrison in Dereczin. He was brought back to the forest where he passed away after much painful suffering. Before he died, he called over his younger brother, ‘Nioma’ and said to him: ‘I am going to die shortly. I have only managed to take a small amount of revenge from our oppressors. Remember, it is your duty and it is the responsibility of all the Jews to exact vengeance for the blood of our family and our people.’

Einstein, Moshe Peretz - Born in Dereczin. Fell in the forests of Vilcha Nury.

Feldman, Hirsch - Born in 1910 in Dereczin. After marriage, he moved to Lida, where he owned and ran a food store market. He was active in all Zionist movements, and in the Poalei Tzion branch. The Russians engaged him in military provisioning. During the time of the German occupation, he worked at forced labor in factories.

He fled to the Lipiczany forests (Nov42), and joined the Burba Unit (Orliansky). There was a decidedly unsympathetic atmosphere toward Jews that pervaded the Burba unit. Rumors spread about how Jews were relieved of their arms. Feldman fled with 22 well-armed combatants to Nalibock. They joined the Kalinin Brigade (under the command of Belsky).

When the Ordzhonikidze Brigade was established, the young fighters from the Belsky Brigade were drawn to it, along with some of the better combatants, especially those who had fled from Lipiczany. Feldman was put in charge of the good minelayers in the sabotage unit. The combatants of his unit and of the Oktyabr unit laid an ambush for a mechanized caravan of German vehicles that was moving along the Koshlovo Road. The first shot was fired by the partisans, much too early, and the Germans [were able to] arrange themselves for battle, and the partisans who were wary of a possible encirclement, elected to fall back in the middle of battle. Feldman, who had stormed the Germans, was killed (26 Nov 43 or 23 Dec 43).

Garzhevsky, Shmuel - Was born in Dereczin in 1920 to a family of merchants.

In 1942, he escaped from the ghetto in Dereczin, to the Dobrovshchina forests. He was a partisan in the Pobeda Brigade of Bulak.

He fell in 1944 in the last of the sorties, a Ukrainian who had deserted the partisans revealed a signal to the Germans and that was how about 200 partisans fell into a trap.

Glick(s)feld, Mina - Daughter of Yaakov & Chaya. Born in Dereczin in March 1926. Studied at the high school.

During the great massacre in Dereczin, she hid herself, along with her family and tens of other people in a bunker that they had been prepared in the cellar of their house. From there, she fled to the

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forests of Dobrovshchina, the place where the Bulak Brigade began getting organized – Pobeda. Despite being only 16 years old, she was given a rifle, and was an effective combatant. She would also help out her mother, who worked as a cook in the Brigade.

She would secretly bring food to the family compound of the Dereczin Jews, which was near the Brigade camp.

During the large German sortie of 1944, two days before the arrival of the Red Army, she was among the attackers on the ‘Vilna Tract,’ and fell in battle.

Goldin, Yudel - Son of Shmuel-Leib, killed upon arrival in the forest at the beginning of the first [enemy] sortie.

Grachuk, Yaakov - Born in Dereczin in 1925.

On June 22, 1942 with the destruction of the ghetto, he fled to the forest, and was accepted into the Abramov unit of Bulak's, Brigade, in the Lipiczany forests. Even though he was young, he was given a mortar, and he participated in all the engagements of the Brigade. He was a role model to others in his dedication and courage, and was beloved by everyone in the Brigade.

In August 1943, he went out with a group of ten partisans to derail a train on the Maycht rail line. He was sent by the leader of the group to reconnoiter the area. He found the exact location of the German watch post, and shot and killed the German guard on duty. The remaining Germans panicked and fled. The group continued with its mission and derailed a train. After this feat, he earned the decoration ‘Battle of the Homeland.’

In November 1943, he was standing watch with his comrade, Berel Becker in one of the sections of the Ruda-Jaworska forest, dressed in the insignias of German police that they had taken as booty in a mission. The commander of the detail, Shubin was then in the area where the two were standing guard. Their dress caused their identities to be mistaken, and they were taken for Germans and shot.

Grachuk fell dead, and was buried with full military honors. His companion was wounded.

Grinkovsky, Naftali - Born and resided in Dereczin. Fled from the ghetto on the day of the massacre to the forests, and taken into the Pobeda Brigade. After the liberation, he joined the Red Army, and fell in the battles to liberate Bialystock.

Huberman - A refugee from Lomza, who came to Dereczin at the beginning of the war. He was a fighting partisan. He fell in battle.

Kresnovsky, Honna - Born in Dereczin in 1921.

Fled the ghetto on the day of the great massacre along with many other Jews, and reached the Ruda-Dobrovshchina forests, the base of the Bulak partisan Brigade. The command did not agree to accept him at that time because of the acute lack of weapons that was then prevalent throughout the area.

At the encouragement of the Jewish combatants, the command decided to attack the German military garrison in their hometown. The battle resulted in a complete victory for the partisans. Approximately 50 [local] police and Germans were captured and taken out to be shot on the market plaza. The rest fled for their lives. For a long time, the town stayed under partisan control, and the Germans did not dare to return. In that battle the Jewish partisans that were killed were David Dombrowsky, Chaim Shelkovich & Berel Barnovsky. Honna was wounded during the course of battle, and was taken back to the Brigade base in the forest, and he died there of his wounds.

Kresnovsky, Simkha - Born in Dereczin. A partisan of the Pobeda Brigade, he worked in the unit that felled trees in the Ruda forests.

He distinguished himself in the battle of Dereczin. He succeeded in capturing Ukrainian policemen, frisked them and disarmed them.

He fell after the liberation in the mop up action of clearing out the isolated pockets of Germans that were scattered through the forests.

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Krieger, Abraham-Mordechai - Born in 1927 in Mishintz. A Yeshivah student. When the war broke out, he moved with his family to Dereczin.

He fled to the Ruda forests. In the forest he met his friend, Meir Steinberg, and the two of them joined the Pobeda Brigade. They were given responsibility to obtain food provisions for the partisan hospital.

He participated in the battle of Dereczin. In going out with Meir to bring food from Dereczin, the two of them fell into an ambush set by the police, and in the ensuing exchange of gunfire the two friends were killed.

Kushnir, Shlomo - Born in Dereczin. Went to his brother-in-law in Baranovich. A talented locksmith. Was taken to the labor camp at Koldichvo. In this camp, expert workmen were concentrated, both Jewish and non-Jewish, after all the ghettoes in the area had been emptied. Jews were killed in this camp on a daily basis.

As a result of his effort, a ‘Rescue Committee’ was set up with him as its head. According to his plan, a hole was punched out in the wall of a factory that was beside a pond, the watchdogs were poisoned, and on a night of falling snow, all 93 Jews escaped through the hole broken into the wall, across the frozen pond and from there to the forests. The Germans organized a sortie, and exposed the bunker in which Kushnir was hidden with 20 Jews. Kushnir killed himself, the twenty were murdered, and the others joined the Belsky Brigade.

Lantzevitzky, Moshe - Born in 1915 in Dereczin. A tailor. Fled to the forests and was taken in by the Pobeda Brigade. In the beginning he dealt with supply, and afterward transferred to a combat unit. He participated in all the missions of that unit. He received three citations by the command. He fell in the battle for the Vilna Road.

Lantzevitzky, Shmeryl - Born in Dereczin. Fled to the forest with his wife and two children. He was appointed the lead of the family compound that was adjacent to the Pobeda Brigade. He participated in all aspects of provisioning.

During the time of the sortie against the Dobrovshchina forests, when the Brigade retreated to the Grabski forests, Shmeryl remained behind with his family in the bunker. When the people of the compound eventually returned, they found only his two children, who related that their father had been killed in an exchange of gunfire with the Germans.

Lantzevitzky, Tuvia - Born in 1911 in Dereczin. A furrier.

Joined the Pobeda Brigade in the Lipiczany forests.

He was a quartermaster, but at his own wish he participated in combat missions. After the battle of Kozlovshchina (3Mar43) he was given responsibility for the liberation of the town, and the burning of three tallow factories that supplied their output to the Germans. He took five partisans with him and carried out the mission.

In the attack that a group of partisans staged on a police point in the Rudan forest, he was the first to break through the police barricades, and he fell from a bullet shot by a German tank soldier.

Lev, Israel - Reached the forests from Dereczin, and fought in the ranks of the Pobeda Brigade. He was wounded in one of the engagements, and died of his wounds.

Lifshovich, Eliyahu - Son of Nahum-Yaakov & Batia. Born in 1914 in Dereczin. He studied at the Tarbut School, and was a member of Betar. Assisted his father with work in the bakery. He was a soldier in the Polish army.

He was one of the first of the Jewish partisans in the Dobrovshchina forests. He ran the second battalion in the Brigade of Dr. Atlas, and was a unit commander in the Pobeda Brigade.

In the campaign against Dereczin (08 Oct 42), he stormed the gendarme headquarters building with other Jewish partisans and captured it. With five

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other partisans (among them Dr. Atlas), they seized a German airplane that had made an accidental landing in the village of Lantzevitz (Oct 42).

When the partisans attacked Ruda-Jaworska (in the Lipiczany forest), a place where the Germans attempted to establish a garrison to fight the partisans, Eliyahu Lifshovich penetrated into the village first with his detachment, and subjugated the Germans. There was nothing left for the other units to do except gather up the spoils.

He participated in derailing a 20-car train on the Volkovysk-Baranovich line.

During the great siege of the forest (Dec42), he was beside Dr. Atlas, and when he [Dr. Atlas] was mortally wounded, he appointed him leader of the division. With a cry of vengeance for the death of their outstanding leader, he stormed the German columns with his soldiers, and those columns fled.

Following an order from Moscow, he and his soldiers blew up a cement factory (beside Volkovysk), and cement production was interrupted for six months at the factory.

In their attempt to neutralize partisan activities, the Germans transported a large army to the Dereczin area. Eliyahu Lifshovich went out with his soldiers to lay an ambush at the village of Sliza Podgrovalna, with the mission of reinforcing the partisan forces that were hidden near a wrecked bridge at the entrance to the forests near Dereczin. The combatants found themselves in an exposed place, they concealed themselves, Eliyahu Lifshovich held a lanyard that was attached to a mine that had been hidden under the beams of a small bridge, that the Germans needed to cross. The German tank could not cross the rickety bridge, and officers and soldiers attempted to get it through the riverbed. Elik pulled on the lanyard, and the mine exploded at the point where the Germans had gathered, and 12 mortars began to rain down fire on them. Thirty Germans and Ukrainians were killed. The Germans at first retreated, and afterwards opened heavy fire from a distance of hundreds of meters. In the exchange of fire, several of the partisans were hit, including the sister of the commander.

Eighty Soviet paratroopers reached the partisans in the Lipiczany forests, including one person who was appointed to develop contact among all the units that were fighting in the Byelorussian and Pulasian forests. This person selected Eliyahu Lifshovich to the responsible position of connecting all the fighting units. Together with six of his hand-picked soldiers, he visited the leadership of the Brigades and divisions, while cutting train lines and dangerous roads. When he returned, he was given the ‘Battle of the Homeland’ Medal, Grade A.

To the end of the war, he participated in 22 train derailments.

After the liberation, he volunteered for the Red Army. Afterwards he joined a settlement in Legnitz (Lower Silesia), and was killed in an attack by Polish fascists while on guard duty at the settlement (Mar46).

Lifshovich, Chaim -Yehoshua - Son of Nahum-Yaakov & Batia. Born in 1910 in Dereczin. A junior officer in the Polish army.

A member of the fighting Jewish underground in the Dereczin ghetto. Fled with his brother and sister into the forests of Ruda-Dobrovshchina. Appointed as one of the organizers of the Atlas Brigade. Joined the Pobeda Brigade. In addition to operating a mortar, he had the special position of being in charge of supplies in the Atlas Brigade. He participated in every one of his unit's battles. When the partisans were compelled to retreat after the battle of Kozlovshchina, he covered them with machine gun fire together with Dr. Atlas. He received a citation for this.

Together with his brother Eliyahu, he stormed the military headquarters building in Dereczin. He participated in all the missions led by his brother in the unit.

He was heavily wounded during the sortie staged by

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the Vlasov troops on the forest (2Apr44). When he could not find a way to escape, he shot himself to avoid falling into enemy hands.

Lifshovich, Taiba - (‘Tanya’), Daughter of Nahum-Yaakov & Batia. Born in 1919 in Dereczin. She studied in a Polish school. She was an active member of Betar. During the Soviet occupation, she joined a sewing cooperative.

With the onset of the German occupation, she was sent into forced labor. She fled with her three brothers into the forests of Ruda-Dobrovshchina, and joined the Dr. Atlas Brigade. She participated along with her brothers in all the battles as both a combatant and a field nurse. Afterwards, she joined the Pobeda Brigade (Bulak's command).

She distinguished herself in the attack against the military garrison in Dereczin. In the battle of Kozlovshchina, she captured a German heavy machine gun, before which she was using a ‘Maxim No. 2’ that her brother Chaim-Yehoshua used to fire. She received a citation from the command of the unit of the day.

In the battle beside the village of Silza (15 kilometers from Dereczin), she served as a machine gunner. She was hit by shrapnel, and taken to the partisan hospital. Despite the dedicated care she received, she came down with blood poisoning and died.

In a letter she wrote in pain from her sickbed, she urged the combatants onward.

Lipmanovich, Chaim - Born in a village adjacent to Suwalk. He lived in Dereczin during the war years. He went into the forests with his sister, and joined the Pobeda Brigade in the Ruda forests. He was responsible for provisioning in the Brigade, and participated in the acquisition of foodstuffs, and in battles. He and his sister were killed at Kozlovshchina.

Lisovsky, Dvora - Born in Mosty', she was in Dereczin at the time of the Nazi conquest, and escaped to the forest from the ghetto. She fought in the Burba Brigade in the Lipiczany forests. She fell in a sortie.

Litmanovich, Yitzhak - Born in Sinai [sic: Kolonia Sinaiska], and wit the Nazi occupation, attempted to cross the Russian border with his family, and after a variety of tribulations, he reached Dereczin.

The morning after the massacre, he fled with his family into the forests. He joined Bulak's unit. He fell in the attack on Dereczin.

Lobzovsky, Abraham - (‘Levdrik’), was born in 1924 in Dereczin. He was the sone of a wagon-driver and spoke Byelorussian. He did not look like a Jew.

He served in the Pobeda Brigade in the Lipiczany forests. He was an outstanding mortar operator, participating in all the group battles, and demonstrated unusual courage. He was eager to take revenge from the Germans and those who assisted them.

He was captured by the Germans in the house of a farmer, where he was recovering from an operation. He died after a short struggle. He received commendations several times, and received the ‘Battle of the Homeland’ medal.

Manikov, Nekhama - Daughter of Meshl & Genendel Blizniansky. Born in 1886 in Dereczin. A midwife. She fled the ghetto after the great massacre. She served as a nurse in the Pobeda Brigade. From there, she went over to the Kozeyev Brigade. She was given responsibility for the establishment of the partisan hospitals in the Lipiczany forests. She died of blood poisoning.

Miller, Nissan - Born in 1921 in Dereczin. Son of Koppel Miller. An electrician and locksmith. The Germans used his skills outside the ghetto. On the day of the slaughter, he fled to the forest, and reached the unit of Dr. Atlas. He was active in all the missions of sabotage against the German train transports, and excelled at mining with explosives. He participated in all of the missions of Dr. Atlas's unit.

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In the battle against the German military garrison in Ruda, he was given the guard position at the edge of the forest. After the successful conclusion of this mission, Moshe Ogulnick came to relieve him, and found him dead. He was apparently killed by a stray bullet.

According to another version, he fell during the great sortie while mining the entrance to the forest.

Ogulnick, Moshe-Chaim - son of Reuven & Beileh. Born in Dereczin in 1924. His father was a glazier.

He reached the forest in November 1942, and joined the unit of Dr. Atlas in the Bulak Brigade, which operated in the forests of Lipiczany (the Novogrudok district). He began as a rifleman, and afterwards operated a mortar, and was assigned to the scouting patrol. Ramrod straight, he was an outstanding horseman, sang, rode, and played the mandolin, and instilled a good morale among the group; possessed of an unusually outgoing sense, which stood him in good stead in his contact with the farmers.

In 1943, the partisans laid an ambush for the Germans who transported foodstuffs on a daily basis on the Dereczin - Ruda Jaworska road. Ogulnick was exceptional in this action. He let the transport vehicle of the police get within 20 meters, and from the concealment of low grass, rained fire on them from his mortar. He killed about 30 of the police.

As a reward for his performance, the leadership awarded him a gold watch.

In April 1944, a short time before the liberation, large German forces encircled the area forests. In the battle that then took place in Kozlovshchina, Ogulnick was killed, along with his horse, that had accompanied him into battle and danger over a period of two years.

Ogulnick was decorated with the Red Star and the Red Flag.

Ogulnick, Shmeryl - a native and resident of Dereczin. Escaped from the ghetto during the day of the massacre to the forests of Ruda Dobrovshchina. He joined the unit of Dr. Atlas. He fell in the battle that took place between the Bulak Brigade and the Germans and Lithuanians who came to retake Dereczin after the partisan attack on the military garrison in the town.

Osherovich, Chaim^[2] - 15 years old. Was in the Pobeda unit. After the liberation, he volunteered for the Red Army and did not want to return to his birthplace in Dereczin. He fell in the battle to liberate Bialystock.

Pintelevsky, Shlomo - Reached Byelorussia from Poland and fled into the forests, joining the 51^st Brigade, and from there to Bulak's Brigade. There are two versions of how he died: A: He was shot in Dereczin after Lithuanian units were able to establish control there after the partisans captured it; B: He fell at the time his unit was guarding the entry way to the Dobrova forest. He excelled in the very battle in which he fell.

Pinus, Pinkhas - Born in Suwalk. A shoemaker. When the war broke out, he came to Dereczin, where the Soviets were in control. He fled the Dereczin ghetto to the forests, and joined the Atlas Brigade, and proved to be courageous in the very first battle – in the partisan attack on the military garrison in Dereczin. Pinus was wounded and was bedridden in the partisan hospital for a half year. When he was healed, he demanded to be included in missions. He participated in many battles, and excelled in the destruction of bridges that spanned the Shchara River. After derailing four German trains, he was awarded a high level medal.

After the liberation, he was drafted into the Red Army and was killed at the front.

Reich, Grunya (Salya) - Born in (c. 1920) Warsaw. A nurse. After the capture of Warsaw by the

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Germans, she fled with her husband and infant child to Dereczin. She worked there in the municipal hospital.

On the day of the massacre, her infant child was killed. She and her husband fled into the forest, and joined the Brigade of Boris Bulat, who eventually came to lead the Pobeda Brigade.^[3] She accompanied those that went into battle as a nurse.

During the siege, Grunya Reich stumbled upon a group of 7 Jews, led by Joseph Wegmeister, who had fled from Slonim, and he was wounded in the chest. She nursed him, and joined his group. Together, they reached the Lipiczany forests, and joined the Kaplinski unit, in the Burba Brigade. She served as a nurse in this unit as well, and accompanied the combatants on their missions.

During the siege of the Lipiczany forests, she clashed with a German guard post. In the process of falling back, she shot over the heads of the Germans who attacked her, was wounded, and died with her rifle in her hand.

Rosenthal, Yitzhak - Born in the Suwalk district, moved with his parents to Dereczin, where his father was a physician. He was recognized to have musical talent even from his early childhood years.

During the time of the [German] action in Dereczin, he hid in the eaves and saw how they were liquidating the ghetto from there. That same night, he fled into the forest and joined the Atlas Brigade. He was given responsibility as the liaison between the Brigade and the central command. He participated in all the missions of the Brigade.

He was killed in the battle of Kozlovshchina, while handing a shell to his comrade who operated the cannon.

Rosenzweig, Dr. Israel - Born in 1911 in Kielce. Studied medicine in Czechoslovakia.

With the German occupation, he moved to the area under Soviet occupation, and worked in the hospital in Dereczin. From Soviet prisoners on whom he operated, he learned the location of the partisan base in the forests of Ruda-Dobrovshchina. He deliberately extended the stay of the prisoners in the hospital with the idea of the possibility that they would be able to flee into the forest ( among those remaining, was Bulak himself).

When the ghetto was liquidated, his wife and children were killed. During the massacre, he was in the hospital, and until the Germans got to him, he hid himself, and then fled to the forest. After several days, he participated in the attack by the Bulak Brigade against the military garrison in Dereczin. During that same attack, the medical supplies of the hospital were confiscated, and this formed the basis of the supplies for the partisan hospital in the Lipiczany forests. Dr. Rosenzweig for a while was the only physician serving there, until additional doctors came, and helped relieve the great burden that had been placed on him.

He was sent to the Voroshilov Brigade that was composed primarily of inmates of the jail who escaped after the German occupation. He served as the Brigade doctor. Because he was liked so much by his commander, he succeeded in blunting the sharpness of the anti-Semitism of the partisans, which was not insignificant.

After the liberation, he was the head of the hospital at Zheludok. He [then] left Russia. He lived for a while in Poland, and from there went to Italy and made aliyah to the Holy Land (1948). He served as a military physician in the neighborhoods of the Haifa district. He died after a severe illness (7 May 54).

Sakar, Melekh - Born in Dereczin, the son of Sholom & Tzivya. With the invasion of the Germans, he went to Zhetl. When the head of the Judenrat, Alter Dobritsky made the effort to establish an ‘underground partisan branch’ he joined the branch.

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An uprising by Soviet prisoners of war, and the arrest of Sholom Piulin during the acquisition of arms, precipitated a wholesale exodus of the entire branch to the Lipiczany forests.

After Alter Dobritsky & Moshe Pozdansky were murdered by the partisans, he and four of his comrades went over to the Nalibock forests (5 Dec 42), and joined a Jewish unit in the Stalin Brigade.

The Stalin Brigade attacked the German garrison in Nalibock. The Jewish unit was designated to open the attack from one flank, and the Russians were supposed to join in from another flank. Because of the arrival of German reinforcements, it was decided to postpone the attack. A signaling error caused the Jews to open the attack with no support from the rest of the partisans. Of the 39 combatants in the unit, only a remnant survived alive. Melekh Sakar was killed in this battle.

Shaplan, Yitzhak - (Issak) Fell in the forest a short time before the liberation. His son, Moshe, became ill in the forest and died.

Shelkovich, Chaim - Born in 1923 in Dereczin. Studied to be a locksmith. Was employed by the Germans as a quartermaster for munitions outside the ghetto, fleeing on the day of the great massacre along with those who went to the Ruda forests, and joined the Dr. Atlas unit in the Pobeda Brigade.

He fell during the attack on the military garrison in Dereczin.

Shelkovich, Chaya - Daughter of Eliyahu & Bluma. Born in 1925 in Dereczin. Studied at a Russian high school.

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Fled to the Lipiczany forests with her family, joining the Pobeda Brigade.

She was captured together with her mother and two sisters during the great sortie, and they were taken to Kozlovshchina where they were tortured to death.

Shelkovich, Eliyahu - Born in 1900 in Dereczin. Owner of a shop for wheel repair. Fled with his wife and three daughters to the Lipiczany forests, and joined his friend Bulak who was just beginning to organize the Pobeda Brigade.

He headed the provisioning activities for military necessities. He fell after the Battle of Dereczin.

Shelovsky, Avigdor - (Vita), son of Yitzhak & Rachel. Born in Dereczin. An accountant. Fled with the members of his family to the Lipiczany forests, and joined the Pobeda Brigade (under the command of Bulak).

His brother Shlomo was killed in battle, and he sought opportunities to avenge his spilled blood. He took part in the derailment of three trains near Zelva, and participated in fighting campaigns until he fell ill with typhus, and his legs gave froze. After spending nearly a year in the partisan hospital, he became disabled, and was forced to content himself with duties around the base.

Despite his disabilities, he participated in the final battle against the Germans and he fell on the Drovna Road.

His parents, two sisters and his brother also fell in the ranks of the partisans.

Shelovsky, Feiga - (Fanya), Daughter of Yitzhak & Rachel. Born in Dereczin. Fled with her family into the Lipiczany forests, and joined the Pobeda Brigade.

During the sortie, she participated in all battles. When the pressured partisans were surrounded, many hid their weapons, lest they fall into German hands. When her unit returned to its base, she was asked for her weapon, and she explained where she had hidden it. The commander, Bulak sentenced her and her companion, Bella Becker to death, while other non-Jewish partisans, who had left their weapons behind, were held free from harm.

Shelovsky, Shlomo - Born in 1912 in Dereczin. Studied medicine. Was active in Betar in his town.

Fled to the Lipiczany forests along with the members of his family, and joined the Pobeda Brigade. Participated in the attack on Dereczin. He was appointed to replace the commander of his unit, Kozeyev. Participated in battles, sabotage, and train derailments along the Slonim-Zelva line.

Performed outstandingly in the attack of the police station in Mycht, where 12 police were killed.

He fell during the great sortie beside the cannon from which he was shelling the Germans.

Shelovsky, Sima - Daughter of Yitzhak & Rachel. Born in 1922 in Dereczin. A dental technician.

Fled to the Lipiczany forests with the members of her family. Joined the Pobeda Brigade. Served as a nurse, and joined all the battles of the unit. She earned citations of valor.

When the partisans attempted to break the final German encirclement (Jun44) Sima Shelovsky attached herself to a Soviet captain that had been wounded in battle. Even after the battle, it fell to her to care for him under cover in a camouflaged hiding place. A few days before the liberation, they were discovered by Vlasov troopers and both were shot on the spot (28 Jun 44).

Steinberg, Meir - Born in Mishinitz. Fled to the forests in the Dereczin surroundings, and joined the Bulak Brigade along with his friend, Abraham-Mottel Krieger. They were given the responsibility to obtain food provisions for the partisan hospital. Despite their youth, they both participated in the attack on Dereczin. Returning one day from the collection of foodstuffs, they walked into a German ambush. In the exchange of fire, they killed 3 Germans, and afterwards were shot and killed.

Walitsky, Israel - From Dereczin, a partisan in the Vanka Levdyanka Brigade. Fell in the forest during a sortie, after two years of active fighting service.

Wallmark, Migdal - Born in Ostrov-Mazowiecka. With the invasion of the Germans into Poland in September 1939, he fled to Dereczin. On the day of the massacre, he fled to the Lipiczany forests. He joined the Jewish unit of Kaplinsky and afterward he was a partisan in the Burba Brigade (Lenin Section).

After several days, along with his townsman, Moshe Malkevitsky and three other members of the Burba Brigade, they went to the outskirts of the town of Piesk, in order to obtain clothing for the Brigade, which was suffering from freezing and dampness. They never returned to the base camp of the Brigade. The circumstances surrounding their death are unknown.

Zarnitsky, Chaim Hersh - Fell together with his wife, Rachel, during a sortie against the forests.

Zarnitsky, David-Hirsch - Son of a poor Dereczin family, who was forced to work from early youth as an apprentice to a shoemaker.

On the day of the massacre, he fled to the Ruda forests, and was taken in by Bulak's unit, and even in the forest he worked as a shoemaker for the partisans. He participated in the attack on the military garrison in Dereczin.

He was killed on the day of the first German sortie in December 1942.

Zolotnitsky, Eliyahu - From Dereczin, the son of Israel the shoemaker. A partisan in Bulak's Pobeda Brigade, in the Ruda-Dobrovshchina forests. He was killed in the forests. His father, mother Sarah, sister Beileh and brothers also died the same way.

Zlotagura, Herschel - Born in 1908 in Dereczin. Ran an ironmonger's store. Head of Tzahar in Dereczin. On the day of the massacre, he fled with tens of other Jews, and reached the Ruda forests. He joined Bulak's Brigade, in the Dr. Atlas unit. He distinguished himself as a fighting partisan.

On the day of the attack on Dereczin, he was among the first to penetrate the German garrison building, and was severely wounded. After his wounds healed in the forest, he returned to combat duty.

He fell in 1945 in the ranks of the Red Army, a short time before the end of the war.

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This list of the partisans who fell in battle has been prepared using two volumes of an anthology published by Yad VaShem, supplemented by the oral testimony of those whose origins were from Dereczin and who were in the forests and survived. Let us memorialize the names of the fallen in this list, and in this way also all of those, to our great sorrow, whose names it was not possible for us to include in this list. May God himself avenge their spilled blood!

Translator's Footnotes:

1. See the memoir of Katya Khlebnik-Bialosotsky. Return
2. A cousin to Alta Osherovich, wife of Foyka Gelman. Return
3. It is not clear that the writer(s) properly distinguish between the two commanders, Boris Bulat & Pavel Bulak, although joint leadership is ascribed to both men in the testimony to David Dombrowsky. Return

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