Samuel Biegun - February 15, 1983
History of Pinsk
I have to find the...
Okay. You're looking through a book now on the history of Pinsk.
Yes.
Wife: Yes, I saw the picture there somewhere.
And what year are we talking about now?
Wife: The '30s.
In the '30s?
No, no, no, it was in the '20s.
In the '20s. Pinsk was now in Poland, yeah? It was part of Poland.
Wife: Why did he shot him?
And, and you say that there was thirty-six people.
They rounded up thirty-six people.
Now you're talking about Jews?
Yes, the Polacks, they rounded them up. And they were--they had a convention to uh, they were going to uh, raise some money for poor people ???. So they thought they was demonstrating or something, so they rounded up anybody they could get and they shot 'em right against the big church--Catholic church--against the wall.
Now who was, who was trying to raise money, the Juden?
Yeah.
They were trying to raise uh, to raise money for the poor.
For the poor, yeah.
And the Polish thought that it was some sort of a demonstration or...
Yes, like against them or something.
A rebellion maybe.
Rebellion, and they rounded up the people, whoever they could get--a lot of them ran away--and they shot 'em right against the wall...
Wife: ???
...against the wall, '36. It was very famous, I mean uh, even the United States knew about it.
Who, was it the police that shot? Was it the army?
The army. Thirty-six. And they were famous people, you know...
Oh they weren't just uh, I mean, they were, they were important people that were shot.
Yes.
Wife: ???
It must be here, too.
Wife: It's an old book, Sam.
Here's uh, here's the year. ???
Wife: ???
No, thousand?
Wife: Thousand, oh ???, what is ???. Nine.
This is a picture that you're showing me in this book on the history of Pinsk. You're showing me a picture of some of the men that were killed in that massacre by the Polish government.
Yes.
Do you remember what year this was?
It must've been ???.
Wife: Here, thirty-five people. Which year was it? Oh, don't forget, one was seventeen-year old, Bolkosky.
??? it was the big school name after I went, you know, his name after the school ???...
Wife: ??? let's see the year.
Or the soldiers.
© Board of Regents University of Michigan-Dearborn