Looking out her window, Tatyana Lakhay discovered the horrors of the Holocaust unearthed before her very eyes.
Living in Brest, Belarus, one day Tatyana was glancing out of her window watching the construction site of a new luxury apartment complex being developed. Instead of the usual construction workers, she saw masked and gloved soldiers pulling human skeletons from the dirt. The bones of 1,214 human beings to be exact. There were bullet holes in skulls.
These are the remains of Jews who were slaughtered by the Nazis and thrown into a mass grave. Tatyana remembers thinking “My God! What is going on?” as the bones kept coming out of the earth.
A local architect, Irina Lavrovsky, petitioned that the construction site be turned into a memorial park for the Jews who were murdered by the Nazis. Her request has been denied. After all, luxury apartments are needed. Lavrovsky recalls being a young girl in the 1950s and seeing human remains being removed from another nearby construction site. “There was a terrible smell in the whole neighborhood. It was so awful it was impossible to hide.”
Leather shoes unearthed from the mass grave.
According to the New York Times, “Most of the remains on the site were probably of Jews who had initially managed to hide or flee but were then captured after the Nazi’s destroyed Brest’s Jewish ghetto in October, 1942.” Jews had made up about half Brest’s population of 60,000 in 1941. They are thought to have been killed mostly in a secluded forest. Taken by rail for an early test of logistics for Hitler’s “Final Solution”, the Jews were shot and murdered in cold blood. The stench of death filled the air. Nobody cared.
I am reminded of the question that God calls out to Cain after he kills his brother, Abel.
“Where is Abel your brother?”
Cain replies. “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?”
God does not allow Cain to hide from his hideous deed.
“What have you done? Do you hear the voices? These are the drops of your brother’s spilled blood! They cry out to me from the ground.”
Do we not ask the same question? Do we not cry out and weep for the blood of our brothers and sisters that have seeped into that cursed earth? Do we not hear their voices?
The Times speaks of “remains on the site”. I don’t see remains; I see the faces of children, the agony of parents, and the raw fear in the eyes of men and women, young and old. I hear their cries. They still fill the atmosphere rising to the skies above us. They will not be silent. 1,214 souls.
The Torah describes the “drops of blood of your brother” in plural because when you kill a person you it is not just that soul whose life you have stolen. You have murdered their children and children’s children. There is no end to the carnage.
Now we face hatred and venomous anti-Semitism once again. Who would believe that in front of our holy ark in shul bullets would fly? Jews attacked for one reason only: because you have been born a Jew. We are not speaking about the ghettos of Europe 75 years ago. We are looking at the life of a Jew today in the United States of America. Our sons and daughters on college campuses confront twisted minds who threaten and shout them down. Choosing those who have proudly put mezuzahs up upon their doorways, these are the apartments picked to plaster fake eviction notices.
Painted swastikas do not raise eyebrows anymore. Standing against Israel is considered ‘cool’. But we know the truth; it is dangerous anti-Semitism rearing its ugly head. The wrapping looks different but the contents are the same. It is not just Jews who must beware. All mankind with a conscience beating within must take notice.
“Am I my brother’s keeper?” Cain’s words echo to us all today.
The Secret of Jewish Survival
I think of Brest, of the massacre there. I think of the carnage and hatred here. I think of the hatred for our people all across the world. What now?
We are in the days of counting the Omer until we reach the holiday of Shavuot when we received our holy Torah. These are also days of mourning when the students of Rabbi Akiva did not engage respectfully with one another despite their vast knowledge. Tragically, 24,000 died.
It is only through unity and love of one another that we find the strength to confront our challenges as a nation. As the Jewish nation stood at Sinai, they are described as camping together as one singular individual, like “one man with one heart”. This is the direction we must embrace.
Let’s realize that it is only through togetherness that we stand tall. In every generation there are those who have despised us, shot at us, and attempted to crush both our bodies and spirits.
They will never succeed.
The Jewish people lives on. But individually each of us needs to choose to live Jewish.
The city of Brest was once called Brisk. It was a noble bastion of learning and studying Torah. Nazis entered Brisk on June 22, 1941. No Jew was spared. In two weeks all Jews were required to wear yellow signs on their back and chest. Jews were forced to move to the ghetto. The beautiful Great Choral Synagogue at the main entrance to the ghetto was turned into a warehouse of goods confiscated from the Jews. After the war, the synagogue’s six-sided stone was enclosed to hide its original form and the building was turned into a cinema. The Hebraic writing is preserved in a room on the ground floor which has been converted into a toilet. The Jewish cemetery has been turned into a sports stadium. The high quality Jewish headstones have been recycled into roads and pavements. Modern day Brest was built out of Jewish tombstones. There is blood in the soil.
The consolation from all this tragedy?
This past week I placed my hands on my children's heads and blessed them as they were returning to Jerusalem. My son and his wife, married just a year, are bonded on their mission to build a home filled with Torah. My son is learning in Brisk Yeshiva, keeping the wisdom of our great sages alive.
The bricks and buildings may not have survived, but the passionate words of Torah ring loud and clear. This is the secret to Jewish survival.
With love in our hearts, we stay connected to our roots and take the Torah of our parents with us, no matter where life takes us. We live courageously as Jews.
(29) Anonymous, September 10, 2020 7:43 AM
What an amazing article.I did not know anything about Belarus I will forward it to family.
It did take me a while to tend it : it is quite long
Only just finished it after receiving the email a few weeks ago
But it is brilliant.
Jayne Chait
(28) Anonymous, August 24, 2020 6:05 PM
why wait for god to reply
Vengeance, vengeance, vengeance. My soul cries for justice and vengeance. But god sleeps.How can i have mercy when the atrocities continue and increase?
(27) Shlomo matisyahu, May 22, 2019 7:48 PM
Judaism will always stand tall!!!
I believe the sight of the shoah victims has to be preserved and we as Jews should go to any costs not to let the luxury hotels be built in that memorial area!!!
(26) Sandra Dowd, May 21, 2019 4:04 PM
Thank you for reminding us of that history. It is so important to know that.
Love and peace,always, for all. We need to be kind at all times and truly love one another. ❣️
(25) Debra Brunner, May 20, 2019 5:36 PM
Campaign for a memorial in Brest
The Together Plan UK Charity is running a campaign to build a memorial wall with reclaimed matzevot in memory of the Brisk Jewish Cemetery - now a sports stadium. Please share this link: https://thetogetherplan.com/en/
We are a charity working to restore memory and keep the story of the Belarus Jews alive. We support living communities in Belarus. We are also building a Jewish Cultural Route through Belarus. These people must be remembered and the story of the Jews in Belarus of yesterday and today must be kept alive.
(24) Elgin McConnell Loney, May 20, 2019 8:21 AM
Something every non-Jew should read
Historians tend to oversimplify the Shoah as an epic tragedy, while glossing over the heartrending details. We need to examine specific events like this before we can begin to comprehend the whole, if that's even possible.
(23) Robin Rebhan, May 19, 2019 6:55 PM
Even the dead cannot rest in peace and be safe from evil
My Father was a German American Soldier from Normandy to Berlin and stayed in Germany 2 yrs after the war. This outrageous behavior is not what he fought for in Europe. My Father taught me to stand against these things.
What a vile and detestable act of desecrating this mass grave is. And just demonstrates that the evil nature of man has not changed since WWII.
Even the dead cannot rest in peace and be safe from evil.
Just as a side note I enlisted in the Army and my son Enlisted as well. We both wanted to be like our Fathers. And my Grandson looks like he may be following the same path. Red white and blue, freedom and liberty runs through our families veins.
(22) Liz Ortiz, May 18, 2019 8:43 PM
I stand with you
I am an old woman, have learned much of the atrocities committed against your people. Have shed many tears for you. I fear what I see in US today. Hatred. It will destroy us all if we cannot learn from the past. May our God bless you.
(21) Melissa, May 18, 2019 2:00 AM
So Sad
This is so sad, there is nothing to say. I am beyond words. The depths of hatred and vile against our people is beyond words. Hashem I pray bless our people. My heart is so sad from all this hatred when He is so wonderful, and the world is caught up with so much evil and hatred and they are missing His wonderful glory and beauty.
(20) Rachel, May 16, 2019 11:45 PM
Why is this a problem?
If the remains are treated respectfully and interred properly in a Jewish cemetery (instead of being left in a mass grave), isn’t that better than leaving them in the mass grave?
(19) Ann, May 16, 2019 2:02 PM
Why do you not call upon us all to protest this outrage?
Give us a forum so that our protests may be heard by the city of Brest.
Demand that the sacred spot, the horrific spot, remain a cemetery
Demand that the tombstones be restored.
Demand that the synagogue's Hebrew letters not be the location of the toilets.
Send thousands of protests to Brest.
Let the protests embarrass the city so that they do not dare to ignore them.
(18) Michael, May 15, 2019 9:15 PM
Opinion
I can understand the outrage about the synagogue being converted into a movie theater, and I can especially understand it upon reading about the Hebraic writing in the toilet and the headstones used for roads.
Unfortunately, in the case of the mass grave, I can also understand the developer's argument. After all, nobody knew they would find such a horrible place when they made plans for building luxury real estate. Economic gain often prevails over emotional arguments.
In Reno, Nevada, my college dorm was built upon a Native American cemetery. There was some controversy about that, as well.
Rachel, May 16, 2019 11:48 PM
Excellent point
And while the remains were removed and returned to the victims’ families, a new office tower now stands on the site where the Twin Towers stood prior to the attack of 9/11.
(17) Dr C D Goldberg, May 15, 2019 8:56 PM
Discovery of Mass Grave
In the city where I live, a mass grave was found, this time the victims were not Jewish, and that area was earmarked for development. The authorities stepped in and blocked any development, and a memorial was erected instead. By the way we have strict hate speech laws in place, and offenders can be either fined to sent to prison.
(16) Ted Green, May 15, 2019 2:34 AM
The horror of it
Wasn't the holocaust bad enough? Wasn't it enough to slaughter 6 million souls? Now in a new century is it necessary to insult these 1,214souls for the second time? Isn't there enough place to build a condominium instead of upon the grave of those slaughtered people?
(15) Rachel Segal, May 15, 2019 1:23 AM
Will we never learn
I am absolutely devastated by what is happening in Brest it is truly disgusting. There is no integrity with these developers who could choose to move forward with their building after unearthing the tragedy of how these totally innocent souls were ruthlessly murdered. Shame on them and shame on anyone who is responsible for this shocking choice not to make the area a memorial to these angels.
(14) Chayale Deutscher, May 14, 2019 11:51 PM
Beautifully written. Tragically too much hate is rising up against us.
Beautifully written. Tragically too much hate has risen up against us once again. B”H that Eema (who predicted this) is not here to re witness it.
(13) Mario Zamora, May 14, 2019 11:06 PM
Because you’re a Jew (correction)
Not only “because you’re born a Jew” but ‘because you’re a Jew.’ Many great Jews who converted weren’t, aren’t and won’t be pardoned by Jew assassins.
(12) Pastor Lyle Berg, May 14, 2019 8:08 PM
Extremely sad, if this were any other culture as in Canada they have found circles where the natives would dwell and they are still turned into sacred places. History is preserving it not covering it up for the future not to repeat it. Again very sad and disturbing.
(11) Maurine, May 14, 2019 7:15 PM
Heart breaking
As I become familiar with my heritage, which was kept secret until recent. I wonder, if after my ancestors arrival to the new world they still feared oppression. I am determined not to be a undercover Jew. Even if it means death.
(10) K.H. Ryesky, May 14, 2019 6:49 PM
Learn from Chernobyl
I hasten to note that the Chernobyl nuclear reactor was constructed on a Jewish cemetery.
Brisk, you have been warned!
(9) Anonymous, May 14, 2019 6:48 PM
Slovie, this is sad beyond belief, as you say it is Cain and Hevel all over again. May Hashem put an end to this speedily.
(8) Rabbi Pinchas Kantrowitz, May 14, 2019 4:30 PM
Powerful! Well said!
(7) Marilyn S Rosen, May 14, 2019 3:25 PM
Another Holocaust story
We should never forget. No matter how many times it is brought up it is not enough. It is unimaginable to think this even happened. WE MUST REMEMBER ANY TIME WE CAN.
(6) Anonymous, May 14, 2019 3:17 PM
WHAT'S BEING DONE WITH THE BONES?
Is there a DNA bank to check these bones against?
David_S, May 14, 2019 11:42 PM
Good question, and hope someone can intervene and at least give those unfortunate souls a proper resting place.
(5) Jankel, May 14, 2019 2:51 PM
Laments tears and no action!
Reply! violently..Be responsible...Do something more than cries and tears.
Do what Jabotinski said: "learn to shoot and emigrate to israeL" (Palestine at these times. Nobody listened !
I Knew USA were finished already in the late 80ies
Nobody wanted to learn and answer.
Now there you are!
Fight
(4) Alfred Nicolosi, May 14, 2019 2:09 PM
A face is more than a name
Bones and shoes create a powerfully painful image evoking every imaginable emotion for these dear people whose lives were stolen. Dr. Ann Weiss, daughter of two survivors from Poland/Ukraine, has devoted her life to restoring identities to thousands of Jews from Bedzin and surrounding areas who were murdered at Auschwitz in August, 1943. See her website: http://thelastalbum.org/content/. A face is more than a name. We must remember the martyrs as for how they lived, not only for how they died.
(3) Joseph Sailors, May 14, 2019 1:37 PM
Remember
We will never forget our Jewish brothers and sisters . G-d give us strength.
(2) Anonymous, May 13, 2019 7:56 AM
Moving artile but... PLEASE remove pictures of Kedoshim's bones!
I think it's unrespectful to the memories of our dear brethen, may God avenge their names.
jesse, May 13, 2019 8:13 AM
i felt the same way at first
and then realized that we need to feel the shock and horror and degradation of what's going on... that photo brings home the reality
(1) Dvirah, May 12, 2019 3:23 PM
Suggestion
Could the "remains" be brought to Israel for burial?
Yael, May 13, 2019 9:13 PM
I thought the same why leave it in a town where they refuse to memoralize the dead mn