Testimony of Elimelech Leibish Meilech Fridman, born in Pulawy, Poland, 1929, regarding his experiences in Asbest, Kazakhstan and Tashkent

Testimony of Elimelech Leibish Meilech Fridman, born in Pulawy, Poland, 1929, regarding his experiences in Asbest, Kazakhstan and Tashkent Religious family; witness attends a Jewish school. Deportation of the Jews, 1939; life in a neighboring town for one week; return of his brother to Pulawy; deportation of the men to forced labor; abuse of Jews; decrees and restrictions; move to Kobel with his grandfather and father; crosses the Bug River to Ukraine; attitude of the Jews to his family; move to Brzesc Nad Bugiem; Jewish refugees in the synagogue; move to Kobylki; German occupation, 1941; registration of the Jews who request to return to Poland; deportation of the people who refuse to return, to forced labor logging trees in Novosibirsk, 1941; deportation on trains to Asbest in Ural; life in Asbest; contact with his mother through letters; baking of matzot for Pesach; keeps Shabbat and the religious holidays; agreement between Poland and the Soviet Union; transfer to Kazakhstan on a freight train, 1942; life in Kazakhstan including an epidemic and starvation; death of his grandfather; begging for charity; placed in an orphanage with two children, 1944; deportation of his father to forced labor in coal mines; witness leaves the orphanage; move to Tashkent by train; help from Jews; contact through letters; lice; hunger. Return to Poland, 1946; contacts with aliya emissaries; life in a Dror "kibbutz"; illegal aliya attempt to Eretz Israel on the "Exodus" ship; aliya to Israel, 1949.