Jewish Partisan Community

A place for families of Jewish partisans from World War II to connect and share their stories.

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Helen with her mother Esther before the war.

Helen (bottom right) with two of her cousins from Lida before the war. Her cousins did not survive.

Helen and Esther in Bad Gastein DP camp.

4. Helen with a few friends in a DP camp

3. Helen with friends in one of the DP camps.

First photo taken in this country-Helen, Esther and Helen’s step father, Joe. Esther met him in the DP camp. This is in Passaic, NJ in front of their apartment

Helen and her husband, Harry before they were married.

Helen and Harry’s wedding photo - November 27, 1955

A family photo of Helen and Harry with their children, Rita and Mark

Helen and Esther in front of the Holocaust Memorial in Miami Beach, Florida.

Helen and Harry’s 60th wedding anniversary

Helen’s presentation of her story to a rehabilitation facility in Freehold, NJ

Helen’s granddaughter, Jacqueline’s wedding to Cedric Dana- November 16, 2016

Poland Partisan

Helen Terris

Helen Terris (née Elinka Cyderowicz) was born in Lida, Poland on September 8, 1935, the only child to mother Esther Thurston Cyderowicz (née Esia Thurston), a homemaker, and father Aaron Cyderowicz, a businessman. Before the war, Helen and her family lived a comfortable and privileged life. Her father went...

Community Stories

USSR Partisan

Judith (Yudis) Ginsburg (Kosczeinska)

Judith was born into a large and well-to-do family in Lida, Poland. She lost most of her family in the slaughter on...

Poland Partisan

Chana Iwinietcka Ryback

This report is based on a chapter of Betty Brodsky Cohen’s upcoming book “The Tunnel People” which tells the personal stories of...

Belarus Partisan

Julius (Yehuda) Rytman

Julius (Yehuda) Rytman was born on July 13, 1925, in the village of Dokshitz-Parafianov in Belarus. He lived with his parents, Eli...

Poland Partisan

Mira Shelub (Raznov)

A Polish Jew born in what is now White Russia, Mira Shelub joined a partisan group that operated in the forest near...

Lithuania Partisan

Murray Gordon

Murray Gordon was born in pre-World War II Lithuania in the seaside resort town of Klaipeda. At the age of six, Murray...

Belarus Partisan

Lisa Reibel (Kusnher)

A Young Girl Escapes the Novogrudok Ghetto: A Jewish Partisan Story of Survival Lisa Reibel was born to Hinda (Bloch) and Nachum...

The biographies on this site are compiled from testimonies, recollections, transcripts, memoirs, and biographies of Jewish partisans, their children and their grandchildren.

A place for families of Jewish partisans from World War II to connect and share their stories.

Approximately 30,000 Jews fought back during the Holocaust as Jewish partisans. They fought in organized, armed resistance groups throughout Europe, saving thousands and striking back at their oppressors in countless ways.

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