Abraham Asner - October 10, 1982
Partisan Missions
In 1944, you were still, you still had the same mission as you had back in 1942, to blow up bridges?
Yeah...
Okay.
...yeah. We always had the same mission. And then when the Russian come in, we go in, in the villages. I was catching that time Germans. Germans was running, they come out from the woods and they come in, in the woods. That they, what we, come out from the woods. I never forget that. It was all fires lined up and everything. Every piece of rag, what you don't need, you burn down, leave it. Every little part what you need before. Like some kind of liberation. I, I don't know to explain the feelings, a funny feeling. Then they left everything this, and we are liberated, we are free! And then start to get the Germans. Then I uh, the, that, I was belonging to th... to that uh, ??? to that intelligence. And he give me a mission because I know the area. To catch the secretary--a girl what I used to know her personally--what she works for the Polish Army or AK. For the Polish army girl. Then I went, I... by train and I went to Mackonys, from Mackonys to Orany, from Orany uh, by truck to Eišiškes and down there was the Red Army. And I was going with a rifle, with a document. On the mission nobody noticed, I know, what I'm going for. And uh, it was a little bit hard the transportation, and uh, I was uh, standing by the commandant tour, where the com... where the post uh, military was. And I see they catching German prisoners and everything. And I was waiting down there and looking. I was happy and I see one uh, soldier, a, a soldier, a, a, a Russian soldier. He was Jewish and he wanted to hit him with that uh, rifle. And they don't let him because... He said, they killed my family, this and this and that. I'm not going to save him. Finally that uh, lieutenant from that post said, "Are you a partisan?" I said, "Yes." He gave me it, said, "Take him to ??? and do them what you want." I take him a little bit under the city down there, not far from the Jewish uh, cemetery. And I get finished with him, I come back, he gave me four more. I said to him, "I need some help." They... Then they give me three uh, Russian soldiers with automatic weapon. And when we come close to them, they start to run away. I kill one. They kill one. And they wounded one. And one run away. And that time was, maybe uh, it was in July. The grain, the, the, was high, rye was growing high. And I see sticking out the head, the German. And I start to chase him, I was running. I was a fast runner, very good runner. I run like, got him, bring him over. He said, he's not a German, he's a French, I said, "Speak French." I, I don't know French at all. And then he speak French. If he don't speak French, then I get rid of him. And then one said he's, he's Polish, he was hitting, he said. And they wounded him. I said, "I should have got to finish him off to the, to the Russian." I said, "??? you're going to die anyway." I say, "Go ahead and finish him off." Anyway, finished with them. Uh, then they walking in the front of me, them three, and I walk in the back. And they talking to each other in Russian. Look at our partisans how they working. It was a great help to us, the way they was working.
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