LEIBEL ELISHKEVITCH

1898 - 1942

Leibel Elishkevitch was my grandmother's brother and the second son of Avram and Sara-Dvora. He studied in "Talmud Tora" in Vishnive. In 1915, when he was only 17 years old, Leibel went to Oshmane, and there the Germans forced him to hard labor in the Panny-Battalion. They beat him, and he almost received no food. After 2 years of serving he received vacation, though he didn't return to the Panny-Battalion. A German officer came looking for him, and the family bribed the man to free Leibel.

He was very devoted to his family; after his father died from typhoid, he had to keep and support his mother and his sisters. He was the first teacher to his 4 young sisters, and he taught them to read and write when they were refugees in Vehodnize.

After World War I ended, the family moved back to Vishnive. My grandmother Chaya, the youngest sister, moved-in with the older brother, Yakov-Hirsh and his family. Leibel left to support his mother and the other three sisters. He worked in agriculture, in the potato and barley fields next to the family house (they had about 5 - 6 dunams of crops).

In 1926, Leibel developed a bad ulcer. He was married by a "shiduch" (pre-arranged), but the marriage didn't go well. He died from starvation in the ghetto, before the massacre began.