Learn about the Jewish partisan and their activities during World War II
Learn about the Jewish partisan and their activities during World War II
An overview of Jewish partisan activities during World War II.
Jewish Partisan Education Foundation (A Britannica Publishing Partner)
Transcript
[Music in]
NARRATOR: These are the images that come to mind when people think about the Jewish experience during the Holocaust. But these are not the only images. There were 20 to 30,000 Jews who formed organized armed resistance groups all throughout Europe. These little-known freedom fighters conducted thousands of acts of sabotage against their Nazi oppressors. They were known as Jewish partisans.
SONIA ORBUCH: People did not go only like sheep to their death. People were fighting every which way they can.
FRANK BLAICHMAN: I did my job the best I could. I was in many battles with the Germans face-to-face. Sometimes maybe a hundred foot away. And bullets were flying all the sides, and luckily, I survived.
JOSEPH GREENBLATT: They say a German column was marching to—to us. We ambush them.
MIRA SHELUB: The partisans, they fought for freedom, for a better tomorrow, for a better future. And they fought—fought in order not to be eliminated by the Germans—against the Germans.
NARRATOR: Jewish partisans were responsible for the liberation of thousands of Jews trapped in ghettos, saving them from annihilation.
NORMAN SALSITZ: I started to organize an escape. I had 55 people said they were willing to escape. From the 55, 30 were killed; 25 made it into the woods. Without the forest, we couldn't survive.
MIRA SHELUB: The trees, the sky, the pine-needle ground were our summer home. The underground hut was our winter home. We're dealing with friendly and unfriendly peasants. The friendly peasant supported us with food and with ammunition. The unfriendly peasant had no choice. We would get in at night, pick up the prepared food orders that were prepared for the Germans, and leave receipts: "The partisans were here."
NORMAN SALSITZ: The Moon was our biggest enemy, because if there was a moonlight—because in day we couldn't go—at night—if there was a moonlight night, we couldn't move. So the night, the blizzard, heavy snow, heavy rain—this was our weather, this was our friends.
NARRATOR: Jewish partisans committed thousands of acts of sabotage, significantly impeding the Nazi war effort.
MIRA SHELUB: We were interested in getting involved in sabotage acts to interrupt and disrupt the communication and transportation to the front.
JOSEPH GREENBLATT: When we attacked a depot, we hit the guard and got ammunition, and we blew up the train depot.
NORMAN SALSITZ: We could see the Germans there. And I could recognize the Germans that I wanted to kill—who killed my friend. And—and they started to shoot—to shoot towards us. But when they shot, they shot only with—from revolvers. They were not prepared: they didn't have rifles; they didn't have machine guns. We overpowered them, 'cept little by little their shooting stopped.
MIRA SHELUB: We had to blow up a train, and till—it was sitting in the background and waiting till the train approached, and some of the Germans got killed.
SIMON TRAKINSKI: It's the same to Jews as is to Americans to—to start the Revolutionary War and its heroes, right? People put their chest in front of—of English muskets to build a country. We put our chest in front of German muskets to—to defend ourselves from annihilation and maybe prevent the death of other Jews.
SONIA ORBUCH: If I was going to get killed, I was going to get killed as a fighter, not because I'm a Jew.
NORMAN SALSITZ: I survived for two legacies: for revenge and for telling this story—revenge for my father and telling this story for my mother. So if I had the chance and if I looked for a—for—for a resistance, this was the most important thing for me. And I didn't care if I would be killed, if I wouldn't be killed. I had to do it.
SONIA ORBUCH: There is such a thing as fighting back. This is the way I think. That's why I'm sitting here to give—give you the interview. Why else would I do it? I want the people to know that we were fighting.
NARRATOR: This is the hymn of Jewish partisans:
Zog nit keyn mol az du geyst dem letstn veg,
Khotsh himlen blayene farshteln bloye teg;
Kumen vet nokh undzer oysgebenkte sho,
S'vet a poyk ton undzer trot: mir zenen do!
Kumen vet nokh undzer oysgebenkte sho,
S'vet a poyk ton undzer trot: mir zenen do!
Shprotsn vet dort undzer gvure, undzer mut! . . .
Gezungen mit naganes in di hent! . . .
[Music out]
NARRATOR: These are the images that come to mind when people think about the Jewish experience during the Holocaust. But these are not the only images. There were 20 to 30,000 Jews who formed organized armed resistance groups all throughout Europe. These little-known freedom fighters conducted thousands of acts of sabotage against their Nazi oppressors. They were known as Jewish partisans.
SONIA ORBUCH: People did not go only like sheep to their death. People were fighting every which way they can.
FRANK BLAICHMAN: I did my job the best I could. I was in many battles with the Germans face-to-face. Sometimes maybe a hundred foot away. And bullets were flying all the sides, and luckily, I survived.
JOSEPH GREENBLATT: They say a German column was marching to—to us. We ambush them.
MIRA SHELUB: The partisans, they fought for freedom, for a better tomorrow, for a better future. And they fought—fought in order not to be eliminated by the Germans—against the Germans.
NARRATOR: Jewish partisans were responsible for the liberation of thousands of Jews trapped in ghettos, saving them from annihilation.
NORMAN SALSITZ: I started to organize an escape. I had 55 people said they were willing to escape. From the 55, 30 were killed; 25 made it into the woods. Without the forest, we couldn't survive.
MIRA SHELUB: The trees, the sky, the pine-needle ground were our summer home. The underground hut was our winter home. We're dealing with friendly and unfriendly peasants. The friendly peasant supported us with food and with ammunition. The unfriendly peasant had no choice. We would get in at night, pick up the prepared food orders that were prepared for the Germans, and leave receipts: "The partisans were here."
NORMAN SALSITZ: The Moon was our biggest enemy, because if there was a moonlight—because in day we couldn't go—at night—if there was a moonlight night, we couldn't move. So the night, the blizzard, heavy snow, heavy rain—this was our weather, this was our friends.
NARRATOR: Jewish partisans committed thousands of acts of sabotage, significantly impeding the Nazi war effort.
MIRA SHELUB: We were interested in getting involved in sabotage acts to interrupt and disrupt the communication and transportation to the front.
JOSEPH GREENBLATT: When we attacked a depot, we hit the guard and got ammunition, and we blew up the train depot.
NORMAN SALSITZ: We could see the Germans there. And I could recognize the Germans that I wanted to kill—who killed my friend. And—and they started to shoot—to shoot towards us. But when they shot, they shot only with—from revolvers. They were not prepared: they didn't have rifles; they didn't have machine guns. We overpowered them, 'cept little by little their shooting stopped.
MIRA SHELUB: We had to blow up a train, and till—it was sitting in the background and waiting till the train approached, and some of the Germans got killed.
SIMON TRAKINSKI: It's the same to Jews as is to Americans to—to start the Revolutionary War and its heroes, right? People put their chest in front of—of English muskets to build a country. We put our chest in front of German muskets to—to defend ourselves from annihilation and maybe prevent the death of other Jews.
SONIA ORBUCH: If I was going to get killed, I was going to get killed as a fighter, not because I'm a Jew.
NORMAN SALSITZ: I survived for two legacies: for revenge and for telling this story—revenge for my father and telling this story for my mother. So if I had the chance and if I looked for a—for—for a resistance, this was the most important thing for me. And I didn't care if I would be killed, if I wouldn't be killed. I had to do it.
SONIA ORBUCH: There is such a thing as fighting back. This is the way I think. That's why I'm sitting here to give—give you the interview. Why else would I do it? I want the people to know that we were fighting.
NARRATOR: This is the hymn of Jewish partisans:
Zog nit keyn mol az du geyst dem letstn veg,
Khotsh himlen blayene farshteln bloye teg;
Kumen vet nokh undzer oysgebenkte sho,
S'vet a poyk ton undzer trot: mir zenen do!
Kumen vet nokh undzer oysgebenkte sho,
S'vet a poyk ton undzer trot: mir zenen do!
Shprotsn vet dort undzer gvure, undzer mut! . . .
Gezungen mit naganes in di hent! . . .
[Music out]