A place for families of Jewish partisans from World War II to connect and share their stories.
Velvel Yanson 3 Leah and Wolf Velvel in the Bielski Partisans Screenshot 2018-02-05 19.27.07

William (Velvel, Velvke, Wolf) Johnson (Yanson)


Velvel Yanson was born on May 30, 1920, and grew up in Lubcz (Lubscha), Belarus. He was the son of David Yanson and Chasia Yankelowitz Yanson. Velvel had two sisters, Grunya and Henya. When he was 19 years old, his life changed forever. In August 1939, upon hearing that...

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Community Stories

Rachel Pinchusowitch Litwak


Rachel Pinchusowitch Litwak was born on March 12, 1923, in Baranowicze, Poland, a town surrounded by many forests. She lived with her...

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Laszlo (Les) Mittelman


Laszlo Mittelman was born in Debrecen, Hungary in 1919. His parents were relatively poor, but they managed to put food on the...

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Rochelle Sutin (Schleif)


Rochelle Schleif was born on July 15, 1924, and grew up in Stolpce, Poland. Her father was a very successful businessman. As...

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Antal Oppenheimer


Antal (born as Adolf) Oppenheimer was born on January 17, 1910, in Budapest, Hungary. His early childhood was spent in the vicinity...

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Pesach (Paul) Friedberg


Pesach (Paul) Friedberg Pesach Friedberg, the youngest of three brothers, was born in Novogrudok, Poland, on September 15, 1918. He never knew...

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Avigdor Klimtka (Cline)


Avigdor Klimtka, a Jewish partisan who lived a brief but itinerant life, (from “Tag Eins ” as he used to say)...

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