Simcha Zorin
Encyclopedia
Shalom Zorin (1902-1974) was a Jewish Soviet partisan commander in Minsk
.
Many Jewish partisans
in Belorussia
had their own units that operated as part of the general Belorussian
partisan movement and the overall Jewish resistance movement fighting the Nazis in occupied Europe, although some of these Jewish units lost their Jewish character over time. The Zorin unit, led by Simcha-Shalom Zorin, included 800 Jews. Many other Jewish partisan units were active in the Lipiczany Forest.
The Germans invaded Minsk
in late June 1941 and transferred the city's Jews, Zorin included, to a ghetto
. Zorin worked in a local prisoner of war
camp, where he met a captured Soviet officer named Semyon Ganzenko. In late 1941, Zorin and Ganzenko escaped to the forests in the Staroe Selo region, about 19 miles southwest of Minsk. While hiding in the forest, the two established a partisan unit called Parkhomenko. The unit consisted of 150 members, including many Jews. As more and more Jews joined the Parkhomenko unit, many conflicts arose between the Jewish and non-Jewish fighters.
Zorin defended his fellow Jews, leading Ganzenko to recommend that he establish a new Jewish partisan unit to take in Jews who had escaped the ghetto, called "Unit 106" (later the unit was referred to as the "Zorin Unit"). The Zorin Unit began with 60 men and 15 guns, but over time, it grew to 800 people. After the Zorin Unit was attacked by the Belorussian police and the Nazis situated in the Staroe Selo area, it moved its headquarters to the Naliboki Forest. The unit stayed in contact with the Minsk Ghetto through teenagers who helped Jews escaping the ghetto to reach the forest.
Zorin believed that saving Jewish lives was a primary goal along with fighting the enemy, and noncombatants had a place in his camp in providing logistical support. Jewish artisans set up workshops in the forest, assisted by family members. There was a sewing workshop, a shoemaker's workshop, a flour mill, a bakery, a sausage factory, a weapons repair and bomb production shop, and a large hospital with doctors from Minsk. The camp also had a school that served 70 students. The camp members celebrated both Soviet and Jewish holidays.
Zorin had about 100 fighters in his combat unit. Some were members of the Socialist-Zionist youth movement
Hashomer Hatzair
("The Young Guard") who had escaped the Biała Podlaska ghetto.
In July 1944, Simcha Zorin was wounded in his leg during a battle with a retreating German unit; seven of his men were killed.
In 1971, some 25 years after the war, Simcha Zorin immigrated to Israel
.
and Naliboki
. According to IPN
investigation in Naliboki 128 people were killed. The village were then looted and burned down by the partisans.
Minsk
- Ecological situation :The ecological situation is monitored by Republican Center of Radioactive and Environmental Control .During 2003–2008 the overall weight of contaminants increased from 186,000 to 247,400 tons. The change of gas as industrial fuel to mazut for financial reasons has worsened...
.
Many Jewish partisans
Jewish partisans
Jewish partisans were fighters in irregular military groups participating in the Jewish resistance movement against Nazi Germany and its collaborators during World War II....
in Belorussia
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
had their own units that operated as part of the general Belorussian
Belarusians
Belarusians ; are an East Slavic ethnic group who populate the majority of the Republic of Belarus. Introduced to the world as a new state in the early 1990s, the Republic of Belarus brought with it the notion of a re-emerging Belarusian ethnicity, drawn upon the lines of the Old Belarusian...
partisan movement and the overall Jewish resistance movement fighting the Nazis in occupied Europe, although some of these Jewish units lost their Jewish character over time. The Zorin unit, led by Simcha-Shalom Zorin, included 800 Jews. Many other Jewish partisan units were active in the Lipiczany Forest.
The Germans invaded Minsk
Minsk
- Ecological situation :The ecological situation is monitored by Republican Center of Radioactive and Environmental Control .During 2003–2008 the overall weight of contaminants increased from 186,000 to 247,400 tons. The change of gas as industrial fuel to mazut for financial reasons has worsened...
in late June 1941 and transferred the city's Jews, Zorin included, to a ghetto
Ghetto
A ghetto is a section of a city predominantly occupied by a group who live there, especially because of social, economic, or legal issues.The term was originally used in Venice to describe the area where Jews were compelled to live. The term now refers to an overcrowded urban area often associated...
. Zorin worked in a local prisoner of war
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
camp, where he met a captured Soviet officer named Semyon Ganzenko. In late 1941, Zorin and Ganzenko escaped to the forests in the Staroe Selo region, about 19 miles southwest of Minsk. While hiding in the forest, the two established a partisan unit called Parkhomenko. The unit consisted of 150 members, including many Jews. As more and more Jews joined the Parkhomenko unit, many conflicts arose between the Jewish and non-Jewish fighters.
Zorin defended his fellow Jews, leading Ganzenko to recommend that he establish a new Jewish partisan unit to take in Jews who had escaped the ghetto, called "Unit 106" (later the unit was referred to as the "Zorin Unit"). The Zorin Unit began with 60 men and 15 guns, but over time, it grew to 800 people. After the Zorin Unit was attacked by the Belorussian police and the Nazis situated in the Staroe Selo area, it moved its headquarters to the Naliboki Forest. The unit stayed in contact with the Minsk Ghetto through teenagers who helped Jews escaping the ghetto to reach the forest.
Zorin believed that saving Jewish lives was a primary goal along with fighting the enemy, and noncombatants had a place in his camp in providing logistical support. Jewish artisans set up workshops in the forest, assisted by family members. There was a sewing workshop, a shoemaker's workshop, a flour mill, a bakery, a sausage factory, a weapons repair and bomb production shop, and a large hospital with doctors from Minsk. The camp also had a school that served 70 students. The camp members celebrated both Soviet and Jewish holidays.
Zorin had about 100 fighters in his combat unit. Some were members of the Socialist-Zionist youth movement
Zionist youth movement
A Zionist youth movement is an organization formed for Jewish children and adolescents for educational, social, and ideological development, including a belief in Jewish nationalism as represented in the State of Israel...
Hashomer Hatzair
Hashomer Hatzair
Hashomer Hatzair is a Socialist–Zionist youth movement founded in 1913 in Galicia, Austria-Hungary, and was also the name of the group's political party in the Yishuv in the pre-1948 British Mandate of Palestine...
("The Young Guard") who had escaped the Biała Podlaska ghetto.
In July 1944, Simcha Zorin was wounded in his leg during a battle with a retreating German unit; seven of his men were killed.
In 1971, some 25 years after the war, Simcha Zorin immigrated to Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
.
Allegations of war crimes
Zorin and his partisans are accused of robbing and terrorising civilians from neighbouring villages . When desperate peasants tried to form the Polish Home Army-aligned self-defence units against marauding bands, the partisans attacked the villages of KoniuchyKoniuchy massacre
The Koniuchy massacre was a massacre of civilians carried out by a Soviet partisan unit along with a contingent of Jewish partisans under their command during the Second World War in the Polish village of Koniuchy on January 29, 1944.-Massacre:A small local self defence unit was created to defend...
and Naliboki
Naliboki massacre
The Naliboki massacre was the mass killing of about 128 Poles by Soviet partisans at the village of Naliboki in Nazi-occupied Poland on May 8, 1943....
. According to IPN
IPN
IPN may refer to:* Intuit PaymentNetwork* Independent Practitioners Network* Infectious pancreatic necrosis, disease in fishes* Instant Private Network, type of VPN...
investigation in Naliboki 128 people were killed. The village were then looted and burned down by the partisans.