Michael Stoll

Michael Stoll (Stolowitzky) was born on February 21, 1926, in Lida, Poland to parents Leon Stolowitzky, an accountant, and Sarah Stolowitzky. He had an older sister, Bella, and a younger sister, Ann. His family lived in a farmhouse with three wings with his grandmother, aunts, uncles, and cousins. Michael was particularly close with his younger cousin Vivian. Michael's father worked at the local brewery in Lida. Michael attended a private school where he received an education in Hebrew. His family spoke Yiddish and kept a kosher home. Lida had a strong and vibrant Jewish cultural life; Yeshivas, a Jewish library, and many Jewish organizations. Michael's family would host guests from local Yeshivas for Shabbos. In 1939, the Jewish population of Lida numbered roughly 8,500 people. In the summer of 1939, the Russians entered and occupied Lida. When his father Leon was drafted into the Polish army, the war truly began for Michael. Under Russian occupation, food, clothing, and other essential items became commodities. In addition, the Russians imposed strict rules in Lida, including closing the Hebrew schools and forcing Jewish children to attend Russian schools. Six months after being drafted and serving as a prisoner of war in Russia, Michael's father returned to Lida to work in the brewery. People in town who favored socialism reported him for being a Zionist. Zionism was considered counter-revolutionary and anti-Russian, and Leon faced interrogation for months. However intense and brutal the Russian occupation was, the family was not prepared for the future under German occupation. The Russians stayed in Lida until June of 1941 when Germany bombarded Lida. Michael and his family were forced from their home early one morning while sleeping and fled to the lake down their street. The town, including their home, mainly was built of wood, and the town was set ablaze. When the family returned to their home in the afternoon, it and their beloved town were destroyed. Michael and his family fled to the outskirts of town and lived with his extended family until the ghetto was created. Amazingly, the Pupko brewery, where Leon had worked, survived the bombardment. Michael's father went back to work at the brewery and his family ended up living in the brewery along with six or seven other families. In the meantime, the ghettos of Lida were being formed, and slowly Jews from smaller towns were brought there. Jews were forced to wear yellow Stars of David, and a Judenrat, a Jewish ghetto militia, was formed. On May 8, 1942, the Lida ghetto was emptied. People were segregated based on their ability to work or not. Around 6,700 people who could not work, such as the elderly and children, were brought to a field and killed with machine guns. Michael and his family had been told by an engineer in the brewery what would happen beforehand and were told to hide in the brewery. Michael heard the screams and the sound of machine guns in the night. The brewery was spared. Michael would later discover he had lost many family members that night: his grandmother, aunts, uncles, and two cousins. One of Michael's uncles (Vivian's father) died because he would not leave his parents, who were killed. Michael and his family arrived deep in the Naliboki woods at the Bielski family camp in late 1943. Michael participated in missions where partisans were sent out to a village or town to bring back supplies and food for the camp. For example, one mission included going back to the brewery in Lida to dig up weapons Michael had hidden earlier. Contrary to the Russian partisans who were helpful, there were other Russian partisans who were unfriendly and one such group took Michael''s rifle, coat, and boots in the dead of winter on another mission because he was part of a Jewish partisan group. Regarding his courage to fight back as a partisan, Michael recalled: "I did not know… I never dreamed in my life that I''d have that kind of will to fight back. I didn''t know I had it in me, but life teaches you certain things". Michael stayed at the Bielski camp until July of 1944, when they were liberated by the Russians. His family returned to Lida, but most of the town had not survived or had disappeared. Only two families in Lida survived intact, including Michael''s.