KADDISHEL
A Life Reborn
land are believed to have allowed the Mazurians to settle on their land and help themselves to the berries, mushrooms, maple syrup, meat, hides, and wood there, as well as graze their animals. Over generations, they traded at local marketplaces and formed stable, long-term relationships with local Jews. Katz credited Mazurians with teaching the Jewish refugees var- ious survival skills, such as how to dig trenches, fox-holes, and bunkers to hide in and how to protect themselves against wolves and other feral animals, as well as providing food, clothing, and footwear, and serving as guides through the area. Furthermore, he reported that they kept vigilant watch for bandits and murderers, and warned the Jews whenever the Ukrainians were combing the area. Jews who fled into the forests had some factors working in their favor. Generations of Jewish travelers throughout Volhynia had ac- cumulated some familiarity with the topography, paths, and con- ditions. It stood the Jews in good stead to know which farms and villages were likely to be friendly, and which ones housed thugs or collaborators. Local Jews had established extensive networks during their long years in commerce, the trades, and crafts. Some of these connections assisted them now, despite the dangers. And young people were better prepared than they would have been in previous generations, thanks to the self-sufficiency training they re - ceived in the Zionist movements, to fight for survival in the forest. Most of the survivors stayed in barns, sheds, and attics, surviv- ing on a crust of bread, an occasional potato, or nothing at all. They wandered from place to place, often under cover of darkness, sleeping in shifts. It was rarely safe to stay for more than a few days in any one hiding place; they had to find new hiding places every few days to avoid detection. Besides being caught up in an- ti-Semitic fervor, and fearing for their own safety if they were to protect Jews in any way, the villagers had economic incentives to discover and turn them in. An account by physician Jakob Wallah in SeferKoretz, says that “announcements were posted in the streets [of Koretz] stating that any person who brought the head of a Jew to
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