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Frank Blaichman was born in Kamionka, Poland on December 11th, 1922. Frank’s family of 700 Jews was spread among the small town he lived in and they worked as merchants. His father bought grain and sold it in other towns for a living. However, this all changed in September of 1939, when Frank was 16 years old and Germany invaded Poland.

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During Frank Blaichman’s time hiding in the forest, the risk of being discovered was never ending. Sadly, anyone who would try to leave the camp they had in the forest would get killed or beaten by Polish citizens. Frank supported the idea of making a defense unit, using weapons he got from acting as a Polish policeman. But after an attack on their camp, the survivors were forced to stay on the move and would hide with other friendly farmers. They would collaborate to kill Polish informants, destroy German telephone lines and ambush German patrol units. Soon, Frank’s group of survivors would join a Jewish unit, that would ultimately help them protect over 200 Jews that lived in the forests. Frank would then become the youngest commander of the unit and go on to escort the future Prime Minister of Poland to a meeting with high ranking Soviets.

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Frank Blaichman created a resistance that physically fought back against the Nazi party and made significant progress in their attacks. He showed that the hope for Jews wasn’t lost and was able to command a militia of other Jews to disrupt German communications and supply lines.

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We went through many hardships, many sufferings, I can tell you. But somehow, we overcame all that suffering. And let me tell you another thing. The first two months we were in the forest, it was very bad. We went through hunger, scary beatings, all kinds of things. But none of us, including me, was complaining. You know what I was saying? This is still better than to be in a concentration camp or a death camp, no matter what it is. And tomorrow is going to be another day. That's [what] I was telling myself, and all the others were saying the same thing. And that's how we overcame all these things. You know, we were sleeping in the forest in freezing rain, in storm, snow, on the snow. The snow covered us up. In the morning I got up-[there] was a blanket of snow. That's how we were living for the first few months. Sometimes for several days going around wet, hungry, but still we didn't give it up. We were hardened, not softened.
© 2004-2016 Jewish Partisan Educational Foundation. All Rights Reserved Get the Printable Transcript

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We went through many hardships, many sufferings, I can tell you. But somehow, we overcame all that suffering. And let me tell you another thing. The first two months we were in the forest, it was very bad. We went through hunger, scary beatings, all kinds of things.

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Frank Blaichman - Departing his family in October 1942

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“I’m very proud of what I did all those years… The reality was we had nothing to lose, and out way to survive was to fight.”

“The fact one and a half a million Jews fought bravely against Nazi Germany and its satellites is too often ignored…”

“We were not afraid to die, because all our families were gone. We were just trying to do the best we can”