http://www.1939club.com/The%20Legasy%20of%20the%20Partisans.htm
My father was born in Glubokie,
Poland near the city of Vilna. After the Germans forced the Jewish community
into a Ghetto, he worked in the kitchen of the Gebitscomisar, under
an SS Officer named Goldberg. On March 22, 1943, Goldberg secretly told
him that the Germans were planning to annihilate the Jewish Ghetto the
next day. Goldberg said that he would take three members of his family
to the edge of the forest and leave them there. Not knowing whether
to believe this rumered threat or trust Goldberg, the family decided
that they needed to go somewhere else, anywhere else. My father was
to take his mother and sister Zelda. His father and older brother and
sister were to follow. He never saw them again.
Goldberg kept his promise. My father, his mother and sister, were left
to wander in the forest for days until they found another Jewish family
hiding in a cave. After a few weeks, my father found the location of
the Partisans in the Neveer Forests and decided to join them. He did
not realize that the Jewish boys were usualy sent on the most dangerous
missions where so many never returned from.
He was a trusted Partisan, participating in many raids until the Germans
retreated. His group received supplies parachuted in by the Russians.
At one point, his battalion captured 36 German SS soldiers. These Germans
had killed 12 of the bravest Partisans including the commander. His
best friend and fellow Partisan Luska Pintov, who was the only surviving
member of his family, was also killed. The Partisan group made sure
that these German soldiers would not threatened others.
As you would expect, the unspeakable experiences which transformed my
father from a typical teenager to a hardened Partisan still haunt him.