Jewish Partisan Community

A place for families of Jewish partisans from World War II to connect and share their stories.

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Helen with her mother Esther before the war.

Helen (bottom right) with two of her cousins from Lida before the war. Her cousins did not survive.

Helen and Esther in Bad Gastein DP camp.

4. Helen with a few friends in a DP camp

3. Helen with friends in one of the DP camps.

First photo taken in this country-Helen, Esther and Helen’s step father, Joe. Esther met him in the DP camp. This is in Passaic, NJ in front of their apartment

Helen and her husband, Harry before they were married.

Helen and Harry’s wedding photo - November 27, 1955

A family photo of Helen and Harry with their children, Rita and Mark

Helen and Esther in front of the Holocaust Memorial in Miami Beach, Florida.

Helen and Harry’s 60th wedding anniversary

Helen’s presentation of her story to a rehabilitation facility in Freehold, NJ

Helen’s granddaughter, Jacqueline’s wedding to Cedric Dana- November 16, 2016

Poland Partisan

Helen Terris

Helen Terris (née Elinka Cyderowicz) was born in Lida, Poland on September 8, 1935, the only child to mother Esther Thurston Cyderowicz (née Esia Thurston), a homemaker, and father Aaron Cyderowicz, a businessman. Before the war, Helen and her family lived a comfortable and privileged life. Her father went...

Community Stories

Poland Partisan

Aaron Kaye

Aaron Kaye was born on December 24, 1928, in Pultusk, Poland, not far from Warsaw. He lived with his parents, Freya and...

Poland Partisan

Mira Shelub (Raznov)

A Polish Jew born in what is now White Russia, Mira Shelub joined a partisan group that operated in the forest near...

Poland Partisan

Paula (Koladicki) Burger

The oldest surviving child of Wolf and Sarah Koladicki, Paula Burger was born in 1934 in a small town near Novogrudok, in...

Poland Partisan

Henry Yelgin

Henry Yelgin was born on March 24, 1915, in Bobruisk, Russia, and grew up in Grodno, Poland. He lived there with his...

Poland Partisan

Sam (Jacob Simcha) Goldwasser

Sam Goldwasser (born Jacob Simcha) was born on November 28, 1928, in Parczew, Poland, to Yehuda Leib and Henia Goldwasser. Yehuda Leib...

Belarus Partisan

Michael Etkin

Michael Etkin and his twin brother, Chaim-Shepse, were born on December 25th, 1932 in Krulevshchizna, in the North of Belarus. Their mother,...

The biographies on this site are compiled from testimonies, recollections, transcripts, memoirs, and biographies of Jewish partisans, their children and their grandchildren.

A place for families of Jewish partisans from World War II to connect and share their stories.

Approximately 30,000 Jews fought back during the Holocaust as Jewish partisans. They fought in organized, armed resistance groups throughout Europe, saving thousands and striking back at their oppressors in countless ways.

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