Object numberM2008/052
DescriptionBlack & White photograph (reproduction) of Severyn Pejsachowicz's first wife Niutor hugging their son, Sholem (meaning 'peace'). The mother and child were killed in the Minsk ghetto.
Severyn Pejsachowicz OAM was born in Poland in 1912. When war broke out in September 1939, the Germans bombed Warsaw where he resided as a reserve soldier in the Polish Army. He found himself in the part of Poland that belonged to Soviet Russia. Polish soldiers were not allowed in the streets and suddenly he became a prisoner of war. He managed to escape to Kielce and got a job running a restaurant. His wife and son joined him. However, Russian law decreed that non-residents had to leave and he went with his family to a village in Lubochnia (deep in Russia), and worked as an accountant in a metal factory. Then we went to Minsk and lived there until 1941 when the Germans attacked Russia. The Jewish sector of Minsk became a ghetto. He got a job as a builder and as he spoke German, was appointed master builder.
One day on returning to the ghetto he discovered that his wife and child had been murdered. “My wife was in her late 20s, and our son was less than two years old. Now, with nothing to lose, I decided to join the Partisans”. Severyn was with them for more than a year and twice wounded. His job was to put dynamite under the railway tracks to blow up the trains. “I finished the war as an Officer in the Polish Army. After the war, he was reunited with his father and two brothers. He remarried soon after the war in 1945. In 1946, he received discharge papers from the Polish Army and in 1947, he and his wife arrived in Australia.
Severyn Pejsachowicz OAM was born in Poland in 1912. When war broke out in September 1939, the Germans bombed Warsaw where he resided as a reserve soldier in the Polish Army. He found himself in the part of Poland that belonged to Soviet Russia. Polish soldiers were not allowed in the streets and suddenly he became a prisoner of war. He managed to escape to Kielce and got a job running a restaurant. His wife and son joined him. However, Russian law decreed that non-residents had to leave and he went with his family to a village in Lubochnia (deep in Russia), and worked as an accountant in a metal factory. Then we went to Minsk and lived there until 1941 when the Germans attacked Russia. The Jewish sector of Minsk became a ghetto. He got a job as a builder and as he spoke German, was appointed master builder.
One day on returning to the ghetto he discovered that his wife and child had been murdered. “My wife was in her late 20s, and our son was less than two years old. Now, with nothing to lose, I decided to join the Partisans”. Severyn was with them for more than a year and twice wounded. His job was to put dynamite under the railway tracks to blow up the trains. “I finished the war as an Officer in the Polish Army. After the war, he was reunited with his father and two brothers. He remarried soon after the war in 1945. In 1946, he received discharge papers from the Polish Army and in 1947, he and his wife arrived in Australia.
Production placeRussia
Production date 1940 - 1941
Subjectmothers, children, ghettos, victims, Pre-war life, child victims, world that was
Object namephotographs
Materialphotographic emulsion, paper, paper
Dimensions
- width: 126.00 mm
height: 193.00 mm
Credit lineSydney Jewish Museum Collection, Donated by Severyn Pejsachowicz