Selected text
But in spring of 1942, powerful partisan groups sprang into existence. In Belarus there were 350,000 partisans. The headquarters of the partisan movement was situated in Ushachi. Partisans (among them there were many Jews) fought for Ushachi and managed to liberate it and all settlements around it. The fascist garrison was annihilated. The partisan zone of Ushachi became the most armed one in Belarus, and Germans were not able to reoccupy it.
In July 1944, I heard that my hometown had been liberated from the fascist occupation. I was eager to find my relatives. The Communist Party leader (assistant of battalion commander in political and educational work) of our battalion sent a letter of inquiry to a military registration and enlistment office of Ushachi. [Military registration and enlistment offices in the USSR and in Russia are special institutions that implement call-up plans.] Soon I received a terrible message: the Lermans (my father, mother, brothers, their wives and children – fourteen people in total) were executed by the fascists (shot together with hundreds of other Jews in 1942). I could not stop crying.
In July 1944, I heard that my hometown had been liberated from the fascist occupation. I was eager to find my relatives. The Communist Party leader (assistant of battalion commander in political and educational work) of our battalion sent a letter of inquiry to a military registration and enlistment office of Ushachi. [Military registration and enlistment offices in the USSR and in Russia are special institutions that implement call-up plans.] Soon I received a terrible message: the Lermans (my father, mother, brothers, their wives and children – fourteen people in total) were executed by the fascists (shot together with hundreds of other Jews in 1942). I could not stop crying.
Period
Year
1944
Location
Ushachi
Vitebesk
Belarus
Interview
Boris Lerman
Tag(s)