KADDISHEL
A Life Reborn
time. We hid our weapons whenever they came so they wouldn’t take them away; they were a military group and needed weapons themselves. They were fighting against the Germans, our enemies, but as much as we welcomed them, we were also afraid of them because they might confiscate our weapons and leave us with no means of self-defense. The relationship between the Russian partisans, the Ukrainian nationalists, the local Poles and the Germans was complex and our fate was entwined with its outcome. After World War I, the Ukraine had been divided between Russia and Poland. The area we lived in, Ludvipol, belonged to Poland. The Ukrainians, who had for years been struggling for independence, were frustrated when their land was divided between the two countries. To secure their assistance, the Germans promised them an independent Ukrainian state in exchange for cooperation against Russia. Entire military divisions of Ukrainians went over to the German side, weapons and all. Civilian Ukrainians volunteered for militias that worked on behalf of Germany. Eventually, however, they realized that the Germans were not going to give them an independent Ukraine. In fact, the Germans were also murdering them. The Ukrainians formed their own mi- litia, called the Bandera, after their leader, Stepan Bandera. They were particularly desperate and cruel. They fought against both the Germans and the Russians, but most of their hatred was aimed at the Poles. They perpetrated horrendous atrocities, like raping women and then cutting off their breasts, or occupying Polish vil - lages and killing all the inhabitants. They also were very happy to kill every Jew they came across. Nevertheless, the woods gradually became safer. We had not heard of any searches or attacks by the Germans for a long time. My uncle decided it was safe enough to build a permanent log house for the winter. He and a Jewish carpenter built a log cabin together, which was partially dug into a mountain. It was almost a
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