Leyb Blumberg, in hiding in Warsaw then escape to Vilnius in October 1939

Metadata

Brief testimony of Leyb Blumberg, recorded on 16 November 1939 and describing his flight from Warsaw to Vilnius in October 1939, during which he and his fellow travelers were not bothered by German troops. They reached Vilnius without difficulty.

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Document Text

  1. English
  2. Yiddish
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1Note 1 : stamp on the left: Committee to Collect Material

about the Destruction of Polish Jewry 1939

Blumberg Leyb

Born in 1915, Warsaw

Testimony number 6

(recorded on 16th November, 1939)

I 2Note 2 : There are no personal pronouns and no auxiliary verbs in the record (probably in order to save time), so it’s impossible to know if it is the 1st or the 3rd person. left Warsaw on 14th October. Before, I had been hidden all the time on Bonifraterska street 4. I didn’t see any scenes. The house was not damaged by bombings.

I reached Vilnius by the MałkiniaBiałystok road. I went on foot, in the company of Christian workers who were going to the Soviets. There was also a prisoner from the region of Vilnius. We got through safely, the Germans did not bother us.

I heard a lot of stories, but don’t remember any.

The border was open, we reached Vilnius without difficulties.

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קאָמיטעט צו זאַמלען מאַטעריאַלן

וועגן ייִדישן חורבן אין פּוילן 1939

בלומבערג לייב

געבוירן 1915, וואַרשע

פּראָטאָקאָל נומער 6

(צוזאַמענגעשטעלט דעם 16טן נאָוועמבער 1939)

אַרויס פֿון וואַרשע דעם 14טן אָקטאָבער. געווען די גאַנצע צײַט אויסבאַהאַלטן אויף באָניפֿראַטערסקאַ 4. אַליין ניט בײַגעווען קיינע שום סצענעס. דאָס הויז – ניט געליטן פֿון די באָמבאַרדירונגען.

קיין ווילנע אַריבער מיטן וועג מאַלקין ־ ביאַליסטאָק. געגאַנגען צוזאַמען מיט אַ קאָמפּאַניע קריסטלעכע אַרבעטער, וועלכע זײַנען געגאַנגען צו די סאָוויעטן, געווען דאָ אויך אַ געפֿאַנגענער פֿון ווילנער געגנט. אַזוי אַרום איז דער וועג אַריבער בשלום, די דײַטשן נישט געטשעפּעט.

געהערט אַ סך דערציילונגען, אָבער געדענקט זיי ניט.

די גרענעץ געווען אָפֿן, אַריבער אָן שום שוועריקייטן קיין ווילנע.

References

  • Updated 4 years ago
The United Kingdom declared war on Nazi Germany on 3 September 1939, after the German invasion of Poland. After the defeat of France in the spring of 1940, the British Expeditionary Force withdrew from the European Continent. Although the Channel Islands near the French coast did fall into German hands, from the summer of 1940 until 1945, mainland Britain resisted German invasion and became a refuge for many governments-in-exile and refugees of the occupied countries in Europe. At the outbrea...

Wiener Holocaust Library

  • Wiener Library for the Study of the Holocaust & Genocide
<p><span style="color: #ff0000;"><strong>Readers need to reserve a reading room terminal to access a digital version of this archive.</strong></span></p><p>This microfilm collection consists of material gathered in Vilnius, Lithuania, by a group of refugee Polish-Jewish writers and journalists, who formed a committee to collect evidence on the conditions of Jews in Poland under German occupation. For a more detailed description of the background, objectives and methodology of this project see a...