Gurevich brothers
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The Gurevich brothers were Russian-born Jewish partisans. Their names were Khaim Gurevich (born in 1923 or in 1924) and Lev Gurevich (born on 20 September 1926). In Nazi Germany, they led the Gurevich partisan unit, which smuggled Jewish teenage boys from the Petrovichi Ghetto in Smolensk Oblast and trained them to fight.
Forest training camp
[change | change source]Beginning on 21 July 1942, the Gurevich partisans began smuggling Jewish young men from the Petrovichi Ghetto into a refugee camp they established in the nearby forest. There, the partisans trained the young men to use weapons, grenades, and explosives. They also taught them how to sabotage the Nazis by removing pieces from train tracks in order to derail Nazi trains. The partisans used these techniques whenever Nazi German soldiers approached the camp planning to kill the people there.
Along with fighting techniques, the young men learned how to survive in the forest and how to steal supplies (like food, water, ammunition, weaponry, first aid supplies, and medicine).
The partisans were sometimes given food, water, and medicine by Russian partisans, soldiers, and other people who passed by their camp in the forest. These people never betrayed the partisans to the Nazis.
Ultimately, Khaim and Lev Gurevich saved about 30 Jewish teenage boys from the Petrovichi Ghetto.
Wounding of Lev Gurevich
[change | change source]During a fight with Nazi soldiers, Lev was seriously wounded in the leg. People in the refugee camp nursed Lev until, sometime between 22 December 1942 and 21 January 1943, a Russian married couple discovered the camp. After speaking with Khaim, the couple took Lev into their home, hiding him in a hole inside their cellar. They cared for Lev and brought him food and water while he hid.
Lev received excellent care for eight months, until the the Soviet Bolshevik Red Army liberated Smolensk Oblast and drove the Nazis away in late September 1943.
At some point, the Russian wife was executed by hanging. Historians are unsure exactly when she was hanged or why. Soviet soldiers may have murdered her during or after the war. Alternately, she might have been killed by Nazi officers, perhaps because they found out Lev was hiding in their house but could not find him. It is unclear why her husband was not executed as well.
(Small note: Lev Gurevich is not to be mistaken for Dr. Lev Gurevich, doctor and violinist from Moscow.).
Related pages
[change | change source]- Bielski partisans, a better-known group of Jewish partisans similar to the Gurevich partisans