There is, for both survivors and their children, a constant inner turmoil between what cannot be forgotten and what must be laid aside for the sake of life. There can be no final stasis here. Memory does not come and go according to our conscious wishes. And the needs of the living have an urgency all their own.
Which brings me to the “third generation,” the children of the children. When I speak of the needs of the living, I speak first and foremost of them.
At the time I write this, my daughter Sarah—named for my father’s mother Sarah—is three years old. I have already said that someday I want her to read this book, to take the lives of her grandparents into her own life, to understand that the world is capable of the Holocaust, to recognize that even good people suffer from a craving to ignore evil.
But I am also a fatuous parent. I want her to possess all of this knowledge without paying the price of pain. I will take care not to make the Holocaust the presence in her life that it was in mine. I will try to shield her from ever experiencing my struggles with memory.
I may fail in these aims.
But this I know. I will love her with the ferocity with which my parents loved me.
* Judith S. Kestenberg, M.D., “Survivor-Parents and Their Children,” in Generations of the Holocaust, Martin S. Bergmann and Milton E. Jucovy, eds. (Columbia University Press, New York, 1990), p. 102.
Image Gallery
Lazar Schleiff
Cila Schleiff
The Schleiff sisters and their friends. Rochelle and Sofka are standing in dark dresses in back; Miriam is directly in front of them.
Julius and Sarah Sutin with their son Jack.
Jack as a schoolboy.
Jack in his partisan uniform—photo taken just after the liberation in 1944.
Photo of Jack taken for identification purposes by Soviet authorities circa 1944.
Jack at his desk as administrator of the Nei Freimann displaced persons (DP) camp in Germany.
Jack and Rochelle together in their Nei Freimann camp house.
Rochelle in the kitchen of the Nei Freimann camp house.
Jack and Rochelle with baby Cecelia.
Crayon drawing by Julius Sutin—this and subsequent drawings all circa 1947–1949. None of the drawings were titled by the artist.
Crayon drawing by Julius Sutin.
Crayon drawing by Julius Sutin.
Crayon drawing by Julius Sutin.
Crayon drawing by Julius Sutin.
This photo of the Sutin family appeared in the St. Paul Dispatch, 22 September 1949.
The Sutin family circa 1960: Julius and Jack in front; Larry, Rochelle, and Cecilia in back.
The Sutin family today
Notes and Acknowledgments
The writing and publication of this book has been blessed by the welcome and vital contributions of a number of persons. My parents and I would especially like to thank the following:
My sister, Cecilia Sutin Dobrin, prepared typed transcriptions of the extensive taped interviews. Beyond this, the emotional support that she and her husband Steven provided for this project was an invaluable motivating force.
My dear wife Mab read through several drafts of the book and fostered the process of recording the truth.
Our agent, Gloria Loomis, took on this project well knowing that it would prove to be a marketing challenge. Her dedication and enthusiasm were key factors in making the book a reality.
Two good friends, Randy Pink and Mary Logue, provided insightful advice that helped shape the structure of the book.
Scott Walker, the former director of Graywolf Press who acquired the book, showed his remarkable dedication by offering to read an early version of the manuscript even after he had moved on to new responsibilities. His incisive comments led to further interviews with my parents and a deepened final narrative.
Fiona McCrae, the new Graywolf Press director, has been a second great source of editorial support. Her comments on the “Afterword” were especially valuable.
Gordon Thomas, Graywolf associate director, offered a rare degree of kindness at a time when it was badly needed. Janna Rademacher, marketing manager, has been a pleasure to work with. Anne Czarniecki provided meticulous copyediting of the whole. Erik Saulitis made the taking of the back cover photo a joy.
My parents’ memories are their own. In the course of my background preparations for the interviews, I read a good many volumes on the Holocaust. Two which proved especially helpful were by Nechama Tec, a historian and sociologist who has written extensively and excellently on the Holocaust in Poland. In the Lion’s Den: The Life of Oswald Rufeisen (Oxford University Press, 1990) is a full-scale biography of the remarkable man of whom my father speaks in Chapters III and IV of this book. Defiance: The Bielski Partisans (Oxford University Press, 1993) recounts the history of a Jewish fighting group in the Nalibocka Forest led by the Bielski Brothers; my parents served in a similar but smaller group led by Simcha Zorin.
For the sake of serious researchers, I note two points as to which my parents offer information which differs from that presented by Tec. (1) My father understood, through rumors in the Mir ghetto underground, that Rufeisen would—if the underground members made a successful escape—thereafter lead the German police into an ambush waged by those same underground members. Rufeisen, who was interviewed extensively by Tec for In the Lion’s Den, did not mention such an ambush, though he did recall that he planned to give the underground information as to subsequent Nazi police movements and, ultimately, to join the underground himself. The ambush rumor—believed by my father and at least some others in the Mir underground—may not have reflected Rufeisen’s precise intentions. (2) In Defiance, Tec reports that the fighting group led by Simcha Zorin suffered “heavy losses” during the August 1943 Nazi assault on the Nalibocka Forest. My parents, who were both members of this group, recall that there were few losses (see Chapter VIII herein).
In the printed narrative, bracketed language [] indicates an explanatory insertion by the editor. In a few instances not designated, first-name pseudonyms were used for certain persons—all Jewish—who play secondary roles in the narrative.
Index
A
Abram, 165–166
Anti-Semitism, in Poland, 5–6, 9, 14–16, 30, 154, 208
Anti-Semitism, in Russia, 21, 80, 208
Antonina, 150–151
Auschwitz, 188
B
Baranowicze, 18–19, 27–28, 161, 164
Belorussia (White Russia), 1
Benienson, Rachel, 1
Bergmann, Martin S., 208
Beria, Lavrenti, 30
Berlin, 163, 167, 170–173
Bielski brothers, 107, 118
body weight, attitude toward in Poland, 19
Bremerhaven, 187, 189
C
Carpathian Mountains, 10
Charkow, University of, 1
Chevre Kaddishe (Brotherhood of the Kaddish), 6, 169
Chenstochowa, 165
CIA (Central Intelligence Agency), 187
Ciechocinek, 10
comsomoles (young Communist pioneer groups), 30
D
Dobrin, Daniel, 204, 209
Dobrin, David, 204, 209
Donbass, 162
dowry customs, 3–4
Druskeniki, 10
E
Einsatzgruppen (mobile killing units), 81
Ephraim, 105
F
Fania, 69, 85–86, 88
Feldafing DP camp, 173–174
G
Garmizo, David, 169–170
Garmizo, Nechama, 169–170
Garmizo, Pola, 186–187
General Taylor (U.S. Navy vessel), 189
Gittel, 100, 103–104, 106–107
Greenberg, Larry, 193
Greenberg, Shirley, 193
H
HaBoker (The Morning), 176
Hashomer Hatzair (Young Guard), 15, 52
Hein, Reinhold, 54, 57
, 59–60
HIAS (Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society), 170, 173–175, 186
Hitler, Adolf, 81
Hitler-Stalin pact, 12
Horodej, 62, 164
I
Israel, 9–10, 16, 163, 171, 174, 176, 186
Iweniec, 150–152
J
Jewish Daily Forward, 210
Jewish partisans: 61–68, 85–86, 92–98, 107–108, 110–114, 117–124, 129–130, 132–133, 136–147, 149
Jucovy, Milton E., 208
Jude yellow star patches, 22, 37
Judenrat, Mir, 48, 55, 57
Judenrat, Stolpce, 37
K
Kagan, Sarah, 156
Kagan, Simon, 124, 156, 160, 176
Katia, 140
Katowice, 167–168
Kestenberg, Judith S., M.D., 208
KGB (Soviet secret police), 24–25
Krieger, Eva, 178
Krieger, Sam, 178
Kruglice, 35, 155, 161
Kurluta family, 49–51, 61–62, 90–91, 109
L
Landsberger Zeitung, 176
Leah, 165–166
Lenin, Vladimir, 2
Liss, 93–94
Lodz, 165–169, 179, 188
Luze, 84
Luze River, 82
M
Malishansky family, 156
Maryan, 101
Mengele, Joseph, 189
Minsk, 1–2, 33, 80, 117, 122, 149–150
Mir, 13–14, 18–20, 21–23, 26, 47–55, 57–60, 62, 69, 85, 95, 111, 117, 139, 155–160, 188
Mir yeshiva, 13–14, 48
Mir zamek (Mirski Castle), 51–52, 54–55, 57–60
Miranke, 65, 112, 116
Molotov, Vyacheslaw, 30
Moshe, 116–117
Mottel, 72–74
N
Nalibocka Forest, 82, 113, 118, 129–130
Nei Freimann DP camp, 175–179, 182–183, 187–188
Niemen River, 35, 73–76
Nieswierz, 62–64
O
“Oifun Pripichok” (Yiddish song), 109
Ostroda, 151
P
Palestine, 9, 19–20
“Papirosun” (Yiddish song), 109
parachutzistn (parachutists), 82–84
Petrovich, 86–88
Piesochna, 93–94
politruks (Sovet political advisors), 30–31, 62–64
Prass, Ashke, 28
Pressman, 122, 125, 139–140
Prussia, 151
Puchowicze, 12
R
Rassenschande (race defilement), 79
Resnik, Dov, 53
Rochelle’s, Inc., 201–203
Roosevelt, Franklin Delano, 164
Rufeisen, Oswald 52–54, 57–61
Rubizewicze, 13
Russian (Soviet) partisans, 34, 55, 57–58, 75–84, 87–88, 117–118, 120–121, 123–124
Rydel, Ronke, 178–179, 184–185, 197
Rydel, Sofka, 178, 184
S
St. Paul Dispatch, 194
Schekele, 42–43
Schleiff, Cila (born Benienson), 1–11, 24, 29–31, 34–43, 44–45, 181–182, 184, 203
Schleiff, Ethel, 3, 43
Schleiff, Herman, 9, 186, 193–196, 201–202
Schleiff, Lazar, 2–12, 24–26, 29–32, 34–37, 39–40, 43, 155, 203
Schleiff, Oscar, 2, 133–136, 150–152, 156–157
Schleiff (Sutin), Rochelle: early religious training, 6–7; education, 8, 30–31; parental discipline, 10–11; early meetings with Jack, 28–30; first encounter with dead bodies, 35; solitary journey to Stolpce, 35–36; in Nazi forced labor group, 38–39, 42–47; asks after fate of her dead father, 39–40; witnesses liquidation of Stolpce ghetto, 44–47; mother urges her to take revenge, 47; shock over fate of family, 71–72; escapes from forced labor group, 72–76; abused while with Russian partisan group, 77–82; abused by Russian parachutists, 82–84; arrives at Jack’s bunker, 85–86; negative reception by Jewish partisans, 88–90; leaves Jack’s group, 99–101; returns to Jack’s group, 104–106; hides in swamp during winter 1943, 114–115; pleads on Jack’s behalf with Zorin atrad leaders, 122–123, 137–138, 146; treats boils of Jack and another atrad member, 126–127; intuition to evade German pursuit, 130–132; overtures by Uncle Oscar, 133–136; takes and then refrains from revenge, 141–144; sees Uncle Oscar in Iweniec, 150–152; return to Stolpce, 152–155; bribes Soviet doctor to keep Jack out of army, 161–162; becomes pregnant, 164–165; miscarries while in Lodz, 167–169; smuggled into Berlin, 169–172; hostess in Nei Freimann, 178–179; becomes pregnant again, 180; Jewish wedding ceremony with Jack, 180; religious beliefs and prayers to her mother, 181–182; gives birth to Cecilia, 183–186; voyage to America, 189–192; adjustment to life in America, 193–199; gives birth to Larry, 196–197; parenting Cecilia and Larry, 203, 211–216
Schleiff, Rose, 193–195, 202
Schleiff, Sofka, 4–5, 28, 30–31, 41–42, 44–45, 203
Sczeczin, 169–170
Singer, Isaac Bashevis, 210
Sonia, 79–80, 82
Sorokin, 77, 81
Srkin, 11
SS (Nazi secret police), 36–37, 39–40, 139, 147
Stalin, Josef, 2, 21, 23, 26, 30–31, 81, 121
Stanislawski, 59–60
Stolpce, 1, 4, 13, 18, 23, 27–30, 34–38, 44–47, 62, 83–86, 138–139, 146, 152–155, 180, 188
Sutin (Dobrin), Cecilia, 184–186, 188–191, 193–194, 197–199, 203, 208–209, 211–213, 217
Sutin, Isaac, 12
Sutin, Jack: early religious training, 14; education, 14–15, 18, 27–28; involvement with Hashomer Hatzair, 15–16; divorce by parents, 16–17; dating experiences, 18–19, 28–30; bar mitzvah; 19; plans to emigrate to Palestine, 19–20; early meetings with Rochelle, 28–30; returns to Mir after German invasion, 47–48; performs forced labor in Mir ghetto, 48–49; smuggles grenades into Mir ghetto, 54; escapes from Mir ghetto, 57–61; joins small Jewish partisan group, 61–62; raid on German police station, 63–64; becomes leader of small Jewish partisan group, 64–67; dreams that Rochelle will join him, 68–69; leads raid against Piesochna farm, 93–95; leads food raid outside Mir, 95–98; goes to visit Rochelle at new group, 101–103; plans for Rochelle’s return, 104–106; hides in swamp during winter, 1943, 114–115; fights with Zorin atrad, 123–124; develops severe boils, 124–127; contemplates Nazi defeat, 138–139; fights in ambush on retreating German troops, 139–141; transcribes Zorin’s final speech to atrad, 144–145; disguises himself, 146; retrieves family photographs from Talish family, 156; practices “dentistry” under Soviets, 156–160; claims TB to stay out of Soviet army, 160–162; rage at theft of gold coins, 165–167; smuggled into Berlin, 169–172; journalist, photographer and chief administrator at Nei Freimann DP camp, 175–177; belief in God and memories of mother, 182–183; first hears truth of concentration camp atrocities, 188; voyage to America, 189–192; successful business career, 199–202; parenting Cecilia and Larry, 203, 211–216; heroic rescue of woman under attack, 216
Sutin, Julius, 12–14, 16–19, 26–27, 47–51, 58–59, 111–112, 120, 126, 146, 152, 156–158, 164, 167, 171, 175, 187, 194, 196–197, 202, 209–211, 217
Sutin, Lawrence, 196–197, 203–204, 209–211, 215–218
Sutin, Louis, 174
Sutin, Miriam, 12
Sutin, Sarah (Jack’s mother), 13–14, 16–18, 26–27, 31, 47–50, 182
Sutin, Sarah (granddaughter of Jack and Rochelle), 204, 217–218
T
Talish family, 156, 165
Tanya, 72–88, 120
Troy, Phillip, 200
Turec, 62
U
United States of America, 9
UNRRA (United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration), 170, 174–176, 186
Usik, 76–77
W
Warsaw, 1, 12–13, 165
Wert
heim, 122, 125, 137
Z
Zarutsky, Dmitri, 46–47
Zenowey, 158–160, 162, 164
Zorin, Simcha, 107, 118, 121–122, 137–142, 144–145
Zorin atrad (fighting group), 117–124, 129–130, 132–133, 136–147, 149, 165
Zuchowicki, David, 179
About the Authors
JACK AND ROCHELLE SUTIN met in the woods of Poland as Jewish resistance fighters during the Holocaust. They married in 1942 in the underground bunker that served as one of their shelters while they fought with Jewish partisan groups during the war. After that, the couple was sent to a displaced-persons camp in Germany. The two later immigrated to St. Paul, Minnesota, where they ran an import business and had two children. Rochelle Sutin died in 2010.
LAWRENCE SUTIN is a writer of fiction, biography, and memoir from Minnesota. He edited Jack and Rochelle: A Holocaust Story of Love and Resistance, the memoirs of his parents’ experience as underground resistance fighters during the Holocaust. He is a professor of creative writing in the low-residency master of fine arts program of the Vermont College of Fine Arts.
All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.
Copyright © 1995 by Lawrence Sutin
Cover design by Mauricio Díaz
ISBN: 978-1-5040-1568-4
This edition published in 2015 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.
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