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BEHIND THE BARBED WIRE OF DEATH
By Chayim Rozenblit (z"1)
By April, 1941 we saw the huge Soviet military
might moving daily toward the border. Some
detachments were set to dig trenches, preparing
defenses by pouring cement, readying the air
fields for airplanes; and in the air we felt the
approaching war.
At the same time, the Soviets began to draft
young men of a certain age group, supposedly for
maneuvers.
The conscripts from our town served in one
place. Each time a group of draftees marched by
the town, it was accompanied by fathers, mothers,
wives, and children, who wept because they
felt they were seeing their sons, husbands, and
fathers for the last time.
My family, which lived in Masheve at the
time, consisted of three brothers and a sister who
had government positions. I myself lived in Libivne,
where I worked in the tax office. I would visit my
family on Sundays. One day my supervisor called
me into his office and said to me, "Chayim, war is
in the air. We have only a few days left." This was
on June 17, 1941. His words shocked me.
The Jewish sky became covered with clouds.
Not only the Germans but also the Ukrainians
were waiting eagerly for this moment. Many a
time the Jews of the villages had heard the
peasants say, "When Hitler comes, you will no
longer be commissars. We will get even with you!"
The Night of June 21
At 1 a.m, on the night of June 21-22, as we were
going home from a movie and dance, I heard the
voice of my brother, talking to his friends: "Yes,
gang, we can go to sleep with peace and awake to
a war. Good night!"
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At dawn of that day, we began to hear shooting.
The entire border was on fire. I went out into
the street. One word was heard from everyone:
"War!" Groups ofJews were gathered in the street,
wondering what to do. Should we run to Russia?
But how could we leave everything and run?
Everything we had worked so hard for our whole
lives!
A small number of Jews did leave the shtetl.
Early Monday morning my older brother Yankef
was drafted. That day, a Soviet detachment came
carrying artillery. They told the people to hide in
the woods because the front would be located in
the town. On Monday night, the military detachments
began to retreat, and at 2 p.m. on Tuesday,
the Germans entered Libivne.
The new military power put out posters that
same day. The posters requested Ukrainians to
report for police duty, for which they were promised
wages, food, and houses. The Ukrainians
were ordered to search for Russian soldiers.
The first orders to the Jews spelled trouble:
to put on the right sleeve a white band with a Star
of David; to remain indoors between 7 p.m. and 7
a.m.; and to turn over all gold objects and other
valuables. The sentence of death was threatened
for the slightest infraction of the rules.
After a few days, the town commandant
ordered the Jews to elect a Judenrat. The chairman
was Kalman Kopelzon. The Judenrat then
formed a Jewish police unit and a labor department,
with Eliyohu Hershenhorn as a chairman
and Perets Shaye Pelts as assistant.
The Germans notified the Judenrat on the
ninth day of the occupation that all Jews age 14
and up should appear in the marketplace with