Henry Dorfman - August 11 & 25, 1989
The Armia Krajowa
Had you heard of the A...AK?
Oh yes. We were hiding from them too.
From them?
Absolutely.
'Cause they were anti-Semites?
They killed a lot of my friends. They killed about--in one group which is ending--I, I knew where they are--I saw 'em coming on our fields. They uh, they--on the forest, they were from the forest. An the Germans did not go in too much go to the forest. Well most of the Jews in the forest were killed just from the AK. There's no doubt a long...
Now this...
...it's a long story about it.
...this young man who um, die...the family that hid you, you said that they had a son who died...
Yes.
Uh, in Auschwitz?
Yes.
W...was he part of the--do you think he was part of the AK?
He was part of the AK yes. He was part of the AK, but listen, he uh, he couldn't tell them that we are there. There's no doubt.
'Cause his family?
Absolutely.
Uh, you said you had guns and grenades?
Yes.
W...where did they come from?
We got them through uh, again through Pol...through Polish people which my father knew. And they were working uh, you know for example there was Pionick, which--it's very well-known called Pionki which this was an ammunition factory. They made, they made guns--still today factory's--the factory's there only they makin' guns there--grenades and everything and we were getting from there.
Did you ever use it? The gun?
No. Grenades I used a couple times.
What were the circumstances?
We went, we went--listen we went out uh, I remember one time in fact we went on a mission we wanted to blow up a bridge. And near, near the Vistula there was a, a bridge going through where they were building over there bunkers and those Russian officers--I mean those Jews, they, they done something so one time they--father came and he said that he's--that he talked to them and they wanna go blow up a bridge, where the Germans--look, the Russians were coming, already that time uh, it was the Bug, you know, the big river--they already passed the Bug and were coming into--on the Polish territory. So there was more activity from those partisans around. So we went and my father knew the area well. He knew every little bridge and every...and everything, you know where--blow this up or blow this up. Uh, they have no way of going through except suffer, you understand or put new bridges or whatever they could--pontoons or whatever. All small rivers going into the big river, you know like--for me it was like the Redunka and this was on the Redunka they call it, Redunka--I mean they--and I said--'cause he never usually--didn't let me go and I said, "Dad, I'm gonna go this time." So I went and the, the four guys went with us, there was about eight of us. The lady and the little--the lady and the little girl stayed on and one--an older person--he was at that time probably fifty-five--sixty years old--he stayed on. The rest of us, we went. I never--I really--I slept with a grenade because I didn't want to be taken alive. Father used to take them away from me, and yes I went. And we happened to run in--not to Germans to A...to the AK. And uh, like I say they were so close, they had more--listen we had guns but, how much am...ammunition did you carry with you, you know? Ten rounds-twenty rounds? You didn't--listen you went out like this you, you were um, just prepared to go for miles, you understand? You could go uh, ten kilometers--fifteen kilometers, you understand? How much could you carry with you, you know? So the only thing what really that saved us--because mostly all of us carried grenades, because nobody, nobody want to be taken alive. And we start throwin' grenades in the, in the--really we didn't go look at who we killed or who we didn't, but I think that it saved us. And we blew up a few uh, a few of those kind of area bridges, where, where it was necessary but this was already in the, this was already--for example we didn't do nothing before--until the Russians really even start coming you know when they start already moving in closer to Poland, you know
In '44?
In '44. Then, then, then we start getting more active because--if it was right or wrong, because listen you, you were waiting to, to, to see the Russians and to get liberated but uh, we had more enthusiasm but before we didn't think. We think if they be left alone we die, who knows what's gonna happen and uh, we start to get more active.
Throughout all this um, and after and just after your family was very Orthodox. That's what you told me...
Yes.
© Board of Regents University of Michigan-Dearborn