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My brother Meishe was assigned the doctor of the train, which took people to evacuation. The train left on 4th July. My parents left with my brother. They stayed in the village Bolshoye Nagayevo, Perm oblast [1200 km east of Moscow], for the entire period of the war. My brother was deputy chief physician of the military hospital, which was located in the village. I sent them my military certificate and it made their lives a little easier.
Only six Jewish families were staying in Rakvere, when I came back there. On 6th August, at 18:00 we left Rakvere and in two hours the Germans were in the town. On that day I called on every remaining family in the morning. These were the richest families in Rakvere. They didn’t want to get evacuated and tried to persuade me that Germans wouldn’t kill anybody. They thought Germans to be the same as Russians who exiled people in Siberia.
I still talked them into evacuation. There was only one family left. I was banging on their door, but nobody was in or they did not want to open the door. On 18th August 1941 all members of that family were killed. Some people say that they were shot by Germans, but one of my good friends in Rakvere told me that it was done by local people. Before the Germans came to Estonia, there were Estonian armed groups in the forests, which took the German side right away. When we were leaving Rakvere, we were shot at by Estonian groups from the NKVD [18] premises, which they captured. We reached Narva via skirmishes. There the Narva regiment was being formed and on 17th August I entered that infantry regiment as a private. When the regiment had been formed, I was sent to Leningrad.
Only six Jewish families were staying in Rakvere, when I came back there. On 6th August, at 18:00 we left Rakvere and in two hours the Germans were in the town. On that day I called on every remaining family in the morning. These were the richest families in Rakvere. They didn’t want to get evacuated and tried to persuade me that Germans wouldn’t kill anybody. They thought Germans to be the same as Russians who exiled people in Siberia.
I still talked them into evacuation. There was only one family left. I was banging on their door, but nobody was in or they did not want to open the door. On 18th August 1941 all members of that family were killed. Some people say that they were shot by Germans, but one of my good friends in Rakvere told me that it was done by local people. Before the Germans came to Estonia, there were Estonian armed groups in the forests, which took the German side right away. When we were leaving Rakvere, we were shot at by Estonian groups from the NKVD [18] premises, which they captured. We reached Narva via skirmishes. There the Narva regiment was being formed and on 17th August I entered that infantry regiment as a private. When the regiment had been formed, I was sent to Leningrad.
Location
Rakvere
Estonia
Interview
Isaac Serman