JEWISH WORLD

Mr. Bolender wrote these remem- brances in Yiddish, in 1960. They were translated by his daughter Andrea and edited by Warren Strugatch. W hen the Germans bombed the town of Czyzew in 1939, I was 13 and didn’t know what war was. I hid with my family in a cellar. When the bombing stopped my father Mottel Jushko, of blessed memory, took us to Gramadzyn. There we hid in a stable. A man who worked at the mill’s motel, a Gentile, hid us in a house nearby. My father put me on a train to Lomza. There, my grandfather of blessed memory had a house. You can imagine my grandfa- ther’s happiness to see me alive. Early one morning in 1941 airplanes appeared, throwing down bombs like a heavy rain. The next morning, the Germans arrived. On the roads we saw Jews who’d been shot. A week later, my brother Avrohom Shimon of blessed memory was taken for labor. I never saw him again. One day all men over a certain age were ordered to gather at a place outside the shtetl. One was my father. They were put in black transport cars. The Ger- mans said they were being taken to work. Of course this wasn’t true. The men were driven to the Tzar- vanne forest and shot. I cry I never said goodbye to my father. Our family was now my mother, a sister, two brothers and myself. Young healthy Jews went for prison labor. I was sent to work in Simova at the chateau, then to a stone quar- ry. I managed to escape. A Dr. Ger- lich my relatives knew provided a letter for the German camp com- mander that I couldn't work at the stone quarry. Somehow that letter got me sent back to Lomza. In Lomza, people hid from the Germans on roofs, in cellars and in attics. My cousin, Baruch Sen- dacz, was a policeman. The com- mander ordered him to the roof to look for Jews. He saw us and pretended he didn’t. The com- mander went up himself and found all of us. On the spot he shot Baruch, may God avenge his death. The Gestapo began raiding the buildings. They found my grand- father and another Jew from Kolna. They transported both to Rutka. The Jew from Kolna jumped out of the car. When the car arrived in Rutka, the Germans saw just my grandfather. They shot him on the spot. I worked in an artillery factory out- side Ostrova. Some of us knew each other from before. Together we snuck out and headed back to Lomza. We walked mainly through forests. We passed through the area where the Simaver Yidden had been shot. Hands and feet stuck out of the ground in bunches. We stood with our heads bent a few moments, then moved on, towards Lomza. There I found my mother, broth- er and sister. Heartbroken I said goodbye and returned to the forest. I met up with men, women and chil- dren, thousands of us wandering Jews. The worst was the hunger. We all were looking for food and places to hide. Some younger fel- lows went to nearby villages to beg for food. Those left behind dug ditches, inclu- ding me. Tired and hungry, we dug with our last strength. The ditches filled with Yidden who needed to hide. Outside Zambrow we met up with Russian partisans. We thought we were all on the same side, fighting Hitler. “Weapons, give us weapons to fight,” we begged. What did we get? Nothing. The Russians took whatever we had, leaving us hungry and broken. “Get away!” the Russians screamed. “Deal with the Germans yourselves. Don't follow us.” One night we heard shoot- ing. We quickly hid. When it was quiet we went back. The wounded and dying cried out for help. Instead of giving us food, the villagers had reported us. The Through Flames And Smoke Benek Bolender’s Holocaust Remembrance continued on page 27 JEWISH WORLD • OCTOBER 16-22, 2020 17 The other Jew jumped out. When the car arrived, the Germans saw just my grandfather. They shot him on the spot Benek Bolender in Prague, winter of 1945-46. Eight six seven eight six: the five digits seared onto the left forearm of Benek Bolender, a sobering reminder of his tragic time in a concentration camp. FIRST PERSON LONG ISLAND BORN & BRED SUBSCRIBE TO THE JEWISH WORLD! Return to Jewish World Subscription Dept., Box 220297, Great Neck NY 10022