Leyb Koniuchowsky

Leyb Koniuchowsky was born in Lithuania on 18 November 1910. An engineer by profession, he resided in Kaunas (Kovno). During the German occupation he lived in the Kaunas Ghetto and worked there until his escape. He found shelter in a bunker at a farmer's home where he remained until the liberation of Lithuania by the Red Army in 1944.

From 1944-46, he wandered through the war battered towns of Lithuania, collecting testimonies from the few Jews that survived. The testimonies focus on the extermination of the Jews and the destruction of the local towns and villages. Koniuchowsky was meticulous about the accuracy and authenticity of the information in the testimonies, and even had the witnesses sign their testimonies. The testimonies include the names of thousands of victims of the Holocaust, the names of their murderers and those who had collaborated with the Germans. Koniuchowsky continued to collect testimonies in She’erit Hapletah DP camps in Germany, where he lived for a few years. From Germany he emigrated to the United States with help from the HIAS organization.

collecting testemonies in the first years after the Holocaust