Testimony of Peretz Padison, born in Vilkomir, Lithuania, 1903, regarding his experiences in the Kaunas Ghetto and with the partisans

Testimony of Peretz Padison, born in Vilkomir, Lithuania, 1903, regarding his experiences in the Kaunas Ghetto and with the partisans Soviet occupation of Lithuania, 15 June 1940; accelerated process of Sovietization in every aspect of the political and public life; witness's attitude toward the Communist regime; political terror and imprisonment of thousands of people including prominent Lithuanian public figures. Feelings of hatred toward the Soviet authorities by nationalist Lithuanians are expressed by their attitude toward the Jews at the outbreak of the Soviet-German war , 22 June 1941; riots by Lithuanians; murder of Jews in the streets; appointment of the witness as senior officer in the Kaunas Ghetto police; contacts with the ghetto underground; implementation of special missions on behalf of the heads of the ghetto underground; training to use firearms and military tactics; role of the Jewish policemen in the preservation of order in the ghetto; contacts between Judenrat members, in particular Dr. Alex, the head of the Judenrat, with the heads of the ghetto underground, Haim Yellin and others; preparations by the underground to send fighters to the forests to join the partisan brigade in the Rudnicki forests; witness leaves the ghetto with a group of underground fighters; appointed in charge of supplies of the partisan brigade known as "Death to the Occupiers"; commander of the "Jurgis" partisan brigade; battle campaigns of the partisan brigade; meets Red Army soldiers, summer 1944. Return to Kaunas; detention by the NKVD; interrogations, trial and exile to forced labor camps in the Soviet Union; receives a pardon after the death of Stalin; rehabilitation of his life after his return from exile; integration in the economic life in Kaunas until his aliya to Israel, 1975.