Roza and Rafal Lekach photograph collection

Róża Lekach (born Róża Itman) was born on April 3, 1929 in Ziabki (Zyabki), Bielorussia, Poland. Her father, Rafał Itman, was a mechanic and her mother, Faina Itman, took care of the children. Róża had two brothers: Michal (b. 1923) and Salomon (b. 1934); and a sister: Chana (b. 1927). In September 1941 the Germans executed more then 400 Jews from Ziabki in the nearby Prozoroki. The Itman family and six other families were spared because of their professional skills. In October 1941 all Jewish population of Ziabki was transferred to the Głębokie (Głubokie) ghetto. About 6,000 Jews from the town and the vicinity were forced to work in various workshops. In August 1943 the Germans begun to deport the Jews and liquidate the ghetto. Rafał Itman obtained false documents for his family and arranged for them to be taken out of the ghetto. Rafał was shot and killed on April 5, 1942. At the end of September 1943 Mrs. Kawrecka, a Polish woman, smuggled Róża,Chana, Salomon, and their mother, Faina Itman, and hid them in her attic and basement. Michal escaped the ghetto on his own and later joined his mother and siblings. After a few months Mrs. Kawrecka transferred them to the Sienkiewicz family in Ziabki village, where they were hidden behind a closet. Malwina and Konstanty Sienkiewicz were regcongized as Rightious Among Nations by Yad Vashem. After some months Róża and her family had to leave Ziabki and hide in a forrest. They joined Soviet partisans, a Denisov group. After their liberation, the Itman family returned to Ziabki. Róża met and married Rafał Lekach in Ziabki on July 16, 1946. In 1947 and joined her husband in Poland. Rafał Lekach was born on August 8, 1925 in Dzisna, Poland (currently Disna, Bielorussia). His father, Rubin Lekach, leased land on which he cultivated fruit trees and exported the fruit to larger towns. Rafał’s mother, Anna Łapid Lekach, took care of the children. Rafał had four sibling: Grisza (Gershon, b.1923), Michal (b. 1931), Jewsiej (Yosef, b. 1935) and Dora (b. 1936). In June 1941, after the German invasion of the Soviet Union, the Lekach family fled the area and was finally evacuated by the Soviets to a cooperative farm (kolchoz) Iwanowo, near Kirov. In 1942 Rubin and Grisza were mobilized into the Red Army. Rubin was wounded during the battle of Rzhew, near Smolensk, and after his recuperation he worked in a coal mine. Grisza was wounded in 1945. In 1943 Rafał was mobilized into the newly formed Polish Army and served in the First Division untill the end of the war. He remained in the military and served in the rank of lieutenant-colonel until 1967. Róża and Rafał Lekach lived in Warsaw until 1971 when they were forced to leave Poland. They joined their two daughters who left Poland for Sweden a few years earlier.

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

The collections was donated by Roza and Rafal Lekach to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1999.