Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

• Contents
• Map

Miriam Brysk - February 7, 2004

Miriam Brysk was born in Warsaw, Poland in 1935. Following the German invasion of Poland, Miriam and her family moved to Lida, Belarus, which was her father's hometown. When Lida was turned into a ghetto, her father, a surgeon, was forced to treat Germans at the local hospital. On May 8th, 1942, Germans massacred most of the residents of the Lida ghetto, but Miriam and her family narrowly escaped death. After returning to the ghetto, the Jewish partisans contacted Miriam's father, requesting his assistance as a surgeon. The family joined the partisans in the Lipiczanska forest, where Miriam was passed off as boy for her safety.

Link to Portraits of Honor Project

1. Introduction
2. Life in Warsaw
3. Religious Life
4. Start of War
5. Life of Father
6. Going to Lida
7. Life in Lida
8. Discussing Photographs of Family
9. Life Under German Occupation
10. Jews of Vilno
11. Escaping Death
12. Being Separated from Parents
13. Joining the Partisans
14. Life with the Partisans
15. Being Separated from Father
16. Mother Falls Ill
17. Creating a Hospital
18. Conclusion