Leonid B. Holocaust testimony
Abstract
Videotape testimony of Leonid B., who was born in Shpikov, Ukraine in 1921. He recounts his father's death when he was six; moving to Pohrebyshche; his mother's remarriage; moving to Kiev; attending a Jewish school, then a military school; completing training as an artillery officer two days before the German invasion in June; posting to Przemyśl; relocating to Korostenʹ; retreating with his unit through Ukraine and Belarus; witnessing the bombing of civilians; battles in Kiev and Poltava; being wounded; locals assisting him medically, providing false papers, and hiding him; moving to Cherkasy; briefly staying with his grandmother in Belozër'ye; capture; escaping his imminent execution; assistance from locals in several locations, including Ternivka; obtaining good false papers; establishing a partisan unit with others; joining an organized partisan group; many operations blowing up trains and battles with Germans; capture and escape; parachuting with others behind German lines; assisting local partisans in Poland in spring and summer 1944; and earning two advanced degrees after the war. Mr. B. notes he saved many Jews; being honored by several Polish and Czech towns; and writing books about his experiences.
Extent and Medium
2 videocassettes
Conditions Governing Access
This testimony is open with permission.
Conditions Governing Reproduction
Copyright has been transferred to the Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies. Use of this testimony requires permission of the Fortunoff Video Archive.
Rules and Conventions
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Process Info
compiled by Staff of the Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies
People
- B., Leonid, -- 1921-
Subjects
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, Jewish.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Personal narratives.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Participation, Jewish.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Participation, Soviet.
- Holocaust survivors.
- Men.
- Video tapes.
- Hiding.
- Partisans.
- Postwar experiences.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Underground movements -- Ukraine.
- Escapes.
- False papers.
- Aid by non-Jews.
Places
- Ternivka (Bershadsʹkyĭ raĭon, Ukraine)
- Belozër'ye (Ukraine)
- Kiev (Ukraine)
- Pohrebyshche (Ukraine)
- Shpikov (Ukraine)
- Ukraine.
- Cherkasy (Ukraine)
- Poltava (Ukraine)
- Korostenʹ (Ukraine)
- Przemyśl (Poland)
Genre
- Oral histories. -- aat