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I WAS A YOUNG GIRL DURING THE HOLOCAUST
By Regina Tigel (Bloovshteyn)
Partisan
Regina Tigel
I was born in Luboml
in 1929 to the
Bloovshteyn family,
one of ten children.
We were not among
the wealthy families
in town, but we were
content and grew up
surrounded by
warmth and love. All
of us studied; I was
the only one who did
not finish primary
school, but that was
on account of the war.
In 1939 the Poles
abandoned the city, but not before burning down
our home, which forced us to move to another
apartment. Despite the hardships posed by the
entry of the Russians into the city, four of my
brothers and four of my sisters married and raised
families. Only my other brother, Moyshe, and I
remained at home. I did not attend school but
stayed home to help mother, who was gravely ill.
Moyshe and my other brother, Srulik, were recruited
into the Red Army; their brigade camped
near the post office.
But when the war broke out between Germany
and Russia and the bombardment of the
city began, I left my mother with my sister Gitl,
and ran to my brothers, even bringing them food.
With a kiss they sent me home. On the way I
suddenly heard a piercing whistle and something
falling, exploding. I ran to the site and saw
a big hole. A boy ran in the direction of one of the
houses that had been hit, and banged his head
against a wall yelling, "Mommy, Daddy!" I went
272
into the house, hoping to rescue someone, to help
somehow. I found the father lying dead, wrapped
in his prayer shawl, apparently hit during prayer.
I managed to get the boy's mother out alive, but
she died in my arms.
They were our neighbors. The father was
known as Itche the mute. I saw their daughters
running and screaming. The youngest, a girl of
18, pretty and wearing a checked coat, began
crying hysterically. Her mother was still in my
arms. I didn't know she was dead. I thought she'd
fainted and I started to stroke her face. People
around me said: "Don't you see she's already
dead?" Stricken with terror I began to run and
came to my sister's house. That was the first day of
the war.
On the second and third days we stayed in
the cellar. On the fourth day, at 2 a.m., we heard
the steps of the German invaders. They went
from house to house, knocking on doors. We
heard them banging on our door and shouting:
"Open the door! Where are you?" We opened the
cellar and came out with our hands up. Standing
there were two Germans in helmets, pointing
Schmeisers (guns) in our direction and shouting:
"Jews, Kaput!" ("Jews, you're finished!")
We came out of the cellar and started walking,
and anyone lagging behind was cruelly hit
with a rifle butt. They brought us to Zavalska
Street and rounded us up next to the Christian
cemetery. They told us to sit. We were there with
non-Jews. They divided us into groups, Jews to
one side, non-Jews to the other. They took us to
a ravine near the railroad and told us to sit. There
were machine guns in front and in back of us.
I was small and didn't understand that this
could bring about our destruction. We sat for a