Faye Schulman

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Faye Schulman
Faye Schulman with Russias partisans
Born
Faigel Lazebnik

28 November 1919
Lenin, Belarus
Died24 April 2021
Toronto, Canada

Faye Schulman (28 November 1919 – 24 April 2021) was a

Jewish partisan photographer, and the only such photographer to photograph their struggle in Eastern Europe during World War II.[1] Her full name was Faigel "Faye" Lazebnik Schulman.[2]

Early life

Faigel Lazebnik was born on November 28, 1919, in Sosnkowicze, Eastern

Western Belarus) as the fifth of seven children born to Yakov and Rayzel (Migdalovich) Lazebnik, Orthodox Jews. At age 10, Faye was apprenticed to her brother, Moishe, a photographer, later taking over his studio at age 16.[3] She also learned some skills from a brother-in-law who was a physician.[4]

Surviving the Holocaust

After the

prisoners of war who had escaped from German captivity, working as a nurse for them from September 1942 to July 1944.[9] After a raid of Lenin, she regained her photography equipment, eventually taking over 100 photographs of the Resistance.[6][9][3] When the Red Army liberated Belarus in July 1944, she was reunited with two of her brothers and left the brigade after being introduced to her future husband, Morris Schulman.[3]

About the Soviet partisans, Schulman recalled that "sex was not a major issue in our group. We didn't think in terms of men and women, boys and girls. We treated each other as equals. There were no special privileges for women; we were all partisans and we knew that death in war did not spare anyone. Certainly in battle, there was no differentiation between men and women. All our thoughts were concentrated on defeating the enemy." In her memoir, she told of thievery and drunkenness, of an officer who nearly killed her when she rejected his advances, and of antisemitism, writing: "Because I was Jewish, I had to work twice as hard to be deemed as worthy as the gentile girls. When I worked night and day I was told, 'You are not like a Jewish girl. You are just like the Russian girls.' This was meant to be a compliment." She always replied: "'Yes, but I am Jewish.' My work as a nurse, a photographer and most of all as a soldier was plentiful reason for me to stand tall, to be proud of myself and my heritage."[10]

In spite of those shortcomings, she was grateful to the partisans for their help in defeating the Nazis. About the experience, she wrote: "We all belonged to one brigade. We learned to live together, eat together, fight together and survive together. We also needed to get along with each other. Sometimes it was hard to live through one day, let alone years. There was a strong friendship, cooperation and loyalty amongst most of us and a willingness to help each other. In the forest, connections were made between disparate people. Cold, hunger, stress forced strangers to become like family. We were also comrades in arms, all dealing with the same life-and-death circumstances. Our lives were bonded by the dangerous conditions under which we constantly lived. A special bond, nonetheless, existed among those of us who had experienced similar horrors under the Nazis."[10]

Post-war

In 1944, Faye wed Morris Schulman and lived in

Israeli independence.[5] In 1948, they immigrated to Canada where she worked in a dress factory and later hand-tinted photographs and painted in oils.[5][9][3]

Legacy and writings

Schulman has been decorated by the Soviet/Belarusian, American and Canadian governments. In 1995, she wrote A Partisan's Memoir: Woman of the Holocaust.[7] She was later featured in a 1999 PBS documentary, “Daring to Resist: Three Women Face the Holocaust.”[3] She is currently featured in the documentary, "Four Winters: A Story of Jewish Partisan Resistance and Bravery in WW2."

Personal life

In 1948, Faye and Morris immigrated to Toronto. She is survived by her two children Sidney Schulman and Susan Schulman; six grandchildren Michael, Daniel, Nathan, Rachelle, Matthew, and Steven; and six great-grandchildren.[11]

References

  1. ^ "Exhibit 2013.02.27: Pictures of Resistance: The Wartime Photographs of Jewish Partisan Faye Schulman". ojmche.org. Archived from the original on 2015-12-08. Retrieved 2015-12-01.
  2. ^ "Pictures of Resistance". jewishpartisans.blogspot.com. 24 October 2012. Archived from the original on 12 December 2020. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
  3. ^
    ISSN 0362-4331. Archived
    from the original on 2021-12-28. Retrieved 2021-12-28.
  4. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2023-09-05. Retrieved 2023-09-05.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. ^ a b c "PBS.org - Daring to Resist: Faye Schulman - Cont'd". pbs.org. Archived from the original on 2017-05-21. Retrieved 2017-08-27.
  6. ^ a b "Faye Schulman". Holocaust Encyclopedia.
  7. ^ a b c stacey palevsky (13 March 2009). "Rare photos show hidden life of partisans who fought Nazis". jweekly.com. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
  8. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2023-09-05. Retrieved 2023-09-05.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  9. ^ a b c "Mini Bio: Faye Schulman". jewishpartisans.org. Archived from the original on 2015-12-08. Retrieved 2015-12-01.
  10. ^ a b Lazare, Daniel (9 September 2014). "Timothy Snyder's Lies". Jacobin. Archived from the original on 21 September 2021. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
  11. ^ "Faye Schulman, partisan photographer who captured Jewish resistance during the Holocaust, dies at 101". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on June 15, 2021. Retrieved May 8, 2021.
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