12-07-2008 rp.pl   Yitzshak Arad's choices Piotr Zychowicz     – Have you ever murdered a prisoner of war or civilian ? – No, no, no, no, no, no and once again no! – Prosecutor’s office in Vilnius has already collected impressive evidence. – All that are deceitful lies. – Why do these people lie ? – Because they are anti-Semites. Brigadier general Yitzshak Arad born as Itzhak Rudnicki can find a fulfilment in his life. He is a hero. Hero spelled with block capital H. His combat trail started still in Poland, in an underground organisation operating in the Święciany Ghetto. Then two years of fierce forest combat with the Germans. In 1945 he leaves for Palestine and continues to fight. This time against the British. Campaigns in 1948, 1956 and 1967.Successes in desert, Middle East battlefields, promotions and high distinctions. After almost 30 years spent with a gun in his hand, he assumed a post of the head of Yad Vashem, a Jerusalem Institute. Books, lectures, evidence provided during lawsuits of German mass murderers and world-wide travels. Very few people can boast of such biography. The first blemish on the hero’s image occurred in June 2007. At that time the Lithuanian Prosecutor’s Office requested then Israeli Ministry of Justice to let them to interrogate Arad. It has turned out that the Soviet partisan group in which he fought, committed war crimes killing Lithuanian civilians, policemen and soldiers of the underground movement fighting for independence. There is circumstantial evidence that Arad was also actively involved in such war crimes. Polish jungle August 1943, the Vilnius area. In cities and on the roads the control is exercised by the Germans, but in the forests partisan fighters rule. These include the Lithuanians, Polish Home Army as well as stronger and stronger Soviet partisan groups. The Soviet partisan groups organised by the parachutists from Moscow aimed mainly at preparing conditions for Sovietization of Lithuania – future Soviet Union republic. – Pacifications of civilians, burning of villages and plunders. Murders of the activists of Polish, Lithuanians and Byelorussian underground movement fighting for independence. Drawing up of special black lists of „hostile elements” that were supposed to be liquidated or deported to the East after the arrival of the Red Army – enumerates the activities of the Soviet partisan groups Arūnas Bubnys, PhD from the Lithuanian Historical Institute. Soviet partisan groups were usually motley crew. The soldiers – refugees from the prisoners of war camps, pre-war communists, criminals and Jews who escaped from ghettos. Icchak Arad who at the time used surname Rudnicki was fighting exactly in such partisan group from August 1943. The evidence collected by the Lithuanian prosecutor’s office on Arad’s case is confidential, but the „Rzeczpospolita” daily managed to find access to some documents. The first charge is concerned with an assault on the Lithuanian police patrol at the place of Mamaje on November 1, 1943. Arad along with several other partisan fighters including but not limited to Vaniushka Kursky and a certain Goldberg, took four Lithuanians prisoner. The commander of police patrol, a 43-year-old Leonas Drangauskas was escorted by them to the camp where he was interrogated by the Soviet Secret Police officers from the Fourth Special Taskforce of the Management of Soviet Secret Police (NKVD).After several days the man was executed by a firing squad. A few months later on January 18, 1944 Arad participated in an assault on a small village near Hoduciszki. He allegedly arrested the head of the village and at the same time the head of the rural self-defence unit Juozas Latakas that he later took away to the forests near the Narocz Lake. There the prisoner of war was murdered. There is circumstantial evidence that Arad participated in many similar raids on Lithuanian and Polish villages. – Do you remember the policeman executed by the firing squad ? – Yes, I do. – Who killed him ? – I do not know. My role was limited to escorting him to the base. I learnt about the execution later. – Did you participate in plundering the civilians ? – It is easy for you to pose such questions, when you sit in a reclined position in a comfortable armchair in a fully air-conditioned office. We were fighting there to survive. It was a jungle. Without food from the peasants we would not be able to survive in the forests even one day. After all in those days everybody was tough on others. Everybody was getting the supplies in such manner. Also Polish Home Army. My sole sin The combat trail of Icchak Rudnicki a few times intersected with the combat trails of the Home Army soldiers. For one of them there was a tragic end because of the meeting. According to the Lithuanian Prosecutor’s Office on May 1, 1944 in the Święciany district area together with several brothers in arms he murdered a Polish captain of underground movement. Despite efforts taken by the investigators the personal data of the victim have not been determined to date. Icchak Arad talks to the Polish journalists reluctantly about this aspect of his activity. He admits that skirmishes with the Polish partisans did happen, however, he assures that “he did not shoot at Poles”. – I was seventeen years old at that time. He served as a private. Politics and taking decisions with whom we have to fight did not belong to my duties. Such decisions were taken at a higher level – he emphasizes. However, other people who were involved in those events say openly: Polish and Soviet partisans fought a regular war in the Vilnius area. – Our enemies were both Germans and reactionary White-Poles. The dilemma we faced then, was in fact who would be killed first. These were the realities of bloody partisan war in Lithuania. Everybody was fighting against everybody – says Dov Levin, former Soviet partisan fighter, now a professor in the University in Jerusalem. Why, however, Icchak Arad and so many other Jews having escaped from ghetto decided to join Soviet rather than Polish or Lithuanian partisan groups ? – Simple answer to this question: because only Bolsheviks wanted us. We did not chose communism as an ideology. All this talk about Jewish communists is rubbish. To survive, we would have joined even Eskimos. Unfortunately neither Poles nor Lithuanians did not want us – emphasizes Levin. The same arguments are used by Icchak Arad. – Were you a communist ? – On the contrary. I finished a Hebrew school and I was brought up in the spirit of Zionism. Before joining the group I had no ties with communists. – What do you think about them ? – I know perfectly about Stalin’s crimes. After all he also wanted to exterminate Jews. A pretext for the extermination was to have been forged just before his death a plot of physicians. I am the last one who would defend the Soviet Union. – Then how come that you chose to join the Soviet partisans ? – It was not a choice. In fact the only choice I had was: either Soviet partisans or death. Having escaped ghetto we were like game everybody could kill us. We were surrounded by anti-Semites. If had not taken my decision at that time, then we would not talk here today. That is my only sin: I survived. In the ranks of NKVD While joining the Soviet partisans in the Vilnius Battalion can bee indeed explained by a desire to survive at any cost, then it is hard to understand a decision taken by Icchak Arad at the end of 1944. When Lithuania was for the second time under the occupation of the Red Army the young Jewish fighter enrolled Soviet political police (NKVD). – It was a standard practice in all countries occupied by the Soviets. Also in Poland. Former communist partisans were ideal candidates for Soviet political police officers. The perfectly new the area, realities and organisational structures of the underground movement fighting for independence. The only question is if he became a member of NKVD voluntarily ? You would rather not reject NKVD offer – says Professor Andrzej Żbikowski, Jewish Historical Institute. Arad, asked for this episode from his life, is not able to control his anger. – Were you a member of NKVD ? – No ! No I was never employed by this institution. – The Lithuanians claim otherwise. – After the front moved forward they used us to perform certain tasks. – What tasks ? – Fighting with Lithuanian, Nazi collaborators. – At the beginning of 1945 ? How come ? The Germans at that time were defending themselves in Berlin. – Everybody who by May 9, 1945 i.e. until capitulation of the Third Reich, was shooting at the Red Army, he was acting in favour of the Third Reich war machine and was a collaborator. Please mind that the Soviet Union was one of the allies. The same as the Englishmen and Americans. – However, the Lithuanians believe that they were fighting for their independence. – After May 9, 1945 – that is correct, but earlier anyone who was not with us was on the Germans side. – And there was no third option ? – No. The „Lithuanian collaborators”, as they were called by Icchak Arad, were the members of the Tigras Troop of Lithuanian Liberation Army. In March 1945 along with other Lithuanian Soviet political police officers and soldiers of 25th Regiment, 4th Rifle Division of NKVD he participated in the huge sweep operation in the Labonarska Forest. The Bolsheviks using a denunciation of the agent alias Szarou, destroyed two partisans’ bunkers called „Kaunas” and „Margis”. In the former bunker at least 73 persons were „physically exterminated”, whereas the number of victims of the second assault is unknown. During the sweep operation Arad was supposed to arrest two Lithuanian soldiers, viz. Stanislav Uliczickas and Ludwik Malakauskas. Both of them without a trial were sentenced by the Soviet military tribunals for deportation to concentration camps. The first of them was sent to the concentration camp near Workuta where he perished in December 1949. Zionist dream According to the Lithuanians Arad departs from truth when he claims that at that period he was not an NKVD officer. – The documents of special service of Lithuanian Soviet Republics show that he was a full-time NKVD officer. He was paid a salary and performed official duties – says Rytas Narvydas, the Head of the Special Investigation Department at the Homicide Investigation and Resistance Movement Centre in Lithuania. It was him who prepared evidence for the Prosecutor’s Office. Icchak Arad was supposed to perform a function of district proxy of the NKVD Department in Lithuanian Soviet Republic in the Hoduciszki Municipality, the Święciany district. It was the structure whose objective was – as it is emphasized by the Lithuanians – „extermination of people with the views contradictory to the policy of the Soviet occupation authorities”. Arad’s promising career was interrupted by his sudden fleet to Poland in April 1945. The young man using fake documents, pretending to be a Polish citizen, left the Vilnius area by one of the first trains for Poles heading for future communist Poland. In this way in mid 1945 he found himself in the city of Łódź, where after a couple of months he headed for Palestine by sea. – Why did you decide to leave ? – It is simple: I did not want to leave in the Soviet Union. I dreamt about Palestine since I was a kid. As I have already told you I was a Zionist and I dreamt about building a Jewish state. – So it was not the war events that made you leave for the Middle East ? – No. It is true that Holocaust destroyed my world. All ties connecting me with Europe were brutally cut off. But even if that horrible event never happened I would have left anyway. I was fulfilling my Zionist dream. I am an Israeli patriot. Entirely different course of action is shown by the NKVD documents that have survived to date. – Icchak Rudnicki was dismissed from NKVD disciplinary, which was then a rare case. He abused alcohol, was charged with a theft of a sheep and hooligan behaviour. He beat up someone in the street. NKVD planned to run an internal proceedings against him. That is why he escaped. In the files he is marked as a deserter – reports Rytas Narvydas. It was supposed to be a fresh start All the facts described above have been totally unknown to the general public in Israel for whom Arad is unquestionable moral authority. After all at the beginning nobody was not inquiring what a 19-year-old Icchak Rudnicki was doing in the forests of the Vilnius area. Every Jew who was could shoot was worth his weight in gold in mid 1940s.It was expected that the Arab states will not agree out of their free will for the establishment of a Jewish state. Right after the arrival at the Middle East Arad became a member of Hagana, a Jewish socialist conspiracy organisation. He trained there future Israeli soldiers. Then during war for independence in 1948, he was fighting hand in hand with former soldiers from the Anders army whose number in the armed forces of emerging Jewish state was substantial. – In Israel where there are plenty of Jews from former Soviet Union nobody is disturbed by the fact that someone fought in communist partisan groups in the past. Former partisans have there their own organisations, publish magazines, organise rallies and write memoirs – says Professor Andrzej Żbikowski. – After all Arad’s past was known perfectly in the community of historians. They knew he was an NKVD officer. They were even teasing him by dubbing him „Sashka”, because when he became the head of Yad Vashem Institute he spoke perfectly in Russian while he English was very poor – emphasized Professor Zbikowski. There is one more aspect of the whole matter. The Jewish partisans have in Israel a special status, because they are a live denial of the painful stereotype. A belief that all European Jews were driven to a slaughter without any protest. For the state, which is permanently in the state of war, such legacy has special significance. – Did your experience gained with partisans come useful in Israel ? – Yes. A great deal. – Is that why you decided to make a military career ? – Certainly, it helped me a great deal. However, the army was for me a natural choice. The Jews were again surrounded from all sides by the enemies. They wanted to murder us. I thought that my duty was to fight, not to let another disaster happen. – Why did you change your surname ? – That was the policy of armed forces. We were starting from scratch. We were building a new state and new nation. We wanted to shed off previous life and experience from Europe. It was supposed to be a fresh start.Israel reacted exceptionally sharply to the request of the Lithuanian Prosecutor’s Office. It was rejected firmly by the Ministry of Justice. – The Israeli authorities believe that the investigation against Icchak Arad is a scandal. We passed out position to the Lithuanian government in a decisive manner – Tal Vider, the spokesman of the Ministry broke off the conversation. Certainly Arad was not interrogated. A few days ago during the visit of the Prime Minister Gediminas Kirkilas to Washington even American Jewish organisation intervened in his case. They demanded to stop forthwith „the outrages investigation” and to drop „absurd charges”. The identical position was taken by Yad Vashem Institute management. Honest man – How could I characterise Arad? First and foremost he is an honest man. I know him perfectly, we worked together for many years. I can tell you with full responsibility that this is not a person who would be capable to murder someone in cold blood. Arad is a Holocaust survivor who deserves big respect. The Lithuanians totally ignore our sensitivity, actions taken by them are scandalous – says Professor Izrael Gutman associated with Yad Vashem Institute. Arad’s case is very closely related to the Holocaust. During the outbreak of WWII he was in Warsaw where his father was working as a cantor in a synagogue. After three months of Nazi occupation Arad made his way together with his sister to home town of Święciany. His parents, who decided to stay in Warsaw, were gassed in Treblinka concentration camp later. A real horror started when in 1941 the Germans entered the Vilnius area. Then a 15-year-old lad eye-witnessed a brutal pogrom made by the Lithuanians. Most of the Jewish dwellers of the small town were murdered then. Arad survived thanks to lucky coincidence and soon he was put into ghetto. When I ask him for a fight with the Lithuanian underground movement he emphasizes that for him it was a „fight with the murderers of forty members of his family”. Grandfathers, uncles, aunts and a number of once, twice or three times removed cousins who perished during pogroms and pacification operations. Is it possible to explain some of his activities by personal reasons? – Please remember about specific nature of Holocaust in the territory of Lithuania. It was one big Jedwabne . The Lithuanians unlike Poles collaborated with the Nazis on a mass scale. Meanwhile Arad was a man of his times. An eye-witness of what was going on. It is a very tragic story – says a prominent expert on Holocaust Professor Anthony Polonsky.He indicates another very delicate aspect of the whole matter. Arad, who until recently had been extremely popular in Vilnius, a few years ago was appointed to sit on a special historical committee with the aim to carry out a research on Lithuanian history under two occupations. During his work on the Committee he firmly stigmatised the Lithuanian involvement in the Holocaust including but not limited the murders performed at the place of slaughter in Ponary near Vilnius. – Many people in Lithuania did not like that very much. The current attack on Arad may be a revenge. After all thousands of former Soviet partisans, both Lithuanians and Russians live in Lithuania and nobody carps at them. And here all of a sudden an investigation on a Jew – emphasizes Professor Anthony Polonsky. – This is supposed to build the following picture: there were two occupations, viz. Soviet and German. During the German occupation the Lithuanians misbehaved, whereas during the Soviet occupation the Jews did. This certainly not true, because the scale and form of collaboration were entirely different. Nevertheless the whole issue smells very bad – he added. The Lithuanians reject the accusations of anti-Semitism firmly. – I totally do no care whether this guy is called Arad, Kowalski, Iwanov or Baranauskas. It has nothing in common with any race prejudice. All we care for is to find truth and justice. And that what is our work all about – says Rimvydas Valentukeviczius, Prosecutor who is in charge of the investigation. I am proud Icchak Arad managed the Yad Vashem Institute for 21 years. From 1972 to 1993.The main mission of the Institute is to commemorate and to make people realize how horrible was the genocide made by the Nazis. The Institute publishes books, collects mementos, documents and accounts of the survivors, organises scientific conferences and exhibitions. Sometimes it also takes the floor on public issues. Like it was in the case of charges brought forward against its former Chairman. – Why did you decide to work for Yad Vashem Institute ? – I thought that I owe something to my murdered family, to may destroyed townlet and my nation tormented to death. – What objective did you have ? – It is essential to show young generations what Holocaust was like. Ruthless murdering of people on behalf of gruesome ideology. We should do our best to prevent this happening again, to make sure that people will never commit genocide again. Paradoxically enough the Lithuanian government suspects Icchak Arad to have breached Articles 99 and 101 of the Penal Code of the Republic of Lithuania i.e. for having committed a genocide crime. During his numerous lectures, during book writing or giving interviews on the Holocaust monstrosities has Icchak Arad never come back in thoughts the Vilnius area forests ? – What do you think today about your service in the partisan group ? – I am proud of it. – More than of work at the Yad Vashem Institute ? – The largest achievement of my life is neither partisan fighting, nor Yad Vashem. What is crucial for me is that I have three wonderful kids, nine grandchildren and three grand grandchildren. That is what really counts. – General, if you look from today’s perspective at your entire life, can you say honestly without guilty conscious that you do not regret anything in your life? – You know, once I had a lecture at one of American colleges. After my speech a certain young man stood up and posed me a surprising question: „Are you satisfied with your life ?”. I replied that if I were satisfied, then I would have to be a nutcase. My whole family was murdered, I went through the hell. However, if in a certain magic why I could go back in time and had to make once again all choices in my life, I would have acted exactly the same. No, I do not regret anything. Icchak Arad is today 82 years old. He is an old-age pensioner, but he has not given up research work. He writes books. He lives in a military old people’s home near Tel Aviv.