Last survivor of Vilna partisans dies, aged 102
Heroine Fania Branstsovsky was keeper of Yiddish flame and the fight against the Nazis
Jenni Frazer is a freelance journalist
Tributes have been paid to an extraordinary Holocaust survivor, Fania Brantsovsky, who has died aged 102 in Vilnius, Lithuania.
Aged just 21 in 1943, she escaped from the Vilna Ghetto to join a group of partisans led by the renowned Jewish writer, Abba Kovner. This group, hiding in the forests a few miles from Vilna, called themselves the Nokmim, or Avengers, and spent the last years of the war attacking Nazis where they could.
She even met her husband, Mikhail, in the forests. She told one media outlet, years after the war: “We blasted trains and placed explosives in the enemy’s equipment. We shot and killed them. Yes, I did. I killed them and did so easily. I knew that my dear ones were dead, and I took my revenge for them and thousands of others with each and every shot.”
In her later life Brantsovsky became an active advocate for Yiddish culture and the preservation of what she and the other partisans did in their fight against the Nazis. Her last wishes were for the preservation of the wooden bunker in the forest where she and 100 other Jews lived during the Holocaust. She said: ““It’s my dream that this place be preserved for my grandchildren and great grandchildren,” said Mrs Brantsovsky, who lost almost her entire family in the Holocaust. “They should be able to come here and know about the resistance of the Vilna Ghetto escapees.”
Post-war, she was attacked by far-right Lithuanian nationalists who tried to smear her war-time record. Lithuanian authorities placed her under investigation in 2008, accusing her of war crimes against local citizens during the war, but no charges were ever brought.
Paying tribute to her this week, a Holocaust Educational Trust spokesman said: “Fania Brantsovsky survived the horrors of the Vilna Ghetto, and courageously fought as a Jewish partisan in the forests of Lithuania. She dedicated much of her life to preserving the memory of the Jewish resistance and Yiddish traditions, inspiring people across the globe.
“At the age of 102, Fania was the last surviving member of the Jewish underground in the Vilna Ghetto. Her passing reminds us of the painful reality – that the Holocaust is moving from living memory into history. It is down to all of us to continue her work, to keep the legacy of the past alive for generations to come.
“Our thoughts are with Fania’s family and friends. May her memory be a blessing”.
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