Shraga Dgani (Feivel Solomiansky) was a fighter. When the Germans invaded his town of Ilya, Belarus, during World War II and killed his wife and three-year old son, he hid in the snow for 24 hours to escape a similar fate. He then fled to the forest, where he joined the partisans. He eventually liberated 70 Jews in the Myadel ghetto in a daring rescue. For this, B’nai B’rith International awarded him posthumously with the Jewish Rescuer’s Citation award in 2019.
Although Dgani faced anti-Semitism from the Belarusian and Soviet partisans, as well as a difficult journey trying to get to Israel after the war, he eventually reached the Holy Land and rebuilt his life. His tale of courage and survival is the focus of a new documentary, “And You Chose Life,” which his daughter, Orna Shuman, produced.
“My vision was to create a memory in honor of the Jewish fighters during World War II based on my father’s story of survival,” said Shuman, who is based in Ra’anana, Israel.
At the time of the German invasion, there were 1,500 Jews in Ilya; they had lived there since the seventeenth century. Today, there are no Jews left in the town. Shuman had visited her father’s birthplace a few times and was in close contact with the school there prior to making the film. Now, thanks to a historic memorial room Shuman designed, the schoolchildren learn about the Jewish history of their town and what happened.
“The documentary was a project [that involved an] intense six months and was launched in Israel on the eve of Memorial Day, on May 7, 2021,” she said. “My intention is to create more launching events around the world and eventually to send it to museums, schools and younger generations.”
The 30-minute film has three versions: Hebrew, English and Russian. It features rare archival footage, photographs and audio recordings of Dgani and interviews with people familiar with his story, including Shuman; Zeev Rubin, the son of David Rubin, another partisan who escaped with Dgani and joined the partisans; and Tzipora Blizovski, the only survivor of the Myadel ghetto still living in Israel.
There are also interviews from Dr. Abraham Huli, former vice president of B’nai B’rith International; Dr. Tamar Ketko, the curator of Haim Herzog Museum of the Jewish Soldier in World War II; Zvi Kan-Tor, the general manager of the museum; and Dr. Howard Shuman, Dgani’s son in law, who served as a doctor in the Israeli Evacuation & Rescue Unit.
Dgani’s story of survival appears in the Chaim Herzog Museum of the Jewish Soldier in World War II in Israel, the Museum of Jewish History and Culture in Minsk, The Holocaust Museum in Minsk and Yad Vashem in Jerusalem.
Along with covering Dgani’s life during wartime, the film shows how he tried to escape to Israel on the La Negev ship. The British captured the ship and imprisoned Dgani in Cyprus with the other illegal immigrants for more than a year. Once Dgani finally got to Israel, he was drafted into the IDF and fought in the War of Independence and Operation Kadesh. He found love again when he met and married Geula, a widow with a small child. Together, they had a son, Elihu, and Orna. Sadly, Elihu died fighting in the Yom Kippur War.
Although parts of Dgani’s life were tragic, “And You Chose Life” ends on a positive note, showing Shuman’s and Dgani’s children and grandchildren, who are alive today because of his bravery.
Shuman said she hopes her film will help educate people about the resistance fighters and change their views about the position of Jews during the war. “I also hope it will fill them with the sense of pride [that they are] part of the Jewish nation.”
As for non-Jews, Shuman hopes her film “will bring another perspective about Jewish bravery in World War II and about the basic right for freedom for every nation, regardless of their belief, religion or gender.”
She also wants to ensure that kids today find out about what happened during the war so they will be inspired by their ancestors’ acts of courage.
“It is important to connect the young generation to these heroic stories,” Shuman said. “They must realize that they are the continuation of these heroic deeds. And in them, there is that spark of light. They too can continue to be fighters for freedom.”
Watch the trailer for “And You Chose Life” here.
Kylie Ora Lobell is a writer for the Jewish Journal of Los Angeles, The Forward, Tablet Magazine, Aish, and Chabad.org and the author of the first children’s book for the children of Jewish converts, “Jewish Just Like You.”
More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.