They were a religious family. They observed all Jewish traditions. My mother told me that they celebrated Sabbath and Jewish holidays and followed the kashrut. My grandfather, Fishel Korzh, used to read religious books in the evening.
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peter rabtsevich
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My grandfather died in Lyubeshov in 1914; my grandmother perished in the Jewish ghetto in Pinsk on 29th October 1942.
I knew my mother's older sister Sarrah and her brother Meyer. They lived in Drogitchyn. Sarrah's family name was Popinskaya. She was a housewife. She had two daughters. I don't know what Meyer was doing for a living. I knew his daughter Bella, my cousin. They perished in the ghetto in Pinsk on 29th October 1942.
I believe my mother received religious education, because she knew Hebrew well, and Yiddish was her mother tongue.
My mother finished Jewish trade school. At that time quite a few girls studied in trade school, but very few of them worked later. Most of them became housewives after they got married.
My parents got married in Lyubeshov at the very beginning of World War I. They had a traditional Jewish wedding.
In the same year, when the Germans were retreating, they moved many families from Lyubeshov away from military operation areas. My family moved to the town of Drogitchyn.
In 1924 my father was employed by a landlord called Orgi to work on his estate in Mokraya Dubrova, Brest province. My father was a Swiss cheese maker.
We were the only Jewish family on the estate. Our family observed all Jewish traditions. Once a week my parents went to the market in Pinsk to buy kosher food and stored it in a box with ice in the cellar.
In May 1942 a new manager was appointed at the Department of River Transport in Pinsk. His name was Gunter Krull. My supervisor sent me to his office to do some work. All inmates in the ghetto were wearing round yellow cloth sewn on the front and back of our clothes. We had the stamps of our offices on these yellow pieces that served as our identity cards. I came to Krull's office, and he told me to remove the yellow pieces. He said I wasn't to be humiliated by wearing them. I explained to him that it was my identity card, and that I couldn't remove it because I might be shot. Then Krull told me to take off my over-clothes while working in his office. He also asked me about my family. I told him about our life conditions; that we were paid 50% of what we were earning at work and that we weren't allowed to go to the canteen. On the following day Botvinnik, Radkevich and I received coupons for meals at the canteen. Once a week a German soldier escorted us to the ghetto so that we could take some food there. It was nice of Gunter Krull to help us.
In August 1942 rumors about the extermination of the Jewish population spread. Krull told me that he wanted to rescue us, but that he didn't yet know how to do it. He told me about his family. His father was a surgeon in Berlin, and his brother was a surgeon in the German army. Krull told me that he helped his two Jewish friends to leave Berlin and that he wished he could rescue all Jews, but that it was impossible.
In September 1942 Corporal Frioff brought his maintenance crew to Pinsk from Kiev. Krull asked Frioff to pull strings for me and ask communication manager Shtoide to employ me in Kiev. Frioff knew that I was a Jew. Our company, Field Department of Water Transport, could send us to do work in smaller towns, but Krull thought that I would have better chances to 'get lost' in a bigger town.
It was so hard to tell my mother that Krull was going to rescue me, that I had an opportunity to survive. At last, when I mustered the courage to ask my mother what she thought about this possibility she said, 'We are clutching at straws. Go for it. If you survive you have to tell the others what these rascals did to us'. My mother packed a few photographs, some underwear, a towel and a spoon. I took this package to work. Every night the Germans took 300 hostages. They also shot a whole family and all hostages, if one member of the family didn't return from work to the ghetto. Therefore, I couldn't leave Pinsk. There was a synagogue in the ghetto where we celebrated Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Nobody went to work on these days. We all prayed because we knew that this was probably our last holiday together.
Krull issued me a night-shift permit to enable me to leave the ghetto at night. I had an excuse to work night-shift. Power was turned on at night, and my responsibility was to charge the electric power accumulator. I worked about ten night shifts. Throughout this period I returned home in the morning and said farewell to my family every night before going to work. At about 5am, on the morning of 29th October, I heard gunshots and dogs barking. The ghetto was located about 800 meters from where I worked. Krull took me to his home.
I stayed in Krull's house from 29th October till 22nd November. On 22nd November we received a letter from the Field Department of River Transport No. 2 requesting me to come to work there. Krull gave me an identity card, which had the name Peter Rabtsevich and a different place of birth on it. I also had my business certificate saying that I had to go to Kiev to see Shtoide. Krull told me to go in a carriage for Germans and stay at waiting rooms for Germans at the railway stations. I wasn't supposed to ask the way to my office in Kiev. And what was most important - I wasn't to avoid the police. My life was in his hands now.
In August 1942 rumors about the extermination of the Jewish population spread. Krull told me that he wanted to rescue us, but that he didn't yet know how to do it. He told me about his family. His father was a surgeon in Berlin, and his brother was a surgeon in the German army. Krull told me that he helped his two Jewish friends to leave Berlin and that he wished he could rescue all Jews, but that it was impossible.
In September 1942 Corporal Frioff brought his maintenance crew to Pinsk from Kiev. Krull asked Frioff to pull strings for me and ask communication manager Shtoide to employ me in Kiev. Frioff knew that I was a Jew. Our company, Field Department of Water Transport, could send us to do work in smaller towns, but Krull thought that I would have better chances to 'get lost' in a bigger town.
It was so hard to tell my mother that Krull was going to rescue me, that I had an opportunity to survive. At last, when I mustered the courage to ask my mother what she thought about this possibility she said, 'We are clutching at straws. Go for it. If you survive you have to tell the others what these rascals did to us'. My mother packed a few photographs, some underwear, a towel and a spoon. I took this package to work. Every night the Germans took 300 hostages. They also shot a whole family and all hostages, if one member of the family didn't return from work to the ghetto. Therefore, I couldn't leave Pinsk. There was a synagogue in the ghetto where we celebrated Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Nobody went to work on these days. We all prayed because we knew that this was probably our last holiday together.
Krull issued me a night-shift permit to enable me to leave the ghetto at night. I had an excuse to work night-shift. Power was turned on at night, and my responsibility was to charge the electric power accumulator. I worked about ten night shifts. Throughout this period I returned home in the morning and said farewell to my family every night before going to work. At about 5am, on the morning of 29th October, I heard gunshots and dogs barking. The ghetto was located about 800 meters from where I worked. Krull took me to his home.
I stayed in Krull's house from 29th October till 22nd November. On 22nd November we received a letter from the Field Department of River Transport No. 2 requesting me to come to work there. Krull gave me an identity card, which had the name Peter Rabtsevich and a different place of birth on it. I also had my business certificate saying that I had to go to Kiev to see Shtoide. Krull told me to go in a carriage for Germans and stay at waiting rooms for Germans at the railway stations. I wasn't supposed to ask the way to my office in Kiev. And what was most important - I wasn't to avoid the police. My life was in his hands now.
He told me that the ghetto in Pinsk had been eliminated on 29th October. All inmates were taken to the village of Galevo [5 km from Pinsk] and shot. My mother, my father, my sister Esther, her husband Abraham and their daughter Gita, my brother Lev's wife Haya and their daughter Dina were killed on that day. My family, my acquaintances and my life perished along with them.
In the evening of 22nd November 1942 Krull saw me off to the railway station, and I boarded a train to Brest. I arrived in Kiev on 28th November and spent my first night at the railway station. The police first didn't allow me to stay in the waiting room for Germans. I addressed the gendarmerie showing them my identity card, and they allowed me to stay in the waiting room. In the morning I went to the office of my company. The guard showed me into Shtoide's office. Shtoide allowed me to come in and sit on the sofa. I fell asleep right away because I hadn't slept for six nights.
Shtoide, Krull's acquaintance, woke me up at 9am and took me to the staff administration of Field Department No. 2 in Podol [10]. I went to the human resources office to have my employment documentation processed. The human resources manager said that it was bad that they were sending employees in the Eastern direction when they were supposed to be sending them to the West. I told her that I came where my job assignment was and if she needed further clarification she should address Mr. Shtoide. I obtained my identity card and was told to go to the employment office to obtain my work certificate. Officials there started asking me questions about me being sent to the East. I addressed a German man. I spoke German with no accent. I also had fluent Polish and Russian. I didn't look like a Jew either. The German ordered them to issue my work certificate. This work certificate served as a permit to stay in town. Every Saturday they stamped it, and if the police stopped somebody to check his work certificate and there was no stamp for the previous week this person was subject to go to work in Germany.
Shtoide, Krull's acquaintance, woke me up at 9am and took me to the staff administration of Field Department No. 2 in Podol [10]. I went to the human resources office to have my employment documentation processed. The human resources manager said that it was bad that they were sending employees in the Eastern direction when they were supposed to be sending them to the West. I told her that I came where my job assignment was and if she needed further clarification she should address Mr. Shtoide. I obtained my identity card and was told to go to the employment office to obtain my work certificate. Officials there started asking me questions about me being sent to the East. I addressed a German man. I spoke German with no accent. I also had fluent Polish and Russian. I didn't look like a Jew either. The German ordered them to issue my work certificate. This work certificate served as a permit to stay in town. Every Saturday they stamped it, and if the police stopped somebody to check his work certificate and there was no stamp for the previous week this person was subject to go to work in Germany.
I settled down in a hostel. I needed to have a passport to obtain my residence permit. Krull had foreseen this and said that he had my passport in the office in Pinsk and would mail it, if necessary, but I knew that my passport had been burnt in Krull's stove. The authorities in Kiev sent a request for my passport to be mailed. Krull wrote them a letter saying that he had done that already. After a month I received a certificate at work saying that my passport had been lost. On the basis of this certificate and the documents that Krull gave me in Pinsk, I received a passport under the name of Peter Romanovich Rabtsevich, nationality Russian, at the Podol Department.
In May 1943 I turned 20. Young people of this age were to be sent to work in Germany. The problem was that I had to undergo a medical check-up. I was circumcised and just couldn't have them find out that I was a Jew. I spent a few hours at the employment office and noticed that quite a few young people told the commission that they had no health problems and volunteered to go to Germany. I decided to do the same. They told me to show my hands and feet, checked my eyes and issued all necessary documents for me to go to Germany. This was all I needed. These documents were a permit to stay in Kiev, because my work at Field Department No. 2 released me from the obligation to go to Germany.
Krull supported me in Kiev in 1943. Corporal Frioff once brought me a pack of matches; I could exchange one box of matches for half a loaf of bread. In 1943 Krull came to Kiev and we saw each other in a place where nobody would notice us. We saw each other from a distance standing on the opposite sites of a street.
I only had winter clothes when I came to Kiev. When summer approached Frioff bought me shoes for 400 karbovantsy. It was a lot of money for me. My salary was 700 karbovantsy. I received a meal at the canteen six days a week. I also received one loaf of bread made from millet bran a week. It was impossible to eat this bread when it turned stale.
I only had winter clothes when I came to Kiev. When summer approached Frioff bought me shoes for 400 karbovantsy. It was a lot of money for me. My salary was 700 karbovantsy. I received a meal at the canteen six days a week. I also received one loaf of bread made from millet bran a week. It was impossible to eat this bread when it turned stale.
In August 1943, along with the retreat of the Germans, Field Department No. 2 evacuated from Kiev. They offered me to evacuate with them. There was panic in the city. I was captured during a German raid on the way from the hostel to work. All captives were escorted to the railway station to be sent to Germany. I stayed at the railway station overnight, and in the morning I showed my documents to a German military telling him where I worked and that I was going to evacuate with my company. They let me go. I came to work, but there was nobody left - everybody had evacuated.
In August 1943 I went around the surrounding villages looking for work and food. On 6th November 1943 Kiev was liberated. I returned to the city and went to work at the Dneprovskoye Military Water Transport Department. I had to submit my CV and questionnaire to get employed. I wrote my true story and told the human resources manager that I wanted to get my real name back. His name was Rodman, and he was a Jew. He said that he understood and sympathized with me, but that he couldn't do anything about it. He told me to address the prosecutor's office or the militia. I went to the Water Transport prosecutor's office. They told me that if I changed my name at that time it would mean that I wanted to conceal my past and that I might be arrested.
In November I was to be recruited to the army, but my work in the transport system released me from my service duty.
In 1933 my father's sister that also lived in Lyubeshov emigrated to Israel.
Three brothers lived in Poland: Kiva, who lived in Pinsk, Israel, who lived in Lodz with his family and my father, Ruvin Rabinov. Only Israel survived the war. He was in evacuation in Kazakhstan with his wife and three daughters; later they all emigrated to America.
Kiva was a shoemaker, and his family was very religious observing all traditions and celebrating holidays.
n 1941 the Germans came to Pogost-Zagorodskiy and shot my uncle's family, every single one of them.
My father was born in Lyubeshov in 1890. He and his brothers studied in heder and later finished trade school. My father was a cheese maker.
I got married on 31st December 1949. I met my future wife, Evgenia Siderman, at work. She was a Jew and worked as an accountant.
Evgenia was born in Kiev in 1926. She finished lower secondary school and an accounting school.
, Ukraine
My mother-in-law happened to live at her aunt's in Kiev. She finished Jewish trade school.
Their older son Ilia perished in the Babi Yar [11]. His wife was Polish and she convinced him to stay at home rather than run away. The Germans shot them both.
My wife's older sister moved to Israel with her family in the 1990s.
Evgenia and her parents were in evacuation in Kazakhstan during the war. They returned to Kiev in August 1944.
Evgenia was a Komsomol [12] activist and secretary of the Komsomol unit. Later she was elected chairman of the audit commission of the Podolsk district Komsomol committee.
, Ukraine