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Mrs. Ada Lichtman was born in Yaroslavl and then moved to Cracow. When the war broke out, she stopped doing agricultural work and moved to Włodawa, where her parents lived; her father was killed there.

At the end of 1940, she and her family were sent to Mielec. One fine morning, the Germans ordered them to give them ransom money and valuable objects. A few nights later, the Germans surrounded the town and ordered everyone to come out of their homes. Those who were slow, or who couldn't leave, were shot on the spot. The Germans then separated the women from the men, and took everyone to an airplane factory near town. They kept us there all night with various tricks. They made promises to give us bread and other food, and killed one person each time. The surrounding fences were usually electrified.

They sent some of us to Dubienka, others to Międzyrzec Podlaski, and still others to Biała Podlaska. I was sent to Dubienka, together with my father-in-law, mother-in-law, sisters-in-law, and their families. So it was that I finally reached Dubienka, after many agonizing experiences. It was late afternoon on Purim; it was raining, with some snow flurries^[1]. We were taken off the wagons in the marketplace and marched to the women's' section of the Great Synagogue.

The town committee organized people to help us. They brought food and other necessities. The next day, we were assigned accommodations with town families. My in-laws went to stay with the family of Leybl Les, and I went to the Vinik family, who lived on higher ground. Food was expensive and difficult to obtain. We used whatever money we had. Shortly afterwards, the Judenrat set up a food kitchen for all, where everyone could get bread and soup. We were not allowed to go to the Gentiles, but they came to us and sold us bread and other supplies.

The city residents could go to work, but we had no such privileges. We could not exchange clothing and other things for food. Bread cost a fortune: one kilogram cost 23 złote. I remember one German operation when we fled over the bridge to Suchodolski, the landowner. It must have been arranged previously. Once we arrived, he took us to his warehouses and warned us not to move around in the courtyard. As is well known, Suchodolski was friendly to the Jews, cooperated with the Judenrat and helped to save Jews from the Nazis. Many Jews worked for him and were saved. I was one of them.

The Germans would take young men to work in the forest and murder them. Every so often, some Gestapo men would show up in town, kill some of us, and leave. The Gestapo's torture of Jews was unendurable and ceaseless.

Well, it was around the holiday of Shavuot^[2]. The Gestapo instructed the Judenrat chairman to order all the Jews in town, as well as those who worked for Gentiles outside town, to be ready to leave the next morning. They had to pack whatever they wanted to keep and report to the marketplace at 8 a.m. Five hundred wagons would be ready to collect them and move them to Hrubieszow, from where they would be taken to a place where they could live quietly, without being harassed. Naturally, this announcement led to panic. People were nervous, as they knew very well what their final destination would be.

Houses and property had to be relinquished. Some people handed valuable objects over to Gentiles for safekeeping, in case they ever returned to their homes. The next day everyone came to the market square, where the wagons were waiting. About four thousand people were crammed into the wagons, so tightly that they couldn't move, and they set out on their way.

In Hrubieszow, we were taken to a barbed-wire enclosure near the train station. We were told to sit on the ground without moving. Anyone who tried to stand was immediately shot. We spent a day and a night in this way.

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More Jews were brought from other places. We were surrounded by the Nazi murderers, who killed those unable to walk. We were not taken away.

Eventually, we were taken to the train and ordered to climb into freight cars used for transporting lime. We were joined by Jews from Hrubieszow and its environs, such as Międzyrzec Podlaski, and Biała Podlaska, making a total of about 7000 Jews that were sent to Sobibor. The trip was very arduous. We reached Sobibor in daylight, and the heat was oppressive. The Germans greeted us with shouted orders to leave the train as they shot their rifles and pistols into the air.

Wagons were ready at the side of the train, to carry the dead and the weak. Hundreds of people came out of the freight cars. The Germans had each group wait until the previous group had been incinerated. As I was standing, a German approached me and asked if I was alone or with my family. I told him I was alone. Then he asked me about my profession, and I answered, saying that I was a teacher. They all laughed. The German announced that in that case, I could certainly wash their clothes. Beyle saw that I had been chosen by the German to work, and asked me to find out from him if she could be taken for that purpose as well, and he agreed.

I remember that Shepsl Unger, who had worked in the Dubienka soup kitchen, arrived in Sobibor about two weeks after us. People joked: “See, even the Judenrat has come to Sobibor.”

An uprising took place in Sobibor on October 14, 1943. We all broke out and headed for the forest, where I met Surka and Beyle. However, they disappeared and I never saw them again.

Translator's Footnotes

1. Purim occurred on March 2-3 1942. Return
2. Shavuot started on May 21, 1942. Return

The Germans seem to have gotten orders about how to deal with this transport. They opened the doors, and the crowds burst out. The guards who sat on top of the cars began to shoot in all directions, causing many fatalities. Luckily, I happened to be among the dead bodies, and was not killed. When the first train to Sobibor left that night, I ran to the forest and reached the village of Wyszniya.^[1] The next day, the village elder ordered all the local people, as well as those from Uchnie and Białopoli, to go to Dubienka. I was among them.

Once in Dubienka. I went to the house of my uncle Aharon. This was in 1942. I spent one night at my uncle's house. The next day we were loaded onto wagons and taken to Hrubieszow. Interestingly, we were not accompanied by German guards. We were told that we were going to a labor camp. Our first sight of Germans was when we approached the town. Two Gestapo men boarded each wagon, and we were taken to an open area near the railroad. People lay alongside their bundles. The next day, a delegation of the Dubienka Judenrat came and asked the Germans to release 200 Dubienka residents to do labor. According to Yonah Tsukerman, they had bribed the commanding officer. In return for a large amount of money, many artisans were identified and released. I was not an artisan, but was able to sneak into the group that was returning to Dubienka. As I had nowhere to go, people suggested that I go to the home of Shlomo-Leyzer, the cart driver who drove the Lubomil route. The Judenrat was located in the house of Berke Hudes.

The next day, the Judenrat ordered everyone to report and register. When I came to the office I was told that those who wanted to stay in the town needed to have a card. I went to Yonah Tsukerman, told him that I had no money, and asked him to do me a favor and instruct them to issue me a card. He said he couldn't do

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anything, and that I would have to bring 540 zlote or leave town. I had no choice but to break into the house of my uncle Aharon and go into the cellar where he stored the animal hides he dealt in. I took ten kilograms of hides, as well as curtains that I found in the attic, and sold everything to a Gentile; this provided me with the money to pay for a card.

This was how I stayed in Dubienka, and was taken to work for the Germans. We discovered that the Germans had pursued Hirsh Shlechter and two other Jews who were fleeing toward the forest. They were caught near the cross en route to Skryhiczin, killed and buried at the cross.^[2] After the Shavuot holiday, Noach Geyer and I went with a few others to remove them from that grave and re-inter them in the Jewish cemetery.

Some time later, the Nazis ordered the few Jews still in town to report at the town center. They were all taken to the cemetery and executed. This happened after Sukkot of 1942^[3]. Yonah Tsukerman managed to escape. I ran to Jaslenice, to a Gentile woman I knew, and so saved my life.^[4] She told me that the last Jews remaining in the town had been killed, and no more Jews were left. Yonah Tsukerman was the only survivor.

Translator's Footnotes

1. I could not identify this village. Return
2. Translator's note: Large roadside crosses were common. Return
3. Note: Sukkot ended on 2 October in 1942. Return
4. Translator's note: This may be the village of Jasienice. Return

The Gentile landowners usually employed a Jewish adviser (“the Jewish genius”). Naturally, Suchodoloski also had a “smart Jew” as his adviser: Avraham Segal (Tsivia's son), whom the landowner treated as a family member.^[1] Avraham would go fishing in the Lihisze River with his boat and net with the owner's permission. On Fridays and the day before Jewish holidays, he would take a few helpers to supply the community with fish. Women would come to his house to purchase fish.

Avraham's relationship with Suchodolski was excellent; his employer took part in all the family's festive events. I remember him coming to the wedding of my brother Hirsh, to Tsivia, Avraham's daughter. I was away at the Zionist training camp in Pinsk, when my parents wrote to tell me that I had to come for my brother's wedding. They even sent me money to cover the expenses. Naturally, I came. There were many guests. The most interesting sight was that of the landowner and his wife sitting next to the bride and groom, as though they were the most honored family members. Suchodolski was in high spirits as he joined the family on the way to the chuppah ceremony, which was held near the synagogue. When the groom stepped on the glass and shattered it at the end of the ceremony, he shouted Mazl-tov, Mazl-tov along with the rest of the company. The klezmer band then played the lively traditional freylekhs, and the celebration continued.

As usual, once the meal was over, everyone started singing and dancing. I was known as a singer, and was asked to sing some solos. I sang two Yiddish songs. When I had finished, everyone applauded, and the landowner came over with a broad smile, shook my hand, and congratulated me in Polish: “Bardzo ładny” (really nice). I was moved, because landowners generally did not shake hands with just anyone.

I appreciate the reports in this volume about the great efforts and successes of Suchodolski during the war. He strove to save Jews from the Nazi murderers by employing them on his estate, where they were fed as well as paid. When the Nazis began sending Jews to Hrubieszow prior to transporting them to Sobibor, many young Jews secretly ran to his estate. He concealed them in his warehouses. As we know, he was endangering himself. He and his family would have been executed if the Nazis had discovered his actions.

In Ada Lichtman's essay on Suchodolski, she writes: “I remember that during one Nazi roundup, when Jews were removed from the town, we knew what was coming. We ran across the bridge to Suchodolski. He hid us in his warehouses, and warned us not to set foot in the courtyards. As we know, Suchodolski was very friendly towards the Jews. He even worked

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with the Judenrat and made great efforts to save Jews from the Nazi murderers. He saved many, including me.”

Many survivors talked and wrote about Suchodolski's wonderful work. As is well known, anti-Semitism was common among the Poles. At the same time that they were fighting the Germans, who killed many of them and destroyed their towns, they also collaborated with the Germans in exterminating Jews. Some even murdered Jews personally. Therefore, it is difficult to express the appreciation of the Dubienka survivors for Suchodolski's good deeds and courage in endangering himself for our sakes. This is why we devote much space to him in the book. He was truly one of the Righteous Gentiles. The Jews of Dubienka will always remember him with heartfelt gratitude.

Translator's Footnote

1. Jews were often known in the community by their mothers' names. Return

During World War II, the Germans arrived just before the High Holidays, and began executing Jews in many places, including Dorohusk. They killed many Jews wherever they went. Hershele Lazar (Shiyeh's son) was with other young men, heading towards the old Strzelce forest. They were caught by young Gentiles, tied up and taken to the German police in Dubienka. When they were transported them to the cemetery, they realized that they would be killed and began singing “Hatikva.”

Chave and Yitzchak Segal stayed behind. Yitzchak met Gentiles whom he knew, and who promised to bring him food and other supplies. When Yitzchak and Motl Rapoport's son went to pick up the supplies, the Gentiles picked up axes, killed them and robbed the bodies of money, watches, and clothes. Then they chopped their heads off and left them lying there. When Chave realized that they should have been back, she entered the forest and found them lying dead, naked. She went back and told Rachel. Rachel was not feeling well, and Chave left her in the forest together with some others, and said that she was going to find food. When she returned, she found Rachel and the others dead.

During the last Nazi round-up in Dubienka, we stayed away from town the whole day. Other Jews were with us. I knocked on the door of a Gentile acquaintance of mine. He had a hideout, and agreed to hide one member of our family. There were five in our group. The Gentile returned and said that he had chosen one.^[2] The oldest daughter, Sima, went with Zaynvl Lichtenstein. There were about twenty Jews in the hideout. One evening, a Gentile woman noticed them and informed the police. The Jews were taken to the cemetery and killed.

About 150,000 Jews took part in the short campaign of the Polish army against the German invasion, in September and October of 1939. 32,000 of them were killed in action and 60,000 were taken prisoner. Most of the Jewish prisoners were murdered during the first few years of the German occupation. The other Jews crossed over the border into the area held by the Soviet army, along the Bug and San rivers. They were all disarmed by the Red Army; most were beaten and sent to POW camps in the far north of the U.S.S.R.

After the treaty was signed between the Polish government-in-exile in London and the U.S.S.R. on August 14, 1941, the POWs were liberated from their camps and a Polish army led by General Anders was created in the U.S.S.R. Jews constituted about 15% of the Anders army, although Jews were not very welcome. The precise number of Jews who joined the Anders army was probably higher, but there is no accurate information. Many of the Jews had to hide their Jewish origin in order to join the ranks.

The Polish Kościuszko Division, formed in 1943, did not welcome Jews, either.^[3] Even in this ostensibly democratic division, Jews had to register using Polish names, under which they fought, and were killed. Let me note that after the defeat of Poland, some Jewish soldiers were able to go to France by way of Hungary and Romania. In France, they joined the Polish army that was forming there. After the fall of France, these soldiers went to England and fought on most of the Allied fronts.

Sobibor:

A detailed plan was made to assassinate the camp commanders, who behaved like beasts of prey.

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The plan was as follows. When all the commanders came to the workshops to try on their new clothes and boots, and to check on the workers, they would be attacked.

On the night of October 14, 1943, the insurgents received knives and axes. They were supposed to obtain firearms in the course of the uprising by attacking the armory; this part of the plan, however, was unsuccessful. The commanders were all attacked; most of them were killed by the fighters in the workshops. Following that, there was a mass attack on the gates of the camp, which were broken open. All this took place under heavy fire from the soldiers in the guard towers. The breakout was a success. Some of the fleeing prisoners were killed by land mines, but many others were able to reach the forests.

Translator's Footnotes

1. The possessive form of the name is feminine, but no other information is given. Return
2. The sequence of events is unclear. Return
3. The Polish Kościuszko Infantry Division was named for the Polish and American revolutionary Tadeusz Kościuszko. Return

I read newspaper reports of Rabbi Shach's words on the Holocaust, the gist of which is that the terrible catastrophe that struck the Jews of Europe happened because the Jews were sinners. I must say that I was deeply shocked when I read this, and could not calm down. How could

[Text on image: We read your letter]

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an observant Jew, a spiritual leader, utter such words? We read in the newspapers, and see on television, the details of the Nazi extermination as well as the suffering and terrible torture the Jews underwent before their deaths.

During this year's Holocaust Memorial Day, we watched reports about the murder of Jews at Babi Yar. Thousands of Jews were brought to the rim of the gigantic pit that had been prepared, including the elderly and mothers holding babies. The Nazis stood behind them with machine guns. Some Jews fell into the pit still alive, and were covered by corpses. Several who survived managed to crawl out from among the bodies and saved themselves by fleeing to the forests.

As you will read in this book, Yonah Tsukerman described the following: “On the first day the Nazis entered the village, they ordered all the Jews to cut off their beards. It was a day of great mourning. Some Jews could not cut off their beards, and wept bitterly. Their solution was to wrap their beards in a kerchief and pretend that they had a toothache. The Nazis saw through this trick, and cut their beards off with flesh.”

Elsewhere, he writes, “One day the Nazis demanded that the Judenrat send twenty strong young men to work in the brickworks at Białopole, which produced brick cobblestones. The Judenrat sent twenty young men who worked there for a few months. Once their work was done, the Nazis placed them in an empty shed where Jewish workers had lived, crammed in thirty more young men from a different town, closed the doors and window, splashed kerosene on the walls, and set fire to the structure. Only ashes were left.”

What does Rabbi Shach think about that? Is that God's will? I had to react to Rabbi Shach's religious fanaticism, and published the following piece in the newspaper.

What Does the Esteemed Rabbi Say?

I recently read a newspaper report that Rabbi Shach, speaking to his students at the Ponevezh Yeshiva, said; “The terrible catastrophe that overtook us in Europe was because the Jews of Europe had sinned.”^[2]

I don't know which country Rabbi Shach has come from. I lived in the small town of Dubienka, and immigrated to the Land of Israel a month before the Nazi invasion of Poland. That saved my life. The town could be classified as a Jewish town. The Gentiles lived outside the town. All the shops in the town center were Jewish shops, and life in the town was run by Jews. They were honest, modest people, who fulfilled all the commandments, wore the traditional Jewish kapote and the stereotypical Jewish hat – even the young folks.

The town contained a synagogue, houses of study, and small synagogues. Every Friday afternoon, the sexton walked through town announcing loudly in Yiddish, “Shabbes! Saturday is here – shut the stores!”

No vehicles were used on Shabbes, not even bicycles. The Gentiles also refrained from driving through the town center, so as not to disturb the peaceful day. There were few wealthy people. Most were artisans, but people helped each other. If a poor couple married, money would be collected from every household in order to help them.

Five years later, I was in a Zionist training camp in the big city of Pinsk. There were yeshivas and rabbis there, including the Hasidic Rabbi of Karlin and his followers. Jewish culture was alive and well in Pinsk, and I never heard of a Jew who was a robber or a murderer.

How could the spiritual leader named Rabbi Shach tell his followers that the Holocaust took place because of Jewish sinners? What were their sins? Apparently Rabbi Shach is unaware of the hell that the Jews endured. The only remnants of Jewish life in Poland are the memorial monuments in the cemetery of Holon.

I'm currently involved in the publication of a book about our town during the Holocaust, and have just read a report by someone who was then in Dubienka, as follows.

“It was at the end of Sukkot. The Nazis came into town after the Russians had left. They started running amok, broke into shops and robbed the shelves. On Sunday, two Nazis barged into the Study House of the Belz Hassids as they were praying, took all the Jews out into the city center, still wrapped in their prayer shawls. They stood them in a circle and ordered them to sing and dance. Noach Gayer and his son, who refused the order, were heavily beaten. Gentiles who were leaving the church after prayers stood around and enjoyed the amusing show. The Germany brought a can of gasoline and ordered the Jews to throw all the tefillin, prayer shawls and prayer books into a heap. Then he set the heap on fire and ordered the Jews to sing and dance around the bonfire. The Gentiles split their sides laughing and applauded.”

My father prayed in the same House of Study. I imagine

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that he was among those who were forced to dance. I couldn't sleep that night…

How can Rabbi Shach say that God punished them for sinning? Doesn't he know that the first casualties of the torture were the observant, beard-wearing Jews? The Germans would even cut the beard off together with flesh. Did God see all this and remain silent?

Rabbi Shach's words defile the honor of six million victims. According to Rabbi Shach's logic, those who carried out God's wishes were rewarded for their good deeds, and made Germany into one of the strongest and richest countries in the world.

What does Rabbi Shach say about that?

Young Zionists in our town

Young people of Dubienka

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