February 17th. 1945
“..Einsatzgruppe ..established after an agreement between ..Chiefs of ..RSHA ..OKW ..and OKH ..in regard ..use of ..Sipo in ..area of operation. ..Einsatzgruppe ..first appeared during ..Polish campaign. ..agreement with ..OKH and OKW ..first arrived at before ..beginning ..Russian campaign. ..agreement specified ..official of ..Sipo and SD should be assigned to ..Army Groups ..or ..Armies ..and ..this official would have at his disposal mobile units of ..Sipo and ..SD ..in ..form of Einsatzgruppe ..subdivided into Einsatzkommandos. ..Einsatzkommandos should be assigned to ..Army Units as needed ..to ..particular Army Group or Army. ..agreement must have been reached about 1 or 2 weeks before ..beginning of ..Russian campaign. ..As far as ..actual instructions of ..Chiefs of ..Sipo and SD ..concerned ..guided by ..general practice that they could issue orders to ..Army if ..operational situation made it necessary.” otto ohlendorf.
When I was first sent the image of Tovah ‘Tokele’ Olshak, I sought to find out about her and why some poles would consider, as Hitler did, she was unworthy of life. This is the genesis of a journey that has taken me to Poland, to all of the 6 Death Camps placed there by Hitler, and spoken to museum’s and centres for learning of a Jewish past that has been extinguished from within Poland. For what I have learned of Tokele’s short life, and I have read extensively from the words and works of Dr. Szymon Datner, Michael Maik and Avraham Kalifowitz to find her, from what they recorded, witnessed and escaped from here in Sokoly, Poland, innocence and beauty was too readily destroyed.
“..mass resettlements of Jews began ..and on October 18th. 1942 ..Germans ordered all Jews to go to Izbica. We walked ..five hours ..Zolkiewka to Izbica. We all gathered in front of ..cinema ..divided by groups according to ..towns we came from ..Krasnystaw ..Piaski ..Turobin ..Zamosc ..Zolkiewka. ..I remember it was very cold and raining that day. ..Germans ordered ..inhabitants of Zolkiewka must go to ..train. ..whole group ran to ..train ..then ..Germans changed ..order ..sent another group ..we were tormented until ..evening. ..they shot at us. ..killed victims ..rain ..blood ..crying ..screaming. ..Rabbi Feldhendler ..Wife ..Daughter were killed. My family and I went to ..train. ..cattle cars for animals ..on ..floor ..chlorine. ..air was stifling .. huddled in this cattle car ..some ..were dying ..some ..dead ..we stood on their bodies and ..chlorine stung our eyes. ..no food ..water ..I stood close to ..wall. Through ..hole in ..wall ..I could gather ..spoon of rainwater ..to drink a little of it. I was able to write a letter to Mr Krol ..I threw it out. After three hours ..train started in ..direction of Belzec we knew exactly where we were going. ..men pulled out ..grate in ..window. People started to jump out of ..train. My brother had already jumped out ..my mother told me ..’Jump out ..my child ..you have so many girlfriends ..they will help you’ ..I jumped out after ..second railway station ..Zawada ..I was lucky ..I landed in ..ditch. Others ..jumped out ..under ..next train ..or were ..killed by ..German bullets. ..I got a bullet in my thigh but I did not feel it. I had sprained both legs ..I could not walk. ..a man with a big heart ..called Marcin Szewc. He drove by with a horse and wagon ..he found me. ..asked me what ..happened ..I lied ..saying I was a Pole and ..Germans wanted to deport me to Germany for slave labour but I had escaped them. Mr Szewc ..put me on his wagon ..took me to his home.” Mila Szternzys.
From there has been a huge omission of decency and acceptance to emerge of an ignominy for this little town in Poland. Here in Sokoly, where hatred meets a 4 year old Jewish Girl, this grows with each evocation of edicts or laws aimed at discrediting the discredited deeds of these collaborationist Murders. That individual hatred alone shown toward Tokele was also written with a greedy fuelled enterprise from local poles seeking to enrich themselves from what Sokoly’s Jews owned and what local poles had taken from them and sought to retain. I cannot begin to validate the hatred without pointing an accusation at an entire nation which seems capable of accepting the distortion of a history they must never deny.
Friday December 12th. 1941 “..In respect of ..Jewish question ..make a clean sweep. ..world war is here ..annihilation of ..Jews must be ..necessary result. This question is to be regarded without sentimentalism. We are not here to have sympathy with ..Jews ..but ..with our German people. If ..German people have sacrificed 160,000 dead in ..eastern campaign ..authors of this bloody conflict will have to pay for it with their lives.” adolf hitler.
Here though, where this innocent 4 year old Child Tokele was Murdered, and simply because she was Jewish, and while this coincided with a general polish hatred, Sokoly acquiesces to where this becomes compatible with an intention to add to Hitler’s demands. Tokele was not meant to Survive what was Hitler’s demand for her, and within that Final Solution to destroy all of European Jewry, Tokele is now one of the 6,000,000. It is obvious from many nations within Europe, and clearly, and perhaps even especially here in Poland, and with Jews having Survived and seeking to return to their Homes, too many poles did not want to lose all they had gained.
“..Germans could not tell ..Jews apart from ..other Polish soldiers. ..depended on ..Poles to tell them that.” Shep Zitler.
For the poles to relinquish their hold on what they had taken from their Jewish neighbours, and for whom they had never expected to survive, placed the avarice of greed ahead of humanity, compassion or even a christian conscience. What was formerly owned by Polish Jewry would not be relinquished once it had been worn, trodden on or dwelt in by unconscionable poles. This too has had governmental interventions to ensure all of this theft has been endorsed ever since the end of the War. For me, these Jews of Sokoly I have learned from, are the Jewish Survivor’s who confirm this brutal fact of hate filled Murder toward them, even though they are former allies in the fight against Hitler and Nazism.
“..when ..walls will fall ..when a new life will open ..we shall be able to look our brothers in ..face ..and ..if some day a monograph of ..ghetto ..be written ..we will be mentioned favourably.” Moshe Berman.
So with all that there is to learn, and I have come to appreciate that there is No recompense that would be extensive enough to cover 6,000,000 losses. There are no such restitutions that are available which would lessen the blow to humanity for the abandonment of these 6,000,000 Jews. How then could there ever be a retribution worthy of Justice that will satiate the hunger for that lack of justice that these 6,000,000 Jews cry out for. From the beginning of Hitler’s intervention in Poland, there were some 2,000 Jewish residents of Sokoly, Poland, Friday September 1st. 1939, also unleashing his formative Einsatzgruppe murder squads.
“..decided that of 3,000 Einsatzgruppe they were aware of ..just 24 ..highest ranking commanders would be indicted simply because there was not enough room in ..dock.” Benjamin Berell Ferencz.
For these Polish Jews, who were under immediate threat without realising it then, and from the occupying German forces they assumed were civilised, they were still awakening from what the hatred within Poland had soured for them. It is clear from the abundance of evidences that not all was well for the Jewish presence prior to, during and even after Hitler declared his intention for the Slaughter to emerge. Neither from within the local community, as many non-Jewish poles vied for the space still occupied by their Jewish neighbours, could the hatred for the Jews be harnessed more gravelly. However, it was after Hitler launched his attack on Russia, operation Barbarossa, Sunday June 22nd. 1941 that things for the Jewish People became increasingly more precarious across the rest of Europe.
“..teachings ..about ..world ..people ..ethics ..faith ..I had to learn ..by myself in ..hell of concentration camps ..without my Mother who was put to death in ..Gas Chambers in Majdanek ..my Father ..put to death and burnt in ..crematorium in Treblinka ..my Brother ..my Sister in law ..so young ..but cared for me like my Mother ..tormented and burnt in Auschwitz. ” Halina Birenbaum.
Already, some of the Jews of Sokoly were being murdered into killing pits alongside some 600 Jews from Tykocin on Thursday July 17th. 1941. Then with some 1,500 Jews from Tykocin on Monday August 25th. 1941 at the killing site in Lupochowo Forest, these Jews joined their former Friends, Relatives and Jewish Community. But not until Monday 2nd. November 1942, when 850 of Sokoly’s own Jews were removed toward Bialystok, did these fuller ramifications hit home. Bialystok was to be the gathering space for the Jews from all around the region and here they awaited their eventual resettlement to one of 3 Death Camps in Poland, either Birkenau, Majdanek or the more likely journey to Treblinka.
“..big speculators are sitting at home in Warsaw and Lublin ..where ..special organisations ..send their people with truck loads of goods out to ..huts around Treblinka. ..entire region ..far and near ..sucks blood out of this greedy slaughterhouse. It is their direct interest to keep Treblinka going to keep its valuable by-products flowing ..money ..gold ..diamonds.” Richard Glazer.
With a further 500 more of Sokoly’s Jews, who were expelled on Sunday 11th. April 1943, the increasing gloom was to settle over the Ghetto here, and it could not be lifted. Meanwhile, of the Jews being assembled in Bialystok, many were shot and otherwise killed while awaiting their turn to be delivered to the Death Camps. For Alter Ginzburg, the Sokoly Judenrat Chairman, his Wife Ida and the local dentist and their son Monik, these boarded the 1st. Transport to Treblinka from the Bialystok Ghetto on Tuesday 9th. February 1943. We learn from Efraim Barash, speaking on that Spring deportation from the Bialystok Ghetto, that Barash, the Judenrat Chairman, while believing that work would fully secure a Jewish future, totally endorsed the uprising there and suggests:-
“..who knows ..with Gods help ..it would be a real springtime for all of us.” Efraim Barash.
Up until 10,000 Jews had been finally removed by Sunday 13th. February 1943, the transportation of much of what was left of Sokoly Jewry, and the random killing amongst all age groups of those Jews within Bialystok and the outer perimeters of Sokoly was relentless. In what is seen as a fact of Jewish Resistance though, and from within Sokoly itself, these Jews acted:-
“..As Wolves before ..battlements.”
In the works of Dr. Szymon Datner, a Resistance Leader and head of the Bialystok Jewish Regional committee, he offers us both an insight into what was assailing the Jews of the region and their gradual demise. Also, as an historian of Bialystok, he regularly reported on the murders of his Jewish People from all of the outlying districts. As Jews had hoped sanity had at last arrived, just after the war ended in 1945, Dr. Datner was asked to compile his report on an atrocity that had occurred in Sokoly even before Wars end. What Dr. Datner was to discover, and he has evidenced many such attacks upon Surviving Jews by the local non-Jewish polish population, it is here at Sokoly where the tragedy that takes hold, this is where much that has directed me ever since began.
“..Nazis were responsible for this tragedy it is they who murdered most of 3,000,000 Jews who lived in Poland before World War II. ..Germans were able to mobilize segments of ..Polish society to take part in their plan to hunt down ..Jews and help them carry out their Final Solution.” Jan Grabowski.
On Saturday February 17th. 1945, this Sabbath day was interrupted by a group of local poles who had sought to ensure all they had stolen, acquired and gained from the Jewish People would not be returned to these Jews. What these hate filled poles managed to do is beyond the comprehension of those of us who studied the Survival of the Jews of Europe, recognising that 6,000,000 Jewish Men, Women and Their Children did Not Survive. Here in Sokoly, with the murders of some 9 of these Jewish Survivors, events such as these has cast a long shadow over what is still a plague within Poland, the antisemitic hatred of a growing few.
“..Jews must adjust themselves to all conditions ..we shall endeavour to create such conditions for them as will make ..adjustment difficult.” Dr. Ludwig Fischer.
The report Dr. Datner compiled suggested that Tokele, a 4 year old Jewish girl, and the Daughter of Shaine Olshak’s Sister was amongst those murdered in Sokoly. There is a photo of Tokele, though this has become separated from the collective photograph of ‘The Last Victims of Sokoly.’ So here, Dr. Datner is to oversee what happened in the aftermath of those murder’s from amongst some 20 of Sokoly’s Survivors. These Jews, who had gathered at the home of the Gritzik family, we now extrapolate what has been a concern for me for more than 25 years. It is of course a deeply imbedded concern for the Jewish People that such hatred has been present for them since time immemorial.
“..There is a difference between ..German orchestrated systems of terror against ..Poles and ..Jews. ..Germans want to ruin ..Polish state as a state. ..with regard to ..Jews ..they want to devastate ..biological substance of ..Jewish Nation. If ..Germans do not change their method of dealing with ..Jewish population ..if there is no effort at Allied intervention ..whether through reprisals or other action ..barring some unforeseen circumstance ..within 18 months of ..time I left ..Homeland ..Jewish People of Poland will cease to exist.” Jan Karski.
Reference too is made that this pogrom by local poles states that only Seven were murdered here and this might be explained by the fact that David Kostshevski was removed from the House, and died from his wounds in the Bialystok Hospital. Also, it is clear that Shaine Olshak had been shot outside of the house while she was attempting to escape, and this might skew the assessment somewhat. All told, some 20 or so Jewish Survivor’s were residing and visiting an apartment of the house of Mordechai Suraski on Mazowiecka Street 32, in Sokoly, Poland. They were made up of 3 Family Groups of about 12 People in all, of varying ages, from the Child Tovah, aged 4, and from there aged upwards.
“..I didn’t want to go back to Poland. Poles were killing a lot of Jews who returned to claim property ..homes ..other possessions. My Parents were dead. There was nothing to go back to.” Bianca Lerner.
They had simply come together so as to afford each other some form of comfort after all they had struggled to Survive, and even for some them, surviving through the Death Camp system. So tragically that all too frequently the Jewish Survivor awaited news of those other’s who might as yet have Survived. While for us it is clear that no one Jew should have been expected to have lived through what Hitler had planned for and for what non-Jewish poles now seemed set to administer. There was also an engagement party to be celebrated, a signal of the continuance of Jewish persistence, even after the great catastrophe.
“..it is easy to cope with ..Jewish problem when ..Jews are small in number ..but it is more difficult in Poland where their number is so much larger.” jozef pilsudski.
These 12 Jewish People in total, from the above-mentioned 20 Jewish People who met to celebrate receiving the apartment, and also to celebrate the return of Dawid Kaszczewski, who had arrived back a few days earlier. He had returned to Sokoly from the camps to see the engagement of Benjamin Rachlew from Sokoly to Basia Wajnsztajn from Swiecieniny. The latter also returned from the concentration camp. So here we are on this Saturday February 17th. 1945, and this Sabbath day gathering of Jewish Survivor’s that was taking place no doubt filled with the sense of relief for their survival, this all gave a positive air to celebrating that fact.
“..When ..Poles saw how ..soldiers were victimising us they piled on ..too. ..a German guard was marching me ..some other men to ..nail factory. ..a Polish boy ran up ..stabbed me in ..hand.” William Schiff.
Their very Survival had been against all the odds that had been thrown at them, without realising a further throw of the dice was hurtling toward them. As we begin to see it, when a group of local poles sought to ensure that all that the local polish population had stolen, had acquired and had illegally gained would not be returned to these Jews, a pogrom ensued. I denounce these poles as hate filled for what they managed to achieve in the murder of 9 of these Jewish Survivors. Their every effort in atrocity affords theses particular non-Jewish cowards, and even Poland to this day, their infamy in all of history.
“..arrived ..report to Camp Kommandant ..SS Hauptsturmfuhrer Bothmann. ..addressed us in his living quarters ..in ..presence of SS Untersturmfuhrer Albert Plate. ..explained ..we had been dedicated to ..Kulmhof extermination camp as guards and added that in this camp ..plague boils of humanity ..Jews ..were exterminated. We were to keep quiet about everything we saw or heard ..otherwise we would have to reckon with our families’ imprisonment and ..death penalty. ..extermination camp was made up of ..’castle’ and ..camp in ..woods. ..castle was a fairly large stone building at ..edge of ..village of Kulmhof. ..Jews ..transported by lorry or railway were first brought. ..lorry arrived ..following members of ..SS Sonderkommando addressed ..Jews ..Camp Kommandant Bothmann ..Untersturmführer Albert Plate ..Polizei Meister Willy Lenz ..Polizei Meister Alois Haeberle. ..explained to ..Jews ..would ..all be given a bath ..deloused in Kulmhof ..then sent to Germany to work. ..Jews then went inside ..castle. ..to get undressed. ..sent through a passage ..to ..ramp to ..castle yard where ‘gas van’ ..parked. ..back door of ..van would be open. ..Jews ..made to get inside ..van. ..done by three Poles ..sentenced to death. ..Poles hit ..Jews with whips if they did not get into ..gas vans fast enough. When all ..Jews were inside ..door was bolted. ..driver then switched on ..engine ..crawled under ..van ..connected ..pipe from ..exhaust to ..inside of ..van. ..exhaust fumes ..poured into ..truck so that ..people ..suffocated.” Polizei theodor malzmueller.
But this is Not all of why I write, as words have mattered to me many more years than I have imagined the horror of The Holocaust. Clearly though, this sense of rage gained pace as I recognised the gravest hatred was waged against those who have already been abused, accosted and brutalised enough, and assumed they had reached safety. All the Survivor’s in one nation or another are still faced by other’s who now perpetrated these exact same crimes. This is why I have chosen to write on the Murder of a 4 year old Jewish Girl, who remains confined within the Slaughter of the 6,000,000 Jewish People, her People, who are The Holocaust.
“..attitude of ..non–Jewish population ..almost all Poles ..was hateful. They rejoiced at our misfortune ..enriched themselves with Jewish property.” Betzalel Papial.
There are 6,000,000 Jews of whom faced complete ignorance in their own homelands, total hatred in their supposedly christian community’s and found a complicit destruction that inveigles many, nations and nationals. For me it is quite simple and how dare any pole choose to deny to this 4 year old Child a life and because she is a Jew. Tovah ‘Tokele’ Olshak should have lived to being near her 80th. year and yet, all of those intervening years were trashed by the ignorance of a pole whose hatred matched clearly the collaborative effort Hitler fully expected in Poland, from Poles. I am from an era which arrived after the Jewish Catastrophe.
“..Bitterness ..pain fill ..Children’s recollections of those poles who hunted them ..betrayed them ..handed them to ..common enemy ..of cruelties perpetrated by other children ..of every human ignominy. ..there are few such testimonies ..reason ..simple ..painful ..children ..are not here to record their stories.” Maria Hochberg-Marianska.
I am not a descendant of one of those Jews who we can rightfully attribute to themselves the term Holocaust Survivor, but I am no less concerned. There are so many I have seen, heard from, spoken to and I have sensed their overwhelming pain. As I listen to Rivka Yosselevska, or read Primo Levi and know the words of Etty Hillesum, whose words are to survive her, I learn to know and more of what they were fully cognisant of. Their evidence has placed the darkest emphasis on all that was done and achieved against 6,000,000 of their fellow Jews for being Jews and amongst them are these here listed, those Jews of Sokoly, Poland Murdered when hope had re-emerged for the Surviving Jew, even in Poland.
“..I knew ..Tokele ..she is Tovah Olshak ..the Sister of Shaina Olshak. Both of Tokele’s Parents were previously shot in the nearby Lupochowo Forest and she had been cared for and Loved by a Christian woman.” Yaffa Litwak.
(1) Tokele, aka Tolkele aka Tulkale, aka Tulka, and though the Last Survivors Photo p.136 does not list her we know that she was 4 years of age. I am now reliably informed by a Survivor, Yaffa Litwak, who knew of Tokele, that she is (Tovah Olshak) That said, Tovah Olshak is listed as the Sister of Shaina Olshak and in Last Survivors this lists her as Tovah Olshak. Both of Tokele’s Parents were previously shot in the nearby Lupochowo Forest and Tokele had been cared for and Loved by a Christian woman. Sadly, and though with difficulty, Tokele was given back to her Cousin by marriage, Shaine.
(2) Shaine (Shaina) (Sheine) Olshak was a Cousin by marriage of Tokele, she was 22 years of age, the Wife of Zeev Velvel Olshak of Zeremow. Shaine Olszak nee Nilovitzki was born in Kobylin, Poland in 1923 to Shmuel and Ester and the Last Survivors lists her. Shaine was shot while attempting to flee the scene of the carnage.
(3) David Zholti (Zholty) was born in 1939 and was 35 years of age and the Last Survivors lists him.
(4) Yankele Litwak was shot by a Polish soldier while in Bialystok, a few weeks after the War and was 15 years of age. Yankele was the Brother of Shaikele, Shammai and Yaffa Litwak, formerly Shainie. Shainie (Yaffa Litwak-Cohen) now resides in Kiryat Bialystok Israel.
(5) Shaikele (Sheike)(Yehoshua)(Shaikeleh) Litwak appears in the Last Survivors Photo p.136 which lists him and was 13 years of age. Shaikele was the Brother of Yankele, Shammai and was the Son of Chaim?
(6) Chaim (Tuvia) Litwak, who was the blacksmith from Siemietitz was the Father of Yankele, Shaikele, Shammai and Yaffa Litwak.
(7) Shammai Litwak is in the Last Survivors which lists him was 19 years of age. Shammai was the Elder Brother of Yankele, Shaikele and Yaffa Litwak.
(8) Batya Weinstein was 20 years old, she had managed to survive Auschwitz and had been born in Swiecienin, and
(9) David Kostshevski (Koschevsky)(Koschavsky) who had Survived both Auschwitz and Majdanek was 28 years of age. David was the Son of the Milliner Itza (Yitzhak) Koschevsky, who were also shot in a room there. All were staying or visiting in the home at the time. David is named in the Last Survivors which lists him. David died from his wounds in Bialystok.
There are those who still managed to survive the attempt by these anti-Semitic poles were and these are:-
I) Zeev Gritshak,
II) Avraham Kalifovitz, and
III) Issur Wondolowicz.
Both Benyamin Ratzlev(Rachlev), who had been engaged to Batya Weinstein, and Benyamin Gorkovitz, who had accompanied Avrahamel Goldberg to Lendowa-Budy to take back his Sister’s Daughter, Feigele Tabak, from a Woman Farmer, these were away at the time. Upon their return to Sokoly, they found out about what had transpired and felt powerless to do anything to gain the form of justice the carnage necessitated after what had been waged. For me, all of this is in Memory of Tokele, a four year old Jewish Girl, who was murdered while 6,000,000 of her fellow Jews were laid to waste.
ALWAYS to REMEMBER, NEVER to FORGET.
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“..On Sabbath ..February 17th. 1945 ..Survivors had a celebration in Sokoly at Mordechai Surasky’s house near ..Mazowieckie road. During ..first period of ..liberation ..residence of Colonel Dubroshin ..Soviet Kommandant. ..10 days before ..fateful evening ..Colonel Dubroshin handed over ..Surasky house to 3 Jewish families numbering 12 souls.
..celebration took place
..a) as a housewarming for ..3 families
b) to celebrate ..engagement of one of ..survivors from Sokoly ..Benyamin Rachlev ..to Batya Weinstein from Swieciany, Lithuania ..a survivor of ..death camps
c) that same week ..a boy from Sokoly ..David Koschevsky ..Son of Itza (Yitzhak) ..milliner ..had arrived from ..death camps.
About 20 people were gathered in ..house where ..celebration took place. ..torn ones who had suffered so much now celebrated ..evening with happiness and joy. ..young people played cards ..elderly talked among themselves ..women took care of ..kitchen and fried latkes. In ..kitchen ..there was a conversation led by ..young engineer David Zholty ..who accompanied Sheintze Gritshak home after her visit to ..Zholty family. Suddenly ..back door opened. A pole with a large moustache ..and dressed in an Army uniform ..came in with an automatic rifle in his hand. Zeev Gritshak saw ..Pole first ..and cried out ..Robbers have come. He ran to ..other room and locked ..door. ..Pole opened a round of fire. With ..first shots he killed engineer David Zholty and ..bride from Swieciany. Batya Weinstein ..who had been frying latkes ..fell dead with a knife in her hand. A third victim was ..pretty ..4-year-old orphan Tulkale. After that ..murderer entered ..room full of guests and started shooting again. Panic arose. For a moment ..his rifle jammed. A number of celebrants succeeded in breaking ..window and escaping through ..front door ..and they thereby were rescued from death. But a few ran in panic and hid under ..beds. A kerosene lamp that stood on ..table fell down on ..wood floor. ..kerosene spread and a fire broke out. Additional robbers entered ..room and shot Shammai Litvak and David Koschevsky. Shammai Litvak’s body covered Avraham Kalifovitz. ..shots did make holes in his clothing ..but he was saved by a miracle. Issur Wondolowicz ..who was standing behind ..closet ..was also saved. Shaina Olshak ..22 years old ..who had been recently married ..fled outside and was shot on ..spot by ..robbers guard. ..robbers stole ..boots and shoes from their victims ..as well as possessions from ..beds and closets. In ..middle of ..robbery ..13 year old boy ..Sheike Litvak ..came in. ..robbers asked him ..To whom are you going. He answered ..To my brother. One of ..robbers shot ..boy in ..face. ..boy instinctively covered his face with his hands and cried. ..Are you still alive .. asked ..murderer ..and shot him a second time. ..boy fell down ..rolling in his own blood. 7 victims fell in that bestial murder ..6 of them on ..spot. ..seventh victim ..David Koschevsky ..was wounded. They took him in a military vehicle to ..hospital in Bialystok. After suffering horribly for a few days ..he returned his soul to his Maker. He was fully conscious until his last moments.” Michael Maik.
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“..On Saturday night ..I visited Zeev Griczak ..Raclav and Zeev Olshak ..who lived together in Mordechai Surasky’s house. A number of other friends gathered there. ..apartment had 4 rooms and it had 2 entrances ..one at ..front of ..building and one in ..back. ..4 Poles approached Zeev Griczak ..and asked him if he lives here. ..Behind Zeev ..they invaded into ..kitchen and opened fire on those who were there. ..Jews who were sitting in an inner room began to flee. Being ..last of those who were sitting there ..I hesitated to run ..lest they injure me. I succeeded in hiding between ..closet and ..bed ..and Shammai Litvak lay on my legs. ..one of ..rioters entered ..room. ..saw Shammai ..yelled ..Yaatcza yadin Zhid ..Another Jew. ..Pole ..shot 3 bullets at Shammai. ..victim fell to ..ground and covered my feet with his body. One of ..rioters moved ..bed away from ..wall to see if there was another Jew. I moved my body together with ..bed. ..Sheikele Litvak ..a boy of 12 ..appeared in ..doorway. ..robber asked him who did he come to see. Sheikele answered ..My brother. ..Immediately he shot 2 bullets into ..boy’s head. ..rioters began to chop one of ..doors ..with an axe to discover more victims to kill. Those who had been in the room were lucky enough to have escaped outside earlier ..through ..window. ..members of ..gang ..lurking outside signalled their companions and they ran away from ..place. ..gang of murderers numbered 9 men. I went out of ..house and ran to ..police. ..next day I saw that my jacket was punctured. At ..time of ..shots ..I had felt something pass by a part of my body. In ..house ..we were 19 Jews. 7 of our companions were shot to death ..and ..rest succeeded in escaping. After ..murder ..I remained in Sokoly for 3 days and ..together with my friends ..I left my town forever. Our path led to Bialystok. ..events of these sorrowful days had a strong influence on my mind. For many months ..I felt ..horrors and saw before my eyes my murdered friends ..and how I laid under ..bed and Shammai ..who was killed ..was spread over my legs. I sometimes burst into tears and was attacked by spasms over my entire body. I was not able to calm down and stop crying. Even today ..when I bring up ..memory of that terrible day of blood ..I am choked with tears. My hatred and anger grow within me ..against ..Polish murderers who helped ..Germans to shed ..blood of refugees ..few in number ..from The Holocaust.” Avraham Kalifowitz.
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Do not allow for distortion to deny the hatred of some poles toward their Jewish Community in the ‘Pogrom’ of
June 8th. 1935 in Grodno, Poland.
X=X
Do not allow for distortion to deny the hatred of some poles toward their Jewish Community in the ‘Pogrom’ of
March 9th. 1936 in Przytyk, Poland.
X=X
Do not allow for distortion to deny the hatred of some poles toward their Jewish Community in the ‘Pogrom’ of
April 30th. 1936 when the {onr oboz narodowo-radykalny}, attacked 5 Jews returning from Warsaw to Minsk-Mazowiecki.
X=X
Do not allow for distortion to deny the hatred of some poles toward their Jewish Community in the ‘Pogrom’ of
June 1st.1936 in Minsk-Mazowiecki.
X=X
Do not allow for distortion to deny the hatred of some poles toward their Jewish Community in the ‘Pogrom’ of
May 13th. 1937 when the Jews of Brest were attacked by locals and police who looted, robbed and beat up the local Jews and the Jewish store owners and their workers.
X=X
Do not allow for distortion to deny the hatred of some poles toward their Jewish Community’s in those ‘Pogrom’ conducted on April 5th. 1938 which raged across Poland.
X=X
Do not allow for distortion to deny the hatred of some poles toward their Jewish Community in the ‘Pogrom’ of
April 15th. 1938 Dabrowa-Tarnowska, Poland which sees Jews Murdered.
X=X
Do not allow for distortion to deny the hatred of some poles toward their Jewish Community in the ‘Pogrom’ of
April 29th. 1938 Vilna, Poland when Jews were Murdered.
X=X
“..In memory of the Jews of Jedwabne and surrounding areas, Men, Women, and Children, fellow-dwellers of this land, murdered and burned alive at this site on 10 July 1941.” Memorial.
Do not allow for distortion to deny the hatred of some poles toward their Jewish Community in the ‘Pogrom’ of
July 10th. 1941 those 340 Jewish Men, Women and Their Children were Burned to Death in a Barn at the hands of their non-Jewish neighbours. All told, more than 1,600 of Jedwabne Jews were Murdered, most at the hands of an Einsatz kommando.
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Thursday October 15th. 1942 “..camp ..located near ..town ..Belzec ..well known all over Poland from ..tales of horror ..circulated about it.” Jan Karski.
Do not allow for distortion to deny the hatred of some poles toward their Jewish Community when we are made aware of what all should have known. Unless we are going to revise the words of such a distinguished, and Polish scholar, what the Polish locals knew should have defined their resolve to do something to cease the annihilation of their Jewish neighbours, as they faced it at the front door of every Polish community within Poland.
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August 1943 “..return of ..Jews to their jobs and workshops is ..out of ..question ..even if ..number of Jews is greatly reduced. ..non-Jewish population has filled their places in ..towns ..cities ..in much of Poland this is a fundamental change ..final in character. ..return of masses of Jews would be perceived not as an act of restitution ..but as an invasion against which they would have to defend themselves ..even by physical means.” Roman Knoll. Polish Foreign Affairs Office.
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“..murders of Survivors right after ..War ..intimidated many who might have sought their property back. Fearing for their lives ..many made no attempt to retrieve their assets.” Naphtali Lavie.
Do not allow for distortion to deny the hatred of some poles toward their Jewish Community in the ‘Pogrom’ of
February 17th. 1945 in Sokoly where local poles murdered 7 Jewish Survivors.
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Do not allow for distortion to deny the hatred of some poles toward their Jewish Community in the ‘Pogrom’ of stealth of March 8th. 1946 when Poland decreed Jewish Restitution claims for Property, Homes and Possessions to be made by end of 1947. At the end of this period, a year’s extension is granted.
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Do not allow for distortion to deny the hatred of some poles toward their Jewish Community in the ‘Pogrom’ of
July 4th. 1946 in Kielce when polish soldiers, polish police officers and polish non-Jewish civilians Murdered 42 Polish Jewish Survivors and more than 40 other Polish Jews were wounded.
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Do not allow for distortion to deny the hatred of some poles toward their Jewish Community in the ‘Pogrom’ of stealth of December 31st. 1948 when Polish Measures are brought to bear to ensure Jews cannot reclaim what Jews have been deprived of.
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July 11th. 2001 “..We can have no doubt that here in Jedwabne Polish citizens were killed at ..hands of fellow citizens.” President Aleksander Kwasniewski.
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Anna Pyzewska in the 2005 IPN bulletin of the Bialystok Institute of National Remembrance described what happened in Sokoly: Kazimierz Kamienski, made in 1953. This event is also mentioned by reports of both the Polish underground and PUBP in Wysokie Mazowieckie – in these materials, however, apart from general information about the number of victims, there are no details about the course of the incident. ” Anna Pyzewska.
“..bandits had come. ..Pole opened fire ..killing Dawid Yellow ..Basia Wajnsztajn and 4-year-old Tolka Zytawer. ..there was a fire. ..attacker’s weapon jammed ..some of ..gathered ..managed to escape. ..further victims ..in a room adjacent to ..kitchen 20 year old Szamaj Litwak was shot (he hid under bed) ..Dawid Kaszczewski ..died a few days later in ..hospital ..was shot. 22 year old Szajna Olszak was shot outside ..house by ..guards. ..last victim was 13 year old Szyjke Litvak. Shamaj’s brother. ” Anna Pyzewska.
“..huzar did not deny his presence in Sokoly on February 17th. 1945. As he claimed ..on that day ..when he was returning with his unit from Kobylin ..he met a 4 man self defence unit led by Karol Gasztoft ..who was going to Sokoly to liquidate 1 person of Jewish nationality. Revenge was to ask huzar to take part in ..action as well. As huzar argued ..he did not know ..name of ..person who was supposed to die ..nor ..reason for ..liquidation. ..he went to Sokoly together with his unit. His unit took care of setting up a ..post.” Anna Pyzewska.
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February 28th. 2019 Wyborcza Poland. “..On ..occasion of ..National Day of Remembrance of .. Cursed Soldiers on Friday March 1st. President Andrzej Duda is to lay flowers at ..monument to Kazimierz Kamienski (huzar) and his subordinates in Wysokie-Mazowieckie. ..same ‘huzar’ who participated in ..murder of Jews who survived The Holocaust in February 1945 ..including children. In February 1945 in Sokoly ..40 kilometres away from Bialystok ..70% before ..war inhabited by Jews ..a branch of Karol Gasztoft ..revenge murdered Jews who survived The Holocaust. 7 people of Jewish nationality were murdered ..including 3-year-old Tolka and 13-year-old Szyjke. ..unit of .huzar participated in ..murder.” Anna Pyzewska.
It is so obvious for me, that Poland would be better placed evaluating all that it had failed to do to save 3,000,000 of its own Murdered Jews. As Poland seeks to hide behind a continuous hatred that is out of sync with humanity and human compassion, and dare I mention christian morality, History must reclaim its past from lies and distortions. Poland it seems has so disowned everything Hitler established in Poland except what has proved lucrative to them, including the Destruction of 3,000,000 of their own Polish Jews. It is ever more essential with that in mind that we do not allow for any such distortion to then deny the hatred of some poles toward their own Polish Jewish Community.
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October 2020 “..Will we live to see ..day when ..Polish authorities also admit that hostility toward Jews was widespread among Poles ..and that Polish complicity in The Holocaust is an historical fact.” Katarzyna Markusz.
Sadly, even after the departure of Hitler’s forces the hatred of and for the Jews of Poland continued and in the intervening years 1934 to 2021, it has little abated. Within Poland itself, much of the hatred directed toward the Polish Jewish Community is aligned to what Hitler sought in the territory’s he wished to remove all Jews from. It is a confusing mix of considerate and compassionate Polish People being led toward the same hatred which has blighted their humanitarian credentials by those ignorant of the torrent of bitterness antisemitism esposes. The lessons of the past are there for the many Poles who seek it out, and I have spoken to many of those who know the truth of The Holocaust is worth defending despite the truth of former poles who betrayed all humanity to deliver what Hitler sought.
Memorial for the Holy Martyrs of Sokoly
“..We dipped our pen into the valley of tears
To record an immortalization for the holy martyrs of Sokoly
Every page of the book is a scroll of fear
About our dear ones, who were cut off with a sharp sword.
We lived in the community, we spent time together
We drank gladness and poison from the same cup
The dynasty of his grandfather – the grandson the blacksmith
A continuation of the generations of the Nation of Israel.
We sat on the same bench of learning
In the same “cheder” we expounded Torah
We had the same study hall, rules and procedures
The same cemetery and the same graves.
We walked the same roads and streets
Young girls and youths, grandfathers and grandmothers
Under the wedding canopies we heard, with rhythm,
Notes of a Jewish melody of joy and sadness.
We were transported to those Treblinkas in multitudes
We were squeezed into cattle cars like sheep
Our destination was massacre, we turned into dust
The story of our people is written here in the book.
Where are you, Sokoly, you were our cradle
You were eroded like dust and broken like clay
Where are your Jews, infants and fathers
Old people, grooms and beautiful brides?
Where are the pulpits of gemara, and around them the sounds of commentary
Of the yeshiva students explaining portions of the Midrash
Prayers and hopes lifted up to G d on high
Were choked off, were silenced with the smoke of destruction.” Reuven Lev.
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