The Destruction of The German Garrison in Lenin

The Destruction Of The German Garrison In Lenin

The Lenin Garrison was destroyed on September 12, 1942 during a partisan uprising against the Nazis.

After the liquidation of the Lenin ghetto in the Pinsk region (now in Byelorussia) and the murder of its inhabitants on August 14, 1942, about 30 Jews remained alive in Lenin, as they continued to work directly for the Germans as tailors, shoemakers, builders, and photographers. At this time Lubov Rabinovich was ordered to train a group of Belorussian apprentices to take over his trade within one month.

A German garrison of 100 people and 30 local policemen was based in Lenin to protect the town. The Soviet "Kalinin" partisan unit planned an attack on the garrison, assisted by two neighboring units (in total about 150 people). The Jewish fighter Boris Ginsburg was the liaison between the partisan units. On September 12, 1942, the German garrison was suddenly attacked and the partisans inflicted heavy losses, apparently killing 3 German officers (including commandant Grossman), 14 soldiers and 13 policemen. The ghetto quarter was burned down. The remaining Jews fled to the woods with the partisans. Among them were the shoemaker "Leizer der Shuster" and his wife and daughter; the tailor Mordechai Kravetz; Fanya Lazebnik; the Slutzky family; and the Rabinovich family. In the unit named "Kotovsky," within the Pinsk Soviet partisan formations, some of the escapees worked as tailors. Fanya Lazebnik joined the Molotov partisan unit and after recovering her camera during a second raid on Lenin also documented her life in the partisans. Fanya Lazebnik migrated to Canada after the war and also published a memoir of her experiences.