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  1. Home
  2. The Jewish Community of Vilna
  3. During the Holocaust
  4. Jewish Partisans in Vilna

Jewish Partisans in Vilna

Following the events in the ghetto of the 1st of September 1943, the Staff Command of the FPO reluctantly decided not to begin a fight to the death. Among their many concerns was further endangering the inhabitants of the ghetto. Instead they began to gradually send their members to fight in the forests.

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Partisan Rachel Rudnitzki together with other armed partisans in the streets of Vilna during the liberation of the city.
Partisan Rachel Rudnitzki together with other armed partisans in the streets of Vilna during the liberation of the city.

Yad Vashem Photo Archives 3271/13
Courtesy of The State Archive of the Russian Federation (GARF)

Partisan Rachel Rudnitzki together with other armed partisans in the streets of Vilna during the liberation of the city.
Voices From the Forest: Testimonies of Partisans from Vilna

Voices From the Forest: Testimonies of Partisans from Vilna
Baruch Shub- The Holocaust in Vilna

Baruch Shub- The Holocaust in Vilna
Partisans: Father and son, the Meilikowski family
Partisans: Father and son, the Meilikowski family

Yad Vashem Photo Archives 3380/405

Partisans: Father and son, the Meilikowski family
Chana Azkut, partisan medic and member of the F.P.O. in Vilna
Chana Azkut, partisan medic and member of the F.P.O. in Vilna

Yad Vashem Photo Archives 3271/78
Courtesy of The State Archive of the Russian Federation (GARF)

Chana Azkut, partisan medic and member of the F.P.O. in Vilna
Armed partisans Abba Kovner (left) and Shmerke Kaczerginski in Joniškis, Lithuania, 1944
Armed partisans Abba Kovner (left) and Shmerke Kaczerginski in Joniškis, Lithuania, 1944

Yad Vashem Photo Archives, 3380/433

Armed partisans Abba Kovner (left) and Shmerke Kaczerginski in Joniškis, Lithuania, 1944
Jewish partisans after liberation. Vilna, 14 July 1944
Jewish partisans after liberation. Vilna, 14 July 1944

Standing, from left: Elchanan Magid, Jacob Prener, Bluma Markowicz (killed by a German air attack two days after the photo was taken), Abba Kovner, Ruzka Korczak, Leib Szapirstein, Vitka Kempner
Below, from left: Gershon, Pesach Mizerecz, Motl Szames
The photo was taken by a military reporter from Moscow, after the fighting on the streets of besieged Vilna abated.
 

Yad Vashem Photo Archives CO5/121

Jewish partisans after liberation. Vilna, 14 July 1944
Jewish partisans who fought in the Rudniki Forest, in the city center after liberation. Vilna, 14 July 1944
Jewish partisans who fought in the Rudniki Forest, in the city center after liberation. Vilna, 14 July 1944

Top row, middle: Abba Kovner
The photo was taken by a military reporter from Moscow, after the fighting on the streets of besieged Vilna abated.

Yad Vashem Photo Archives EO9/120

Jewish partisans who fought in the Rudniki Forest, in the city center after liberation. Vilna, 14 July 1944
After liberation, partisan Boris Yocha reenacts how he planted dynamite on a railroad track near Vilna to sabotage the Germans.
After liberation, partisan Boris Yocha reenacts how he planted dynamite on a railroad track near Vilna to sabotage the Germans.

Yad Vashem Photo Archives CO7/153

After liberation, partisan Boris Yocha reenacts how he planted dynamite on a railroad track near Vilna to sabotage the Germans.
Partisans who fought in the Rudniki Forest. From left: Joseph Harmatz, Valentina Fashbelska and Abraham Szabrinski
Partisans who fought in the Rudniki Forest. From left: Joseph Harmatz, Valentina Fashbelska and Abraham Szabrinski

Yad Vashem Photo Archives 3883/3668

Partisans who fought in the Rudniki Forest. From left: Joseph Harmatz, Valentina Fashbelska and Abraham Szabrinski
Partisan David Pink in the street in Vilna
Partisan David Pink in the street in Vilna

Yad Vashem Photo Archives 3271/28
Courtesy of The Central Government Archives, Moscow

Partisan David Pink in the street in Vilna
David Labkowski (1906-1991): "Partisans in the Forest", 1956
David Labkowski (1906-1991): "Partisans in the Forest", 1956

Gouache on paper

Collection of the Yad Vashem Art Museum

David Labkowski (1906-1991): "Partisans in the Forest", 1956
Partisan Rachel Rudnitzki together with other armed partisans in the streets of Vilna during the liberation of the city.
Partisan Rachel Rudnitzki together with other armed partisans in the streets of Vilna during the liberation of the city.
Voices From the Forest: Testimonies of Partisans from Vilna
Voices From the Forest: Testimonies of Partisans from Vilna
Baruch Shub- The Holocaust in Vilna
Baruch Shub- The Holocaust in Vilna
Partisans: Father and son, the Meilikowski family
Partisans: Father and son, the Meilikowski family
Chana Azkut, partisan medic and member of the F.P.O. in Vilna
Chana Azkut, partisan medic and member of the F.P.O. in Vilna
Armed partisans Abba Kovner (left) and Shmerke Kaczerginski in Joniškis, Lithuania, 1944
Armed partisans Abba Kovner (left) and Shmerke Kaczerginski in Joniškis, Lithuania, 1944
Jewish partisans after liberation. Vilna, 14 July 1944
Jewish partisans after liberation. Vilna, 14 July 1944
Jewish partisans who fought in the Rudniki Forest, in the city center after liberation. Vilna, 14 July 1944
Jewish partisans who fought in the Rudniki Forest, in the city center after liberation. Vilna, 14 July 1944
After liberation, partisan Boris Yocha reenacts how he planted dynamite on a railroad track near Vilna to sabotage the Germans.
After liberation, partisan Boris Yocha reenacts how he planted dynamite on a railroad track near Vilna to sabotage the Germans.
Partisans who fought in the Rudniki Forest. From left: Joseph Harmatz, Valentina Fashbelska and Abraham Szabrinski
Partisans who fought in the Rudniki Forest. From left: Joseph Harmatz, Valentina Fashbelska and Abraham Szabrinski
Partisan David Pink in the street in Vilna
Partisan David Pink in the street in Vilna
David Labkowski (1906-1991): "Partisans in the Forest", 1956
David Labkowski (1906-1991): "Partisans in the Forest", 1956