Range of Partisans?

[Biber]

According to the narration he spent an entire summer fending for himself - it's not much different from traveling. He was "scavenging berries, mushrooms, stolen potatoes", but eating raw potatoes is not safe (stealing them even less), mushrooms have no nutrition value, berries are low-energy food - so it wasn't easy.
I'm more inclined to think some Ukrainians helped him, gave him food and sent him on his way - so his presence didn't endanger them.

That would certainly be a fair assessment and I would tend to agree.

Wasn't Motele: Der yunger partizaner a book for children? I suppose for this reason the narration is as simple as possible, and many events omitted.

I don’t think Gildenman’s original 1950 publication of the Mottele story was meant for children. I’ve requested a couple of copies – a 1950 edition and a 1990 reprint- so we’ll see (Well, as much as I can see given that it’s in Yiddish. But I’ll cross that bridge when I get there, somehow.) But there have indeed been versions of the story aimed at young readers.

Gertrude Samuels (d. 2003 –formerly on the NY Times editorial board) published a juvenile historical/documentary-fiction book of Mottele’s story in the mid-1970s – there were actually two versions: Mottele: A Partisan Odyssey (1976) and Mottele (1977). They are probably one and the same, the latter with a more marketable shortened title. I’ve read the first few chapters of Mottele that deal with him being found in the woods by Uncle Misha’s group and the subsequent Ovruch “action”. My impression is that she simply fleshed out the existing story with a bit of dialogue, and filled out the book with fictionalized character relationships among the partisans. Samuels supposedly worked with materials provided by Gildenman’s son.

There is also the juvenile novel Uncle Misha’s Partisans by Yuri Suhl, the same author as They Fought Back (also a juvenile reader), but I have not seen them yet.

There was a beautiful manor house in that village. It isn't known who lived there in the thirties, maybe an administrator, maybe Colonna-Czosnowski sold it.
It seems there weren't many Jews in Symonów, they lived in surrounding villages.

The web site notes ca. July 3rd for the German occupation, so that’s not so far off the story’s date of the first of July.

The story suggests that there were only two Jewish families in the community – the Schleins and the Gershteins who lived in what I’ve assumed as the local manor house, variously described as a mansion or a “palace” which was converted into a school when the Gershteins were ousted.

You previously referenced earlier in this thread a book by Schmeul Spector. I assume that was The Holocaust of Volhynian Jews: 1941-1944? Might you suggest any other sources that would be good to look at for topic and particular region?

[Stephan]

According to the narration he spent an entire summer fending for himself - it's not much different from traveling. He was "scavenging berries, mushrooms, stolen potatoes", but eating raw potatoes is not safe (stealing them even less), mushrooms have no nutrition value, berries are low-energy food - so it wasn't easy.
I'm more inclined to think some Ukrainians helped him, gave him food and sent him on his way - so his presence didn't endanger them.

That would certainly be a fair assessment and I would tend to agree.

Wasn't Motele: Der yunger partizaner a book for children? I suppose for this reason the narration is as simple as possible, and many events omitted.

I don’t think Gildenman’s original 1950 publication of the Mottele story was meant for children. I’ve requested a couple of copies – a 1950 edition and a 1990 reprint- so we’ll see (Well, as much as I can see given that it’s in Yiddish. But I’ll cross that bridge when I get there, somehow.) But there have indeed been versions of the story aimed at young readers.

Gertrude Samuels (d. 2003 –formerly on the NY Times editorial board) published a juvenile historical/documentary-fiction book of Mottele’s story in the mid-1970s – there were actually two versions: Mottele: A Partisan Odyssey (1976) and Mottele (1977). They are probably one and the same, the latter with a more marketable shortened title. I’ve read the first few chapters of Mottele that deal with him being found in the woods by Uncle Misha’s group and the subsequent Ovruch “action”. My impression is that she simply fleshed out the existing story with a bit of dialogue, and filled out the book with fictionalized character relationships among the partisans. Samuels supposedly worked with materials provided by Gildenman’s son.

There is also the juvenile novel Uncle Misha’s Partisans by Yuri Suhl, the same author as They Fought Back (also a juvenile reader), but I have not seen them yet.

There was a beautiful manor house in that village. It isn't known who lived there in the thirties, maybe an administrator, maybe Colonna-Czosnowski sold it.
It seems there weren't many Jews in Symonów, they lived in surrounding villages.

The web site notes ca. July 3rd for the German occupation, so that’s not so far off the story’s date of the first of July.

The story suggests that there were only two Jewish families in the community – the Schleins and the Gershteins who lived in what I’ve assumed as the local manor house, variously described as a mansion or a “palace” which was converted into a school when the Gershteins were ousted.

You previously referenced earlier in this thread a book by Schmeul Spector. I assume that was The Holocaust of Volhynian Jews: 1941-1944? Might you suggest any other sources that would be good to look at for topic and particular region?

Jiddish seen as a sort of german dialect isnt that difficult to understand if you are openminded and can german.

But jiddish is also written with hebraic letters, so THIS is the real difficulty. I dont know if Google translations manage to copy with this. Perhaps.

[Biber]

Jiddish seen as a sort of german dialect isnt that difficult to understand if you are openminded and can german.

But jiddish is also written with hebraic letters, so THIS is the real difficulty. I dont know if Google translations manage to copy with this. Perhaps.

Ah yes, that great line from the movie "The train of life" that German is Yiddish with all the fun taken out of it. Thus far I've done well with a combination of Google translate and my own background in German. But the major problem is not only with the letter characters but getting the text into a digital form that can be plugged into a translation program, let alone be searched.

[wm]

You previously referenced earlier in this thread a book by Schmeul Spector. I assume that was The Holocaust of Volhynian Jews: 1941-1944? Might you suggest any other sources that would be good to look at for topic and particular region?

Unfortunately I have only access to a few pages from that book.
I think I've never read any generic book on Volhynia so I can't recomend any.
My family lived all around that place, and I've heard all the damn stories all the time from the very day I was born.
I only read primary witnesses testimonies, preferably written then, during the war. Fortunately there are lots of them.

[wm]

The Hungarians mentioned earlier guarded railway infrastructure behind the front line, I forgot about them, actually my family remembers them well. They were basically "good guys", friendly and always ready to sell all the weapons they could to the Polish self-defense units.
The German farms attacked by the Soviet partisans were most likely farms own by German Mennonites, that had settled there hundreds years ago. They were honest, hardworking and peaceful people although some of their youths served in German auxiliary units. They were severely persecuted by the Soviets before and after the war.

Krosnówka was 50 kilometers by road from the border, not 5 as I've wrote.

[Biber]

Where was the Polish border back then? My impression is that it was a bit farther east.

I managed to get a hold of the Spector book and I'm initially picking through it a bit, mostly regarding how they lived/survived in the forests etc. . That book, as well as Spector's article "The Jews of Volhynia and Their Reaction to Extermination"(Yad Vashem Studies 15 [1983]) - certainly an amusing title until you read the article. The latter article seems to give the impression that the Jewish partisan groups were largely unsuccessful (dare I say almost inept?) at waging partisan actions against the Germans. They certainly weren't in a good position between the Germans and the Soviets and the Ukrainians and the ethnic Germans... Some of the accounts are just simply amazing to read and fathom from out 21st century vantage point.

Being content that the Krasnovka of the story has probably been identified (my latest source discussing the story gives it as "Krasnuvka" by the way) I'm turning toward looking into the Ovruch/Owrutsch aspect of the story. Are there any readily available that might give details regarding the German occupation in 1943, prior to its liberation in November?

WM, having family that lived in the region, might you be able to shed some insight into a Ukrainian folk song that figures in the Motele story? - titled "the Ant" with a text paraphrase of "I am the most industrious of animals, but I am always exposed to danger. Everyone tramples me with their feet and I cannot defend myself. Therefore I ask God [for] at least one pair of wings.” Ultimately I'd really like to bet both the text and music.

[wm]

I would say, from the military point of view, the partisans generally weren't very successful unless constantly supplied with weapons and ammunition. After all what can you do with an old gun and a few bullets. Only in Hollywood movies guns are able to fire indefinitely. And they usually lacked training and experience to boot. The Germans were better armed, better trained and had mobility on their side. So lack of successes were to be expected.

Ovruch seems to be a nice town but unfortunately a small one. The had a monument of Alexander Saburov and probably not much more. Maybe asking their city council ([email protected]) would be good idea, for a contact with some local historian. A long shot but who knows.

As to the Ukrainian folk song, those people had tons of songs, many of them known only locally, "homespun" ones, long forgotten now. And there are no obvious hits for "ant partisan song" or the its words in Ukrainian and Russian...

[Biber]

Thank you. I will take chance and email the Ovruch city council. It's probably a long shot but certainly worth taking and I might get lucky.

I'm still hopeful I'll stumble across the ant folk song. The problem it that it could have been known by another title as well, and I'm not sure if the text I have for it is a mere paraphrase or an actual text, which, together with the language/cyrillic barrier, makes wading through anthologies very difficult. So combing through Ukrainian Folk Son anthologies has been very frustrating. So I ask just about anybody I come across if they can help. Fortunately I have a couple of native speakers on the trail. We'll see though. If all else fails I'll fall back on one piece that I do have that is at least similar metaphorically.

[wm]

As to the border it was not that far at some point, just about 15 kilometers as the crow flies (here in red):

One of the nice houses in the nearby Symonów, from a memoir of a woman who lived there, owned by her family of wealthy landowners:

from: Wędrówka przez życie by Jalina Arter

[Biber]

Oh my! Of course my mind connects dots that probably aren't there - ie. the Gershten's house mentioned in the story. Is that the Manor house identified previously? Any mention whether or not it remained a private residence? The Motele story mentions the Gershtein's house being turned into a school.

[wm]

It's certainly not the Gershten's house (they bought it at the end of the nineteenth century and lived there all the time), and not the much more impressive Manor house - owned till 1939 by countess Bronisława Colonna-Czosnowska, presumably the wife of the mentioned earlier noted architect. She owned some land, the manor, the title, her husband was a wealthy businessman.
But he lived in Warsaw, so probably she too, and maybe the land was by leased by a Jewish lessee, who lived in the manor.

But the biggest problem is that Krosnówka (Krosnuvka) was a single homestead khutor, over a kilometer away from the village (Symonów). But actually there are a few windmills nearby (and they could have built more in the thirties, all the available info is from the twenties). Maybe the land where the windmills stood was called Krosnówka too, because it was property of the khurtor's owner.

[Biber]

I realize it's not the Gershtein house. Just seeing the picture gave my mind a flight of fancy, a window that looks directly into the time if not the place.

Tomorrow we meet with a lady who will be helping us wade through Yiddish text of the primary source for the story, Gildenman's Motele: der yunger partizan (1950). I hope to get more detail on "Krasnovka" (spelling if nothing else) and better clues as to where it may be and what was nearby. Thus far we have only one modern sources deals with Motele's earlier life and it's a bity superficial. Every other source focuses (understandably) on the Ovruch part of the story, which I am yet to independently corroborate. As suggested I emailed the Ovruch town council yesterday asking if they can put me in touch with a local historian. Certainly nothing ventured nothing gained where that's concerned.

To all who have offered insight and information, I cannot thank you enough. I am very much out of my element here, my area of expertise being 17th century music. But the thrill is in the hunt and it is really fantastic digging into all the old maps and corresponding with all of you who are more versed at this than I. Again, I offer you my sincerest thanks for putting up with my questions.

[Biber]

The story about senior German officers killed in Ovruch is known.
In Ovruch, in winter 1943 a partisan operative working for Germans placed a 140 kilogram IED in the cellar of a police station full of German officers and blew up it up. His name was Yakov Kaplyuk.
Although I wonder if it's true - the Soviet propaganda invented such stories by the dozen.

Update fyi: the account is related and debunked in Stalin’s Commandos: Ukrainian Partisan Forces on the Eastern Front By Alexander Gogun, p132.
https://books.google.com/books?id=4lS4C ... 22&f=false

[Biber]

As suggested I emailed the town Ovruch city council hoping to be put in contact with a local historian with whom I could correspond regarding partisan activity during Sept-Oct of 1943. Unfortunately they didn't reply with a contact but with the text given below (google translate will give you the general idea). It would seem that the Kaplyuk story, whether or not it is true (see above), has some local standing. [fyi: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wsB-CtSDL0 The search continues. I'd still like to confirm the Motele story from the German side if possible but haven't had any luck getting anywhere. Can anybody help or point me in the right direction?

Під час Другої світової війни німецький окупаційний режим у місті Овруч тривав з 22 серпня 1941 року до 17 листопада 1943 року.
За час окупації були дві події, пов’язані з організацією вибухів.
В 1942 році Овруцька підпільна організація готувала вибух у кінотеатрі «Вікторія» . Операцію очолив керівник підпільної організації з липня 1942 року, він же директор клубу – кінотеатру «Вікторія» Олександр Малолєтнєв (підпільний псевдонім Іван Писаренко). Він народився в 1919 році в селі Шеломово Можайського району Московської області. До війни служив у військах НКВС (Народного Комісаріату Внутрішніх Справ). На початку радянсько-німецької війни у складі 5 армії опинився в оточенні, вийшовши з якого одружився в селі Заріччя Оврцуького району. Кінотеатр замінував підпільник Іван Романов. Вибух готувався під час вистави за п’єсою Марка Кропивницького «Дай серцю волю, заведе в неволю», спеціально підготовленої для німецьких офіцерів та солдатів.
Після вибуху планували звільнити військовополонених, роззброїти і знищити німецький гарнізон. Але здійснити задум не вдалося: окупантам стало відомо про цей план (підозрювали у зрадництві художника кінотеатру Леоніда Руденка). 250 запрошень на виставку німці передали чехам і словакам, які на той час вже підтримували зв’язок з місцевим підпіллям.
Вибух терміново відмінили. Після вистави почалися арешти. 5 вересня 1942 року 43 особи, в тому числі жінки і діти, були розстріляні на східній околиці міста (старому аеродромі), а 13 вересня 1942 року після катувань Олександр Малолєтнєв та Іван Романов були повішені на арці воріт базарної площі.
В жовтні 1943 року партизанське з’єднання Віктора Карасьова, що базувалося біля села Виступовичі, провело операцію з підриву німецької установи в місті Овруч – гебітскомісаріату, влада якого поширювалася на сучасні Овруцький, Народицький, Коростенський, Лугинський, Олевський та Єльський райони. Григорій Дяченко доставив вибухівку на квартиру Каплюків. Яків Каплюк працював у котельні гебітскомісаріату. Його дружина Марія Каплюк зашивала вибухівку у свій одяг та одяг малолітніх синів Володимира і Віталія та протягом місяця з обідами переносила вибухівку до чоловіка в котельню. Коли вибухівка накопичилась, то вибухом будівля гебіткомсаріату була повністю зруйнована. Про людські жертви достовірних відомостей нема.
Г. Дяченко, Я. Каплюк та М.Каплюк були нагороджені орденами.

Краєзнавець Абдурман О.У.

[wm]

The video seems to be another take on the article published by Sergey Maslov in 2002 (later included in this book). It's the usual Aleksey Botyan's fantasies and exaggerations which, as can be seen from the first link, have the full support of the Russian Government now.

The city council's response seems to be much more professional and sensible, they have basically confirmed (nothing is known about casaulties) what Alexander Gogun wrote, that the bombing was most likely failure and no German was killed.