us-005578-irn42320-irn42930
type: RecordSet
biographical history: Pavel Szenwald was born on December 28, 1920, in Warsaw, Poland. He was a student at the Technical College in Warsaw when the Germans invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. A few months later, he was imprisoned in the Warsaw ghetto and in March 1941 was transported to the Nedev labor camp; he escaped and returned to the ghetto. In 1942, Pavel used forged Polish papers obtained by his father and escaped the ghetto. He posed as a German national, joined the German army, and served as a guard at a prisoner of war camp for Soviet prisoners. Believing his identity was about to be revealed, he fled his post in March 1943 and traveled over 600 miles to the Lida ghetto in Poland (Belarus). He escaped in April to the forest in Belarus and joined the Bielski partisans as a machine gunner and saboteur. In December, the group established a permanent base in the Naliboki forest which was under the administration of a Soviet partisan group led by General Chernyshev. The Bielski group established a relationship with the Soviet partisans who provided them with weapons. In July 1944, the camp was liberated by the Soviet Army; Pavel and his battalion fought alongside the Soviets. After the war in Europe ended on May 7, 1945, Pavel was drafted into the Soviet Army. Pavel returned to Warsaw in August 1945. He stayed at an army barracks and searched the ghetto ruins for surviving relatives but found none. Not wanting to return to his Russian army unit, Pavel decided to go to Palestine. In October 1945, he joined Beitar, a right wing Zionist group which was involved in illegal immigration and military activities. He gave up his papers, uniform, and weapons in exchange for ragged clothing and forged papers declaring him a Greek refugee. In November 1945, he crossed the border into Czechoslovakia with other Poles. They stayed in a safe house in Prague and were forbidden to leave, but Pavel heard that he could get cakes in town and left. He stopped to ask directions and was arrested. His iden…
physical characteristics and technical requirements: Ink and wash drawing on white rectangular paper depicting a man with short dark hair in an undershirt sitting at a plain wood table. His right forearm has a white cloth around it and he is holding a handgun. A second man, in a jacket and pants, is standing on the right, hands on the table, facing the seated man. On the table is a jacket and pants with Russian insignia, hat, sword, papers, and black kneeboots. They sit under a bulb and shade hanging from a cord, the only light source in a dark room. There is a paragraph length artist’s caption in Hebrew, dates, number, and the artist’s name inscribed on the front. Some text is covered in correction fluid and written over. There are 2 punched holes at the top center of the paper. front, lower left, handwritten, black ink : Hebrew text [A week of searching for my relatives in Warsaw ended with no results. I did not want to return to my unit which arrived from Russia. In Warsaw I met young Jews. All of them wanted to reach Palestine, so I too wanted that. I was referred to Beitar which was active in the underground. I gave up my documents, uniform and weapon and received tattered clothing and forged papers of a Greek refugee! After some time we crossed the border to Czechoslovakia] / October 45
conditions of access: No restrictions on access
conditions of use: No restrictions on use
date: 1945 October
has beginning date: 1994-01-01
has end date: 1994-12-31
has or had holder: us-005578
has or had identifier: 1
has or had some members with language: heb
has record set type: Item
identifier: irn42930
is or was included in: us-005578-irn42320
record resource extent: overall: Height: 8.125 inches (20.638 cm) | Width: 11.500 inches (29.21 cm)
results or resulted from: 1
scope and content: Pen and wash drawing from a series of 19 captioned, narrative drawings created by Peretz Chorshati (born Pavel Szenwald) between 1994 and 1997 about his wartime experiences. It depicts Pavel and a Beitar member looking at a military uniform in October 1945 when Pavel deserted the Soviet Army and exchanged his uniform for a civilian identity. Pavel was an 18 year old student in Warsaw when the Germans invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. He was imprisoned in the Warsaw ghetto until his father got him forged papers and he escaped. He posed as a German national, and joined the German army. In March 1943, while serving as a guard, Pavel deserted the army and joined the Bielski partisan group. After the war ended on May 7, 1945, Pavel returned to Warsaw and joined Beitar, a right wing Zionist group. In June 1946, he illegally emigrated to British ruled Palestine.
title: Autobiographical ink wash drawing by a Polish refugee of 2 men reviewing a military uniform