The vilna ghetto, vilnius ghetto, wilno ghetto or vilniaus getas was a world war ii jewish ghetto established and operated by nazi germany in the city of vilnius in the territory of naziadministered reichskommissariat ostland. Partisans from the vilnius vilna ghetto at an assembly of former partisans, photographed beside a memorial tablet at yad vashem in jerusalem. A year later, she decided instead to move to the vilna ghetto. Jewish fighters in ww2 the jewish partisans on jewish. Partisans of vilna directed by josh waletzky, usa 1986 october 31 potsdamer stra. It is from a series created from 19852000 detailing memories and events from his youth as a year old partisan fighter in the forests northeast of vilna, poland, vilnius, lithuania and in belarus from 19431944.
Instead they began to gradually send their members to fight in the. When germany invaded poland in 1939, kalish fell and vitka escaped to vilna, lithuania. Get your kindle here, or download a free kindle reading app. A partisan from vilna by rachel margolis overdrive rakuten. The partisan rachel rudnitzki together with other armed partisans in the streets of vilna during the. Abba kovner was born in 1918 in sevastopol, russia, but later moved to vilna now in lithuania, where he attended a hebrew secondary school.
When nazi germany attacked ussr, alexander german first became responsible for coordination of the partisans in the northwest of ussr, and later, in september 1941, he and a detachment of 150 soldiers went behind the enemy lines to try to wreak havoc in the communication and supply lines. This riveting film recounts the untold story of a handful of jewish youth who organized an underground resistance against the nazis in. Partisans of vilna, the study guide pdf file, direct download. A partisan of vilna is the memoir of rachel margolis, the sole survivor of her family, who. Among their many concerns was further endangering the inhabitants of the ghetto. Jewish partisans were fighters in irregular military groups participating in the jewish resistance movement against nazi germany and its collaborators during world war ii. The vilna ghetto was a world war ii jewish ghetto established and operated by nazi germany in the city of vilnius in the territory of naziadministered reichskommissariat ostland. During these early years, kovner became an active member in the zionist youth movement, hashomer hatsair. Partisans of vilna is the first documentary to chronicle the amazing endeavors of the jewish resistance fighters, who courageously staged a sabotage offensive against the nazi army in the polish city of vilna. Jewish partisans in the area on the day of the liberation of vilnius vilna. Producer aviva kempner, in a discussion with ulrich gregor.
It was first destroyed by the soviets who, under the terms of the germanrussian pact of nonbelligerence of 1939, swallowed up lithuania and installed a puppet communist. This article is dedicated to my father oscar who was on of those young people in eastern europe who escaped the ghetto and joined other jewish partisans in the forests of eastern europe to fight the nazis in wwii. The liberation front was founded and directed by the communist party of yugoslavia kpj, more specifically its slovene branch. Despite the conditions, the inmates of the vilna ghetto established a vast array of cultural, intellectual and artistic organisations. The film is an account of armed resistance and internal struggles in the vilna ghetto. Vilna was the heart of jewish scholarship and set the tone for the moderate, scholarly, and moral lithuanian jewish community. Elchanan magid standing, on the left, jacob prener standing, second from the left, bluma markowicz standing, third from the left, abba kovner standing, fourth from the left, ruzka korczak standing, third from the right, leib szapirstein standing, second from the right, vitka. One of the youngest to survive the holocaust, joseph was being cared for in an orphanage. Vilna during the holocaust partisans in vilna the rudniki forest. Sketch created by alexander bogen, depicting a german soldier and a german officer rounding up a group of jews in the ghetto of vilna, lithuania. Bogen was an art student in vilna in 1941 when germany invaded and occupied lithuania and neighboring countries. A number of jewish partisan groups operated across nazioccupied europe, some made up of a few escapees from the jewish ghettos or concentration camps, while others, such. The musical tradition of the jews of vilna, lithuania, helped provide opportunities for both spiritual and physical resistance after the nazis established a ghetto there.
Since a quarter of slovene ethnic territory and approximately 327,000 out of total population of 1. In 1941 nazi germany invaded lithuania and rachel was sent to live in hiding with a christian family. If you have been aided in your research by this site and wish to further our mission of preserving our history for future generations, your jewishgenerosity is greatly appreciated. Vitka kempner was born in kalish, poland on the polishgerman border, in 1922. Drawing by alexander bogen of two partisans, one standing. Just to be perfectly clear before diving into this moral morass, the hague conventions categ. The slovene partisans, formally the national liberation army and partisan detachments of slovenia, were part of europes most effective antinazi resistance movement led by yugoslav revolutionary communists during world war ii, the yugoslav partisans.
Vilna was soon occupied, with the jews forced into a ghetto. Following the events in the ghetto of the 1st of september 1943, the staff command of the fpo reluctantly decided not to begin a fight to the death. Slovene partisans were the armed wing of the liberation front of the slovene nation, a resistance political organization and party coalition for what the partisans referred to as the slovene lands. Fareinikte partizaner organizatsie united partisans organization. An enormously riveting and inspirational tale of wwii and the holocaust like no other, partisans of vilna is the first documentary to chronicle the amazing endeavors of the jewish resistance fighters, who courageously staged a sabotage offensive against the nazi army in the polish city of vilna. Partisans of vilna the songs of world war ii jewish resistance produced by henry sapoznik and josh waletzky flying fish, fly 450, 1989 now distributed by rounder records. Leib szapirstein on the right, nisan reznik second from the right, yitzhak kowalski third from the right, elchanan telerant third from the left, elchanan chanan. Yitzak arad, the holocaust in the soviet union, 2009, isbn 9780803220591, p.
Jewish fighters in ww2 the jewish partisans on jewish matters. Three former jewish partisans pose in the vilna ghetto soon after the liberation. A partisan from vilna by rachel margolis overdrive. The truth about mobile phone and wireless radiation dr devra davis duration. Yad vashem photo archive 840959 a group of jewish partisans from the kovno ghetto in the rudniki forest. Nov 24, 2017 the truth about mobile phone and wireless radiation dr devra davis duration. This film tells the story of the men and women who formed the jewish partisan.
By 1939, when the soviets annexed his city, he was firmly established in the community, with a wife and a job at the local fur processing plant. Their situation was difficult and they suffered from a shortage of food, from harassment by nonjewish partisans and from german forays into the forest. Jews went passively to the gas chambers and israel was gods answer to the holocaust. Between 2,000 and 3,000 of the original 57,000 jewish inhabitants of vilnius survived, either in hiding, with the partisans, or in camps in germany and estonia, a mortality rate of approximately 95% almost exactly corresponding with that of lithuania as a whole. This film tells the story of the men and women who formed the jewish partisan movement in vilna, lithuania, during world war ii. Vilnas ghetto is of particular importance as a site of very early organized resistance, even if most of the partisans later fled, fighting alongside soviet troops in the surrounding forest. That is photographer faye schulman on the bottom right. Sign up to get the latest on sales, new releases and more footer. In 1941, germany launched operation barbarossa, attacking the soviet union and neighboring countries. Autobiographical painting of partisans blowing up a nazi.
With abba kovner, alexander bogen, roberta wallach. A group of armed jewish partisans that had fought in the forests around the city, in vilna vilna after the liberation, july 1944. Based on jewish, german, and soviet documents, including diaries, letters, memoirs, and the authors interviews with several of the storys participants, the book smugglers chronicles the daring activities of a group of poets turned partisans and scholars turned smugglers in vilna, the jerusalem of lithuania. Qualifizierte bestellungen werden kostenlos geliefert. Partisans in vilna the rudniki forest vilna during the. Jewish partisans were fighters in irregular military groups participating in the jewish resistance movement against nazi germany and its collaborators during world war ii a number of jewish partisan groups operated across nazioccupied europe, some made up of a few escapees from the jewish ghettos or concentration camps, while others, such as bielski partisans, numbered in the hundreds and. Antinazi partisan hero chasia langbord shpanerflig, 96. The film features 40 interviews with the former partisans in hebrew, yiddish, and english, interspersed with rare archival footage.
A manifesto of the fpo united partisans organization jewish underground in the vilnius vilna ghetto. Partisans of vilna national center for jewish film. Partisans in vilna the narocz forest vilna during the holocaust. Aug 27, 2018 abba kovner was born in 1918 in sevastopol, russia, but later moved to vilna now in lithuania, where he attended a hebrew secondary school. Sep 12, 1986 vilna s ghetto is of particular importance as a site of very early organized resistance, even if most of the partisans later fled, fighting alongside soviet troops in the surrounding forest.
The trio left vilna and made their way to the displaced persons camp in bad turkeim, germany. Vitka kempner jewish partisan educational foundation. The vilna ghetto was a world war ii jewish ghetto established and operated by nazi germany in the city of vilnius in the territory of naziadministered reichskommissariat ostland during the approximately two years of its existence starvation, disease, street executions, maltreatment, and deportations to concentration and extermination camps reduced the ghettos population from an estimated. On new years eve, 1942, 150 members of the leftwing zionist movement hehalutz which included hashomer hatzair and dror came together to hear the proclamation in yiddish and hebrew calling on all jewish youth to. Partisans of vilna the songs of world war ii jewish res. Were partisans in world war two partially culpable for. Contact us at jewishfilmatbrandeisdotedu or call 7817368600 to book now. But with the german invasion of 1941, all former stability was swept aside. Photographer faye schulman reunites with three jewish partisans from warsaw. Sketch created by alexander bogen, depicting a german soldier and a german officer rounding up a group of jews in the ghetto in vilna, lithuania. Drawing by alexander bogen of two partisans, one standing and. The vilnius vilna kehilalinks webpage was created by joel ratner and maintained by. The vilna ghetto was a world war ii jewish ghetto established and operated by nazi germany. During roughly two years of its existence, starvation, disease, street executions, maltreatment and deportations to concentration camps and extermination camps reduced.
Partisans of vilna tells the story of these courageous men and women, many of whom fought and fought for years only to be rewarded with the fact at the end of the war that 20,000 jews had dwindled to 3,000. Rachel margolis was born in vilna vilnius, lithuania, in 1921. In many eastern european cities, jewish cultural life persisted in the ghettos the nazis established to confine jewish communities. Over forty different holocaust survivors are interviewed in this informative documentary about resistance fighters in vilna or vilnius, the capital of lithuania. Solution in lithuania in the light of german documentation, yad vashem. Schulman and the three men had thought that each other had been killed. Jewish partisans, who were members of the fpo, left the ghetto and fought as partisans in the rudniki forest. Music in the vilna ghetto facing history and ourselves.
This film tells the story of the men and women who formed the jewish partisan movement in. The vilna partisans the first written document calling for organized jewish armed resistance against the germans came from vilna. Painting by arie aryeh singer depicting partisans blowing up a nazi train. This documentary recounts the untold tale of the jewish resistance during world war ii, and the moral dilemmas facing the jewish youth who organized an underground resistance in the vilna ghetto. The movie begins with footage from eichmanns celebrated trial in jerusalem, and in a curious way, partisans of vilna is permeated with the sense of a happy ending at times it has the heart. A partisan of vilna is the memoir of rachel margolis, the sole survivor of her family, who escaped from the vilna ghetto with other members of the fpo united partisan organization resistance movement and joined the soviet partisans in the forests of lithuania to sabotage the nazis. When lithuania became indpendent in 1990, it was announced that 8,000 books were saved and hidden for 50 years. Yad vashem photo archive 7003168 jewish women and children partisans in the forest near pinsk, poland. The fpo fled to the forest and fought with the partisans. The songs of world war ii jewish resistance by various artists on amazon music. A partisan from vilna jews of poland rachel margolis, antony polonsky.