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In WWII, Jewish Partisan "Uncle Misha" Fought the Nazis in Ukraine
(Times of Israel) Renee Ghert-Zand - In one day in May 1942, the Nazis murdered 2,200 Jews in the Korzak forest outside Korets, Poland (today in Ukraine), wiping out the centuries-old Jewish community in a mass shooting. Only 186 Jewish skilled laborers and a few who succeeded in hiding were spared, including Moshe Gildenman and his teenage son, Simcha. Gildenman's wife, Golda, and young daughter Feigela were among the dead. As the survivors met in a synagogue to recite the Kaddish memorial prayer, Gildenman declared, "I will not go like a sheep to the slaughter!" When the Nazis entered the ghetto for its final liquidation in September 1942, Gildenman, his son, nephew, and nine other Jews escaped to join the Ukrainian partisans fighting the Germans and their collaborators. The gripping story of how Gildenman, 44, a mild-mannered civil engineer, transformed into a ruthless guerrilla fighter is told in James A. Gryme's new book, Partisan Song: A Holocaust Story of Resilience, Resistance, and Revenge. Gildenman, known by his nom de guerre, "Uncle Misha," along with the Jews they met in the forests, organized and fought on their own. A few months later, they joined up with Ukrainian partisans but operated as a separate unit. Finally, Gildenman's group was accepted into the Soviet partisans. Uncle Misha and his group carried out more than 150 combat operations. Toward the end of the war, Gildenman served in the Soviet Army as a combat engineer on highly dangerous missions behind enemy lines. Gildenman and his son survived the war and immigrated to Israel in 1951. He died in 1957.