Overview
- Interview Summary
- Morris Abrams (né Abramowitz), Irving Abramowitz, and Arel Laro (né Lazerowich) discuss the history of Minsk, Belarus and the nearby cities of Rudki, Lida, and Baranovichi; the Russian-Communist occupation starting in 1939 for 22 months; the Torah writers of Minsk; the Russian education system; the German invasion July 1941 and the ghetto of Minsk, Belarus; the nighttime forced labor and mass grave digging; the food shortages and escaping the ghetto to find food and some people never returning; the addition of the local Romani and disabled populations; the mass shooting of 200-300 Jews on April 28-29, 1942 behind a local synagogue; the local antisemitic views of the non-Jewish population and the popular chant “Save Russia, Kill the Jews”; moving to the labor camp Neuengamme and escaping within six days; the formation of the partisan movement in the Minsk ghetto and its growth throughout the war mainly in Zhetel, Belarus (present day Dzyatlava, Belarus); being involved with the partisans for two years; the winter of 1943 and the destruction of German railroad tracks and supply trains; joining the Russian Soviet Army and receiving formal training; Russian hospitalization and treatments; deserting the Soviet Army and escaping to the American side of the war in 1944; returning to Zhetel after the war ended; immigrating to the United States; changing their last names; and how the three men reunited after immigrating separately to the United States.
- Interviewee
- Morris Abrams
Irving Abramowitz
Arel Laro - Date
-
interview:
1991 June 08-1993 September 21
- Credit Line
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Charles Abrams
Physical Details
- Language
- English
- Extent
-
4 DVD : MPEG-2.
Rights & Restrictions
- Conditions on Access
- There are no known restrictions on access to this material.
- Conditions on Use
- Restrictions on use. Restrictions may exist. Contact the Museum for further information: reference@ushmm.org
Keywords & Subjects
- Topical Term
- Antisemitism--Belarus--Minsk. Concentration camp escapes--Germany. Education--Soviet Union. Forced labor--Belarus. Jewish ghettos--Belarus--Minsk. Mass burials--Belarus--Minsk. Mass murder--Belarus--Minsk. Railroad trains--Belarus. Romanies. Shooting (Execution)--Belarus--Minsk. World War, 1939-1945--Jewish resistance--Belarus--Minsk. World War, 1939-1945--Underground movements. World War, 1939-1945--Veterans--Belarus. Men--Personal narratives.
- Geographic Name
- Dziatlava (Belarus) Minsk (Belarus) Poland--History--Occupation, 1939-1945. Soviet Union--Armed Forces. United States--Emigration and immigration.
- Personal Name
- Abrams, Morris. Abramowitz, Irving. Laro, Arel.
- Corporate Name
- Neuengamme (Concentration camp) Soviet Union. Sovetskaia Armiia
Administrative Notes
- Legal Status
- Permanent Collection
- Provenance
- Charles Abrams donated the oral history interviews with Morris Abrams, Irving Abramowitz, and Arel Laro to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum December 11, 2012. The interviews were conducted June 8, 1991 and September 21, 1993.
- Special Collection
-
The Jeff and Toby Herr Oral History Archive
- Record last modified:
- 2023-11-16 09:29:53
- This page:
- https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn74666
Download & Licensing
- Request Copy
- See Rights and Restrictions
- Terms of Use
- This record is digitized but cannot be downloaded online.
In-Person Research
- Available for Research
- Plan a Research Visit
