80th Yahrtzeit of Senkevichivka Ghetto's Destruction--Details per my grandmother

Tonight into tomorrow (18th of Tishrei) marks the 80th anniversary of the destruction of the Senkevychivka Ghetto.  On that day, thousands of my paternal grandparents' relatives, friends and neighbors were murdered.  Among those were three of my great grandparents, a great-great grandfather, great aunts and uncles, and many other relatives.  My teenaged grandfather was out of the ghetto on that day on a work detail, but my grandmother was there.  I've transcribed her life story before (you can read her nine-part story here covering her life before and during the Holocaust).  But today I'm going to repeat the chapter about the ghetto's destruction, from her perspective. 

My grandmother is on the right, with her arm on her grandmother's shoulder.  Her younger sister Malia is to the right.  And her parents are in the center.  Her grandmother had died before the war.

Rosh Hashanah, 1935

Rosh Hashanah is coming up next week.  So I wanted to share a family Rosh Hashanah card with readers.

My grandmother's first cousin was Chaiky Wollich Chechman, who grew up in Sienkiewiczowka, Poland (now Senkevychivka, Ukraine).  Chaiky and her husband Mendel, as well as their young daughter Devorah, were all killed in the Holocaust.  But in 1935 things were still good, and they sent out cards to their friends and relatives.

Front of the Chechman 1935 Shana Tova Card

75th Anniversary of Senkevychivka Ghetto's Destruction

Tonight starts the 75th yahrtzeit (anniversary of death) of those killed during of the destruction of the ghetto in Sienkiewiczówka, Poland (now Senkevychivka, Ukraine).  Among those murdered were three of my great grandparents (Avraham Tzvi Diamond, Tzivia Zutelman Diamond and Avraham Bajcz), a great-great grandfather (Moshe Dovid Fine), a great aunt (Malia Bajcz) and great uncle (Shlomo Diamond).

My great-great grandfather, Moshe Dovid Fine.  Murdered 75 years ago today.

Ukraine Trip Post #2--Day 2 (September 2, 2016)

(To see everything from my Ukraine trip, see here.)

We had spent the night in Shklyn, so we started driving through the town.  We saw two ladies on the side of the road, and one of them brought us to an older lady's home. She didn't recognize the name Fine, but when I said my great-great grandfather was Moshe Dovid Fine or Moshko, she got excited.  She said she remembered "Moshko the Jew" and said he was a very nice man.  She would be taking care of her cow, and he would stop and say hi to her.  She remembers when his family would come to visit him in Shklyn.

View from across the road from my great-great grandfather's house

Ancestor Deep Dive: Avraham Tzvi Diamond

Even though he is a relatively recent ancestor, my great grandfather Avraham Tzvi Diamond didn't leave much of a paper trail.  He was born about 1879, likely in Biscupice, Russian Empire (now Berezhanka, Volhynia, Ukraine), just north of the road connecting Horochov and Lutsk, midway between the two cities.  His parents were Hillel and Hinda (nee Kreiss) Diamond, and his siblings included:

• Leibish (b. abt 1886)
• Shaindel (later Jenny Dorfman, b. 1891)
• Esther (married Motel Landman)
• Rivka 
• Basya (married Mordechai Landor)

Avraham Tzvi married Tzivia Zuttelman, and they had 5 children in Biscupice:

• Kreina (married David Mazurik), born about 1915
• Dvorah (later Deborah Schuster), born 1920
• Pesach (later Paul Diamond), born 1921--my grandfather
• David, born 1924
• Shlomo, born 1928

In 1925, when the two oldest children were in school, Avraham Tzvi signed a document allowing those children to be taught in Polish; the area recently had become part of Poland after WWI.

1925 School Declaration by Abram Diment; Source: State archive of Volyn oblast. Fond 454, opys 2, file 450, page 103

71st Anniversary of Senkevychivka Ghetto's Destruction

71 years ago today (2nd day of חול המועד סוכות), the Nazis "liquidated" the ghetto in Senkevychivka, Ukraine. Among those murdered were:

Kreina Diamant Mazurik was among those killed

• In my grandfather's family:
• My grandfather’s parents Avrohom Tzvi Diamant (age 65) and Tzivia Suttleman Diamant (age 54)
• My grandfather’s sister and brother-in-law Kreina Diamant Mazurik (age 26) and David Mazurik
• My grandfather’s niece Rivka Mazurik (age 5)
• My grandfather’s brother Shlomo Diamant (age 14)

Sonia Bajcz Diamond: Senkevychivka Ghetto Destruction (Part 4: 1942)

This is the fourth in a series that summarize an interview of my grandmother, Sonia Bajcz/Beitch Diamond (then Sara Bajcz), from about 20 years ago.  This talks about surviving during and after Senkevychivka Ghetto's destruction.  Previous posts in this series are here, here, and here.

One morning, I was going to leave the ghetto to go to the village.  It was the second day of chol hamoed Sukkos in 1942.  My mother went outside to see where the guard was to see if I'd be able to sneak through.  She ran back and said, "You can't go--it's bad, they are running with trucks, and they are dragging people out of their homes.  They are shooting them.  Here are pieces of material, 2 rings that we have.  Maybe you can use them to get bread or a place to sleep.  Take your sister.  You're stronger and older, so take care of her."  We ran from our house.  We had to go through a ravine, across the main road, then the train tracks, and then another ravine, and then an open field.  Across the field were more villages.  We ran, and they spotted us.  They told us to come back.  We turned, and the Ukrainian guard started shooting.  A bullet touched my hair.

We ran, but not towards our house in the ghetto.  From the distance, we saw what used to be stores and homes for wealthy people but was now part of the ghetto.  I saw another friend from school with her parents and her brother (he survived and ended up in Haifa, Israel), and they were trying to figure out how to save the children.  The family name was Dreitzen; the brother changed the name in Israel to Doron.  The sister, Meita, had epilepsy.  She told me that she knew she couldn't run and hide, but I should survive for her.  I said to Meita, "How can I do this?"  She said that I had to.

Sonia Bajcz Diamond: Living in Shklyn and the Senkevychivka Ghetto (Part 3: 1936-1942)

This is the third in a series that summarize an interview of my grandmother, Sonia Bajcz/Beitch Diamond (then Sara Bajcz), from about 20 years ago.  This talks about the years leading up to WWII, living with her grandfather in the village of Shklyn.  Previous posts in this series are here and here.

When I was finishing seventh grade, we heard rumors of what was happening behind the borders.  We had been supposed to build a new house, and we already had all of the materials.  But with the rumors we were hearing, my father decided that it was not the right time to build.  So he called a Ukrainian man he knew from the nearby village of Bludoff, and the man came with a big long wagon, and he picked up (in several loads) our brick, cement, lumber, and other building materials.  Around then, my bubby (my mother's mother) had passed away in Shklyn.  My zaidy said to my mother that since you're not building a house now, and your current house's rent is very high, why don't you come to live with us.

My mother did not want to go back to the village.  But my father said we should just go for a short while until the situation calmed down.  So my parents went to Shklyn.  However, my sister and I remained in Horochov with my father's mother who had said that she wanted to stay in the city--she was born in the city, was raised in the city, and she did not want to go to a village.