Tag #142857 - Interview #78247 (Adolf Landsman)

I've never been a party member. I didn't become a party member in the lines. It was almost mandatory and I escaped it by miracle. I was aware that I couldn't say directly that I didn't want to become a member of the Party. That is why I pretended to be a fool saying that it was a very responsible matter and I wasn't mature enough for such an honor. They tried to convince me, they were biased, but at the same time there was no pressure or insistence. Then after the war, my cousin, Arkadiy Landsman, explained one of the reasons for mass acceptance in the Party during the war. By the way, Arkadiy joined the Party in the lines unwillingly; he was forced. The reason was the following: when our soldiers were captured by the Germans, they were told at once, 'Jews and communists, step forward!' They were exterminated immediately.

Everybody knew that a member of the party would fight till death, especially being a Jew. At that time the party membership cards were considered sacred and not to be given to the enemy no matter what. When people were in the siege instead of rescuing their lives, they thought of the party membership cards, burying them in the land. I was steadfast, and they didn't manage to talk me into becoming a party member. I didn't believe in the communist party, its impeccability and correctness. I didn't want to prevaricate. I wasn't the only one though. The battery commander wasn't a party member either.