Laura Oberlander: A Holocaust Survivor's Story

The Holocaust, which lasted from 1941 to 1945, was the most horrific period in Jewish history. The anti-semitic Nazi leader Adolf Hitler and his followers viewed Jews as an inferior race and strongly believed that all Jewish people should be killed. Over six million Jews and others were murdered by the Nazis for racial, religious, political, ideological, and behavioral reasons.

Throughout my life, I have heard many stories about my ancestors who went through the Holocaust. It is and will always be a significant part of my family history. There are not many Holocaust survivors who are still alive today but I am very fortunate to say that one of them is my great aunt, Aunt Laura. I was also lucky enough to get to know my great grandmother (Nanny) and grandfather (Poppop), who survived the Nazi concentration camps. Though, they sadly passed away a few years ago. My Aunt Laura is one of the sweetest and most pure people I know. She has shared her story through speaking at multiple schools and Temples. There is even a published biography about her written by Steven Paul Winkelstein titled Brisko. I wanted to write this piece to share Laura’s incredible story, one of the millions of those who went through the Holocaust. Laura was extremely lucky to survive the war, and I am incredibly thankful for the family and dog that saved her life.

Laura was born in Tuchin, Poland which is now part of Ukraine. She grew up in a small close-knit Jewish community along with her cousins, uncles, aunts and grandparents nearby. Laura (seven years-old) lived with her mother Pearl, father Isaak, and older sister Hannah (ten years-old) in a beautiful house that Isaak built. I was named after Laura’s mother who was my great grandmother; My Hebew name, Pnina, translates to Pearl.

Laura remembers walking around town with her sister Hannah while laughing, talking, and holding hands when they were young. They played with dolls, celebrated the sabbath, and enjoyed each other’s company. Their father Isaak ran a successful grain business where Ukranian farmers would shop weekly. One customer, Pavlo Garasenchok, was one of his closest clients who would sometimes get grains for free. Everything seemed perfect for Laura and her family. They had everything they desired: an amazing family, beautiful home, and a close Jewish community.

In 1941, everything changed. The Germans invaded Tulchin, Poland and replaced the Russians. Laura’s family knew that the Germans were bad people but did not realize just how evil they were. Right away, the Ukraninans and Germans formed a pogrom which was a violent riot aimed at the massacre of the Jews. As they passed by Laura’s house, which was newly built and beautiful, it stood out to them even though the family was not on the pogrom list. A German soldier approached Laura’s house and pounded on the front door until her mom Pearl answered. As she opened the door, Pearl was immediately beaten on her head with rifles and thrown to the yard. Laura and Hannah stood at the door, screaming as they saw blood gushing from their mother’s head. The soldiers assumed that they killed Pearl and proceeded to enter the house. They then began to brutally beat Laura until she was left unconscious. The last thing she remembers was Hannah pulling her away.

Laura eventually woke up under her bed and heard the voice of her dad calling her name. She tried to answer but no words came from her mouth. She was paralyzed, and she couldn’t move. For a long period of time, she was in and out of consciousness. Later, she remembered waking up under a sheet with a bible beneath her head. She heard her father crying because he thought she was dead. Laura thought she was going to be buried alive. She remembers hearing her family talking about where to bury her, and it terrified her. She recalls, “Soon I would be six feet under the ground, and there was nothing I could do about it, no matter how much I shouted. They would put me in the Tulchin graveyard. Only I would hear my final cries. The idea haunted me." Hannah went to look at Laura’s face one more time before burying her and saw her eyes move. It was a miracle! She wasn’t dead!

No one expected Laura or her mom to survive with no medical intervention. Pearl had seven holes in her head and many crushed bones. Laura was hit badly on her head too but the blood stayed in her body. This caused severe swelling which made Laura paralyzed on her right side for almost a year. She could not speak or see, but she could hear. Pavlo, her father’s customer, came to visit Laura’s family and cried when he saw the pain they were in. Even though he was a poor farmer, he would come every so often to bring the family necessities such as water, bread, and butter.

Between 1941 and 1942, the Germans came to Laura’s town multiple times demanding various requests and valuables. They always threatened to kill 50 Jews if their expectations were not met. Then, in 1942 the Ghetto was formed. All Jews were forced to live in the Ghetto because the Germans wanted them all in one place. The Ghettos were built in poor areas surrounded by barbed wire and walls. They were scary and depressing places characterized by malnutrition, heavy labor, and overcrowding. Laura, Isaak, Pearl, and Hannah planned on moving in with their grandmother because her house was in the Ghetto.

As Laura’s family was packing to move, a Czechoslovakian couple arrived in their neighborhood. He and his wife were told that they could pick any house to live in because all the Jews were moving to the Ghetto. They chose Laura and her family’s house because it was one of the newest and nicest. When the couple entered their home, they saw Hannah. She had straight blonde hair and blue eyes; She did not look like a traditional Jew. The Czechoslovakian couple offered to let Hannah live with them and said they would pretend that she was their daughter to keep her safe. Hannah and Laura’s parents rejected the offer. Isaak wanted them to try and escape to live at Palvo’s farm but they were unsuccessful and went to the Ghetto. Once they realized how awful the ghetto was, Laura’s parents changed their minds about Hannah staying with the Czechoslovakians and Isaak brought her back to their house. Laura’s family was certain that all Jews were about to die in the Ghetto so they wanted to at least know that Hannah would be safe. Isaak promised that they would reunite one day.

After Isaak returned to the Ghetto, Pavlo arrived to give Laura and her mom clothes and told them that he could bring them to his farm. He would dress them as peasants and say that Pearl was his wife and Laura was his daughter. Unfortunately, Pavlo said he could not safely bring Laura’s father too. Pavlo was Ukraninan but unlike any other Ukraninan they had ever met. Laura’s family knew the Ukranians as the ones that hunted down the Jews in the forest after many escaped the ghetto. They led the pogroms, hated the Jews, and would use the phrase “a bullet is too good for a Jew.” Pavlo hated this. He said, “I am ashamed of my people. I am disgusted by what is happening here. I've come to help." So, Laura and her mom left with Pavlo, while Isaak remained in the ghetto.

Pavlo had three children and a wife. He endangered the lives of his entire family by hiding Laura and her mother on their farm. If the Germans had found them, Pavlo’s whole family would have been killed. But, he knew that if he made Laura’s family leave, they would be murdered immediately and he would not let that happen.

It was announced that the Ghetto gates were closing the next day, so Hannah planned on going to say goodbye to her family one last time. The gates ended up closing sooner than expected so Isaak had to escape to prevent Hannah from getting caught. Many people were killed trying to escape the Ghetto but Laura’s dad jumped over the fence and made it. He was very fortunate to survive doing this. Isaak rushed to the house to meet Hannah before she left so she would not get killed. A few hours after escaping the Ghetto, it was in flames. Nearly all the Jews in the Ghetto were eventually killed by the Ukranians. Isaak never went back to the Ghetto and instead hid beneath the steps of their house without the Czechoslovakian couple finding out. He stayed there for a week and only survived because Hannah snuck him food occasionally. If the couple found out about this scheme, they probably would have beat Hannah or told the Nazis. Isaak realized it was getting too risky so he decided to try to escape to Pavlo’s farm to be with Laura and his wife.

When Laura and her mother first got to Palvo’s farm, they hid in the attic. When Laura’s father successfully arrived, they moved to a haystack. There were many times when the Germans would go to Pavlo’s farm to search for Jews, poking long sharp sticks in the haystacks. One time, the stick slid across Isaak’s cheek but not enough for them to realize it was a person. If it was one centimeter closer to his face, they would have all been killed.

Pavlo’s dog Brisko is the primary reason that Laura and her family survived. He was a very smart dog and sensed that the Nazis were evil people. He would bark loudly to warn Laura’s family whenever the Germans were nearby. Laura would lace up her shoes and get ready to run whenever she heard Brisko bark. Moreover, he would bark aggressively to distract the Germans while they searched for Jews in the haystack. Brisko would also run around the entire farm before Pavlo brought them food to make sure it was safe. Brisko was Laura’s luck and hope. He made her feel protected and kept her imagination alive. Living in the haystack was getting too dangerous so Pavlo moved them to an underground barn beneath it. It was extremely small to the point where Laura’s dad could not sit up straight. If one of them moved positions, they all did. It was pitch black by three in the afternoon, full of rats, and they were constantly covered in lice. They lived in this claustrophobic barn for 18 months without changing clothes, washing their hands, or washing their faces. They only had enough water to cover their lips and were lucky to get a scrap of bread a day.

During the 18 month period in the barn, Isaak would teach Laura the Torah to stay sane. She learned it word for word, prayed every day, and became quite religious. Also, Pearl would knit sweaters and Isaak would make shoes out of wood for Pavlo’s kids. Laura and her parents talked every day about how fortunate they were that Hannah was safe with the Czechoslovakian couple to make them feel better. Unfortunately, they had no idea that after a few weeks of living with the couple, she was killed. The Czechoslovakians threw her out of their house when the Germans threatened all people with death if they were hiding a Jew. After getting kicked out, she was heading to Pavlo’s farm, but a classmate of hers told the Nazis she was Jewish. They found her and killed her. According to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust museum in Israel, only twenty out of the three thousand Jewish people in Tulchin survived.

During the last six weeks of Laura and her parent’s hiding, Germans made camp on Pavlo’s farm and slept on top of the haystack in the barn. Now, they had to be even more quiet. Isaak had to keep his hand over Laura’s mouth all day to prevent her from making any noise. Thankfully, Pavlo was successful in convincing the Germans to bring their horses inside the barn so their neighs and snorts would distract the soldiers. Brisko also barked to distract them.

After liberation, the Ukraninans were still killing Jews so Pavlo kept Laura and her parents in the barn for a little longer. Eventually Laura and her parents went back to Tuchin, Poland for seven months and then to Łódź. Issak was able to obtain fake Greek passports so the family could leave Poland. They then traveled to a displaced person camp in Linz, Poland known as Bindermichl. That is where my Zeide (grandfather in Yiddish), Michael Emmett, was born.

Aunt Laura with her younger brother Michael Emmett (my Zeide)

Laura, Michael, Isaak, and Pearl spent four years in the displaced persons’ camp and then immigrated to Philadelphia. They arrived in Philadelphia with not one dime in 1949. In the United States, Laura enjoyed working at an office until she got married to a man named Alex. They had three kids together. Laura’s Brother Michael is one of the most hard-working, funny, and amazing people I know. He went to Temple University Medical School, graduated first in his class, and then studied internal medicine at Yale. He currently works as Chief of Internal Medicine at Baylor University Medical Center and is known throughout the world as an expert in Nephrology. He married my Bubbie, Rachel Emmett, and had three loving kids.

Pavlo and his dog Brisko saved my family’s lives. We would not be here today without them. Pavlo was one of the most selfless, wonderful, and kind humans to exist. He risked his family's life to save a family that he did not have to save. This extremely sad story is just one of the millions. Laura lost her sister, uncles, aunts, and grandparents just because they were Jewish. She was one of the lucky ones. Laura’s symbol of luck was Brisko. Because Brisko helped save her life, my Zeide (Laura’s brother Michael) adopted a dog in 1998 and named it Brisko. I grew up with that dog. I even had a stuffed animal dog that I named Brisko too. Brisko and Palvo will always be remembered in my family for their kindness and bravery.