My friend Chaim Simon Kagan was born in my town of Mir, Poland, in 1927. Most of the time, we used to meet in our synagogue every Saturday. Simon's father used to sit facing my family. We were father and five brothers. We attended Talmud Torah School together, until grade 4, after which I went to a polish public school.
In 1939, the Russians occupied this territory, which became a province of Byalarus. I went after that to a Russian school, where we learned three languages, Russian Byelorussian and German.
In 1941 the Germans occupied Mir. On November 9, 1941 the Germans massacred approximately 1650 people in one day.
My parents and Simon's parents were killed on the same day.
After that, the Germans transferred us to the ghetto in Mir, which was an old destroyed castle, once owned by the Radjivil family.
Other people lived there as well, by the name of Swiatopolk-Mirski. There is still a grand-daughter, Princess Irene Swiatopolk-Mirska living in Germany today. I sent her my memoirs which I wrote, entitled "From Mir to Montreal."
A small part of the castle was livable, but the rest was very old and in bad condition, but we managed to house 850 people.
Thanks to the German chief of police, Oswald Rufeisen (who was a Jew but this was unknown to the German police) we survived the Holocaust. Oswald found out from the chief of the German gendarmerie, the date of liquidation of the ghetto, which was set for august 13, 1942.
Oswald supplied us with some ammunition in the ghetto and he went with the police department, prior to the liquidation, on a false partisan hunt, in order for us to escape from the Ghetto. We were an organized group of 45 men and two women (both nurses). Because my three older brothers were in the organized group, my younger brother and I were included in the group. Approximately 160 people followed us out of the Ghetto.
Some people were hiding in the ghetto and escaped by themselves. Simon with his sister broke the iron bars from the window and managed to jump to safety.
In the year 1971, on a first visit to Israel, I met one of Simon's sisters in Jerusalem. One sister lives in Toronto, Canada and I met her on several occasions.
In 1992, a group of people from Mir, went for the 50th Anniversary of the liquidation of the ghetto in Mir. We took with us stone plaques (written in Hebrew and Byelorussian) to put on the tombstones of the four mass graves of approximately 2200 killed in Mir.
Oswald Rufeisen (who rescued us in the ghetto) brought a group of photographers from Germany to film and witness the destruction of the Mir Castle"
At the same time, Simon and I were chosen to explain to the photographers what they should film. Simon brought them to the place in the castle where he showed them the window, where the iron gate had been installed.
Simon had broken that gate to escape with his sisters. I photographed Simon when he was talking to the German crew and I have it on film in Montreal.
The castle in Mir was restored about 20 years ago and today is an agricultural museum. I believe that the management of the castle made a room of remembrance in memory of the martyrs of the holocaust.
Editor's note: I recently saw Sidney Itzkowitz of Montreal in Israel and thank him for writing this article. Since Simon Kagan's story was not recorded in the book edited by Belle Millo, Voices of Holocaust Survivors, I thought it would be especially worthwhile to record it through this article.To read more about Sidney itzkowitz click here:
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