My radiant wall by https://padlet.com/arizpea/rsqyenzytb9o Made with big dreams en-us 2018-12-06 20:43:28 UTC 2026-02-04 21:36:33 UTC hello@padlet.com arizpea https://padlet.com/arizpea/rsqyenzytb9o/wish/312039083 2018-12-06 20:51:45 UTC https://padlet.com/arizpea/rsqyenzytb9o/wish/312039083 arizpea https://padlet.com/arizpea/rsqyenzytb9o/wish/312040235 2018-12-06 20:54:56 UTC https://padlet.com/arizpea/rsqyenzytb9o/wish/312040235 arizpea https://padlet.com/arizpea/rsqyenzytb9o/wish/312042517  ]]> 2018-12-06 21:01:50 UTC https://padlet.com/arizpea/rsqyenzytb9o/wish/312042517 arizpea https://padlet.com/arizpea/rsqyenzytb9o/wish/312044802  ]]> 2018-12-06 21:08:59 UTC https://padlet.com/arizpea/rsqyenzytb9o/wish/312044802 arizpea https://padlet.com/arizpea/rsqyenzytb9o/wish/312045425 2018-12-06 21:11:17 UTC https://padlet.com/arizpea/rsqyenzytb9o/wish/312045425 arizpea https://padlet.com/arizpea/rsqyenzytb9o/wish/312045684 2018-12-06 21:12:20 UTC https://padlet.com/arizpea/rsqyenzytb9o/wish/312045684 arizpea https://padlet.com/arizpea/rsqyenzytb9o/wish/312046061  Frank Blaichman ]]> 2018-12-06 21:13:45 UTC https://padlet.com/arizpea/rsqyenzytb9o/wish/312046061 arizpea https://padlet.com/arizpea/rsqyenzytb9o/wish/312295770 2018-12-07 16:22:18 UTC https://padlet.com/arizpea/rsqyenzytb9o/wish/312295770 arizpea https://padlet.com/arizpea/rsqyenzytb9o/wish/312296565 2018-12-07 16:23:44 UTC https://padlet.com/arizpea/rsqyenzytb9o/wish/312296565 arizpea https://padlet.com/arizpea/rsqyenzytb9o/wish/313165847 (Born in the small town of Kamionka, Poland on Dec. 11, 1922, Frank Blaichman was just sixteen years old when the German army invaded his country in 1939. Following the invasion, German officials issued regulations intended to isolate the Jews and deprive them of their livelihood.jewishpartians.org)]]> 2018-12-10 20:38:37 UTC https://padlet.com/arizpea/rsqyenzytb9o/wish/313165847 arizpea https://padlet.com/arizpea/rsqyenzytb9o/wish/313166065 (Approximate area of partisan activity for Frank Blaichman
Frank took great risks to help his parents and family survive these hardships. With a bicycle, he rode from the neighboring farms to nearby cities, buying and selling goods at each destination. He refused to wear the Star of David armband and traveled without the required permits, but his courage and fluent Polish ensured his safety. When word spread that the Jews of Kamionka were to be resettled in a nearby ghetto, Frank hid in a bushy area outside of town. He stayed with a friendly Polish farmer and then joined other Jews hiding in a nearby forest. In the forest, the threat of being discovered was constant and Polish hoodlums beat any women that left the encampment. Frank encouraged the men to organize a defense unit. He obtained firearms by posing as a Polish policeman, using an overcoat he had found.jewishpartions.org)
]]> 2018-12-10 20:39:14 UTC https://padlet.com/arizpea/rsqyenzytb9o/wish/313166065 arizpea https://padlet.com/arizpea/rsqyenzytb9o/wish/313166540 (Frank's squad joined a larger all-Jewish unit, with strong ties to the Polish underground and Soviet army. They were responsible for protecting 200 Jews living in a forest encampment. Only 21, he was the youngest platoon commander in the unit and escorted the future prime minister of Poland to a secret meeting with Soviet high command.jewishpartians.org)]]> 2018-12-10 20:40:32 UTC https://padlet.com/arizpea/rsqyenzytb9o/wish/313166540 arizpea https://padlet.com/arizpea/rsqyenzytb9o/wish/314045011 (Month by month, life became harder. Jewish men were conscripted for forced labor, and Frank was assigned to work two days a week in the fields of a nearby estate where potatoes, sugar beets, and other crops were grown. Once again he took an incredible risk: he found someone he could pay to take his place in the field. By 1942, the situation was becoming dire. The community suffered from hunger and disease, was terrorized by harassment, raids, and random shootings, and heard more and more frequent rumors of mass killings and deportations to death camps. One of Frank’s uncles was shot on the spot when the Germans made a surprise search and discovered fresh meat in his house; a cousin met a similar fate when fresh bread was found in her house.facinghistory.org) ]]> 2018-12-12 20:34:29 UTC https://padlet.com/arizpea/rsqyenzytb9o/wish/314045011 arizpea https://padlet.com/arizpea/rsqyenzytb9o/wish/314045466 (In October 1942, when the Judenrat (Jewish councils forced to carry out Nazi orders) informed the Jews of Kamionka that they were going to be “resettled” in a ghetto in Lubartow, Frank escaped and hid in a bushy area outside of town. He was determined not to be imprisoned in the ghetto, even if it meant never seeing his family again. Frank knew many friendly non-Jewish farmers in the area. One of them invited him into his home, where the family greeted Frank warmly and fed him despite the German policy to shoot any Poles who gave assistance to Jews in any way. Facinghistory.org)]]> 2018-12-12 20:35:55 UTC https://padlet.com/arizpea/rsqyenzytb9o/wish/314045466 arizpea https://padlet.com/arizpea/rsqyenzytb9o/wish/314048902 (Frank soon learned that Kamionka’s Jews had not been relocated to the ghetto in Lubartow. The farmer told him that the Germans had put them on trains to some other, unknown destination. Frank realized that his family and many relatives, together with the rest of Kamionka’s Jewish community, were on their way to die. Like thousands of other Jews throughout Eastern Europe, Frank fled to the forest. Facinghistory.org)



]]> 2018-12-12 20:45:04 UTC https://padlet.com/arizpea/rsqyenzytb9o/wish/314048902 arizpea https://padlet.com/arizpea/rsqyenzytb9o/wish/314049306 (In the woods, he discovered an encampment of more than 100 Jews sheltered in small bunkers dug into the sandy ground and padded with straw. At first the forest seemed like a haven, but Frank soon realized the encampment was in constant danger and began to organize a defense unit. Early one morning, German soldiers, acting on information given to them by Polish spies, attacked the encampment in the forest. Over 80 Jews were murdered. Frank was one of a lucky 22 who survived. Realizing that the small forest didn’t offer enough protection, Frank’s group began to seek shelter in the more secluded villages, splitting up into smaller groups, keeping on the move, and hiding in local farmers’ homes and on their property. This turned out to be more effective than staying in the forest, especially during the harsh winter, as local farmers provided them with assistance, shelter, and cooked meals.facinghistory.org)]]> 2018-12-12 20:46:09 UTC https://padlet.com/arizpea/rsqyenzytb9o/wish/314049306 arizpea https://padlet.com/arizpea/rsqyenzytb9o/wish/314049941 (Early in 1943, Frank’s unit grew to 60 members when they joined forces with refugees from the town of Markuszow. That spring the unit grew again when Frank met Samuel “Mietek” Gruber, who had escaped with 28 other men from a prisoner-of-war camp in Lublin. Gruber’s group had fought in the Polish army before being captured by the Germans; they had experience fighting and knew how to handle explosives. Known as the Markuszow group under the leadership of Iser Eisenberg, they were becoming a disciplined fighting force. The expanded unit hunted spies and collaborators in the area, disrupted communication by destroying telephone lines, damaged dairy factories that produced food for the Germans, and ambushed German patrols. By September 1943, the expanded unit began working with Armia Ludowa, a communist-led Polish partisan group. Armia Ludowa provided Frank’s unit with much-needed food and ammunition from their Soviet allies. Previously armed with old rifles and handguns, the group was able to obtain explosives, hand grenades, land mines, machine guns, submachine guns, mortars, anti-tank guns, and all the ammunition they needed. Just 21, Frank was the youngest platoon commander in the expanded unit and even was selected to escort the future prime minister of Poland to a secret meeting with Soviet high command.facinghistory.org)]]> 2018-12-12 20:47:57 UTC https://padlet.com/arizpea/rsqyenzytb9o/wish/314049941