Leib Solc was born in Vilna, Lithuania. His mother was a widow, and Leib was one of eleven children. At a young age, he was sent to live with his aunt in a small town in southern Lithuania called Dievoniškės, where he was raised.
Leib’s life drastically changed in June 1941. The Germans launched Operation Barbarossa and invaded the Soviet Union, which, since June 1940, included Lithuania. Shortly after the invasion, the Germans occupied Lithuania. With the Nazi occupation came the persecution of the Jewish population.
A ghetto was established in nearby Lida in September 1941. Jews from smaller surrounding towns were forced into the ghetto, including Leib and his family. It was in the Lida Ghetto that Leib met a young woman named Betkhe Stul. The young couple soon fell in love and were married in the ghetto.
On May 8, 1942, the Nazis began slaughtering the Jews in the Lida Ghetto and buried them in mass graves. In September 1943, the Nazis liquidated the ghetto, and those remaining were deported to the Majdanek Concentration Camp. Leib and Betkhe were among those taken away in cattle cars to Majdanek.
A young man in the same cattle car named Michael Stoll, bravely helped his family and many others, including Leib and Betkhe, escape. He broke the bars of the window with the ax that his sister managed to obtain from a Polish policeman to create an opening. Michael climbed through the small window and inched his way on a sliver of track for 10-12 feet while the train traveled about 40 miles per hour. He broke the wired and sealed latch with his bare hands and opened the door from the outside, allowing some people to jump out before the police began shooting towards the train, and Michael was forced to close the door. Michael repeated the process, opening the door a second time.
Leib and Betkhe jumped from the moving train and ran. Under the cover of darkness, they moved from farm to farm and slept in the woods. One day, they approached a Gentile farmer who said he couldn’t help them but directed them to another farm where they could find help. When Leib and Betkhe arrived at the farm on Kol Nidrei, the night before Yom Kippur, they saw young men armed with rifles guarding the barn. At first, they thought these men were Nazis, but suddenly Betkhe recognized one of the men. They had attended school together in her hometown of Byenyakoni.
The young men were Bielski partisans at the farm to obtain supplies for the brigade. They led Leib and Betkhe to their partisan hideout in Novogrudok. The couple was given rifles, officially becoming part of the Bielski Brigade.
Leib and Betkhe stayed with the Bielski Brigade until the end of the war. Leib lost much of his family during the Holocaust. His brother Elke (Eli) was the only other survivor.
Leib and Betkhe lived in a DP camp for a time. Leib sold cigarettes and watches to the Russians, trying to make a living while they waited for their visa. They eventually discovered the whereabouts of Betkhe’s sister, Rivka, who lived in Peru. In October 1948, Leib, Betkhe, and Betkhe’s brother, Boris, immigrated to Lima, Peru.
In 1949, Leib and Betkhe’s son Zucel was born, followed by their daughter Sarah in 1954. Leib worked in a wool mill, a job he held all his life in Lima. Leib and Betkhe lived a simple but happy life, providing a beautiful childhood for their children. They did not discuss their Holocaust experiences, but over the years, they shared information with their children.
Leib passed away in 1979, and Betkhe in 2014. They have two granddaughters, Arielle and Aliza.
In 2023, their son Zucel and granddaughter Arielle attended the JPEF Gala, where they met Michael Stoll, the young man who saved Leib and Betkhe’s lives. This miraculous reunion is documented here.
