Miriam Biegun - August 10, 1983
Description of Partisan Group
How, how large of a group was the partisans?
It was very large, our partisans. The name of the partisans, ah, oh I forget all the time. Lipiczanska Puszcza.
Lipiczansky...
Lipiczanska Puszcza, they used to call it in Russian.
What is it?
That's a lot--that's the name of the forest, they give it a name. Because every section, you know, forest had their own name. So then, some partisans get together, they would know where they belong, so the people wouldn't get so confused because of course you know every city had a little forest.
Now when--there were more than one partisan group then in, in the forest, is that right?
Oh yeah.
Did you ever encounter any anti--Semitism among the partisans?
No. For us in the partisans, there was a lots of Russians, not just Jews, but just to survive. They sticked all together, but there was one from before, before the war, before we got, you know, the Russian took it over again, I don't know how long they were, maybe a week or so before, some partisans came from another forest, and I don't know, it was about five, six--I think they run away or something, and they were very drunk. They came to the forest, and we were just civil people, you know, like uh, women and children, no fighters. And they start breaking up, you know, going to the bunkers, and they find our bunkers, and then they start shooting and stuff like that, and we didn't know what happened because from the beginning, we didn't know who they are. But they weren't Germans because they weren't in German uniforms, and they were speaking Russian, so it must be the Russians. But somebody saw it, and they run fast, you know, to find somebody of the partisans, some young fighters. If this fighter wouldn't come alone, I am sure he would kill about three, four families. They would kill us because they were drunk. They didn't know what they were doing.
They were ready to shoot you?
Yeah, but then they apologize when they got--when they got you sober, you know, sometimes the pressure, I suppose, you know. The fighting, depression, you know, it's sometimes, you know, it's like they weren't Jews, but still they with us in the forest.
Do you remember those people--you were what, seven at that time?
Yeah.
Do you remember those people, what it looked like to see them standing there with guns in front of you?
You mean the Germans?
No, these--
The partisans?
This particular incident...
Not quite. You know, a little bit. I remember more the Germans than them.
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