Russian Guerrillas Save 1,500 Jews from Nazis; Lead Them to Red Army Lines

The story of how a daring band of Russian guerrillas slipped into German-held Byelorussia and led 1,500 Jewish fugitives along an “underground railway” to safety was related here today by a Soviet correspondent following the safe arrival of the Jews in Soviet territory.

Some weeks ago the guerrilla unit led by Time fay K– was ordered to proceed to a wooded section where it had been learned 1,500 Jews – women, children and old men – were hiding from the Nazis, faced with the imminent threat of execution if they were captured. Following a prearranged plan, the partisans met the group of Jews at a designated spot and travelling along side roads, frequently after dark, led them to the Russian lines. Along the route collective farmers contributed food and warm clothing for the refugees, many of whom were ill. Several of the farmers volunteered to act as guides to insure that the fugitives would not be discovered by the Nazis.

After traversing several hundred kilometers the guerrillas and their charges reached collective farms on the Soviet side where the villagers welcomed the Jews and provided food and lodging. The correspondent who witnessed the end of the journey reports that many of the relatives of the escaped Jews had died at the hands of the Nazis. Aaron Lifshitz, a 60-year-old tailor told him how his aged sister and only son had been tortured to death. Fourteen-year-old Baruch Isaacson reported how his sister committed suicide when molested by Nazi soldiers and his mother was murdered and her body violated.

All of the 1,500 Jews are now en route to the interior of the Soviet Union “where work, new homes and a new life awaits them,” the correspondent adds.