RelatioNet IZ EL 30 ZE PO
Izhak Eliav
Interviewer:
Gal & Sagie
Address: Town Country
Survivor:
Code: RelatioNet IZ EL 30 ZE PO
Family Name: Family First Name: Izhak Middle Name: Middle Name
Birth Date: 1/01/1930
Town In Holocaust: Z'etel Country In Holocaust: White Russia Profession (Main) In Holocaust: Profession
Status (Today): Alive
If Alive - Address Today: Moshe Sharet, Israel
Relatives:
Code: RelatioNet IZ EL 30 ZE PO
Family Name: Eliav First Name: Izhak
Relationship (to Survivor): Relationship
Birth Date: 1/01/1930
Town In Holocaust: Town Country In Holocaust: Z'etel
Status (Today): Alive
If Alive - Address Today: Moshe Sharet, Israel
Jews in White Russia During World War 2
The White Ruthenian area has always been the most densely populated by Jews of all areas of the Eastern territory. According to a census taken in 1926 more than 400000 Jews lived in what was then the White Ruthenian Socialist Soviet Republic (RSSR). In the Western territories belonging to the former Poland which are also populated mostly by White Ruthenians more than 500000 Jews were living there according to a census last taken in 1931.
The measures taken by the Security Police and SD have caused changes also in White Ruthenia in regard to the Jewish question. The registration of the Jews was initiated and they were concentrated in ghettos. Finally the Jews had to wear yellow insignia in front and on their back to be recognized, in the manner of the Jewish star introduced in the territory of the Reich. In order to use Jewish labor fully the Jews were generally used for uniform employment and for clearing up operation.
Actions against the Jewish population in the conquered areas began almost immediately, with the dispatch of task groups to round up Jews and shoot them. Local anti-semites were encouraged to carry out their own pogroms. By the end of 1941 there were more than 50,000 troops devoted to rounding up and killing Jews. The gradual industrialization of killing led to adoption of the Final Solution and the establishment of the Operation Reinhard extermination camps: the machinery of the Holocaust. In three years of occupation, between one and two million Soviet Jews were killed. Other ethnic groups were targeted for extermination.
Interview
I was born in 1930. We were a big family- five children ,I was the oldest.
I lived on the border between Poland and Russia (White Russia) in a town called Z'etel –which was controlled by the Russians.
There were about 3000-3500 Jews.
In the 22nd of June, 1941, the Germans took over the town. At the time I was 11 years old and it happened to be that I was out of town visiting my aunt and uncle. During one year, 150 people were murdered and 400 were sent to work.
In the 6th of August ,1942, all the rest of the citizens were executed. In that year my uncle and I went on a goods-train to Minsk, the capital of White Russia but on the way the Germans attacked the train to hurt the Russians. My uncle and I jumped on to another train. At the end of the journey that included jumping from one train to another, stealing food and fighting, we arrived in Tashkent where I stayed at my second aunt's house.
While I was twelve, I was sent to an orphanage. My life was very miserable there. I escaped the orphanage, learned a profession and started to work for my living. As time passed I became ill and had Malaria. Until the end of the war I was fighting for my life. Moreover, I had no idea what was going on with my family.
In 1945, the war ended, my aunt and I sent a card to my town to see if my family had survived. The answer was that no one survived. When I was on a train to Berlin I was given a chance to join Kibutz Dror.
I joined the Kibutz right away, my aunt continued to live in Berlin. The Kibutz included many Holocaust survivors and the goal was to get to Israel. From December 45 until April 48 I was on my journey to Israel. We arrived illegally in Czech, then in Australia and from there to Germany - There we were trained in Agronomy for our arrival in Israel. When we got near the Israel coasts on a ship, a British airplane discovered us and we were sent to Cyprus. We lived in tents and were
taught ,secretly, how to use weapons and how to defend ourselves.
I finally arrived in Israel on the 14th of April 48. I immediately joined the army Palmach. We were brought to a base in Zrifin. We fought the Jordanians in Latroon and also fought in Gaza.
After the war of Independence ended, I went to Kibutz Shfaim there I met my wife, Drora. I worked as a teacher for literature and technology. After a while I completed my first Academic degree in education. When I was sixty, I retired and became a librarian.
Today I have two kids, three grandsons and one great-grandson.
Gal & Sagie
posted by RelatioNet Katza @ 4:35 AM
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