Faye Schulman, born on this day in 1919, was a Jewish partisan and photographer who took up arms against the Nazis who were responsible for killing her family.

On August 14th, 1942, the Germans killed 1,850 Jews from the “Lenin” ghetto (named after Lenin, Poland, where Faye was from), including her parents, sisters, and younger brother. Faye was spared for her ability to develop photographs, and the Nazis ordered Faye to develop their photographs of the massacre. Later, she cited taking a photo of her dead family in a mass grave as the impetus to take up arms.

During a partisan raid on the camp, Faye fled to the forests and joined the Molotava Brigade, a partisan group mostly comprised of escaped Soviet Red Army POWs. She was accepted because her brother-in-law had been a doctor and they were desperate for anyone who knew anything about medicine. Faye served the group as a nurse from September 1942 to July 1944, even though she had no previous medical experience.

During another raid on the Lenin ghetto, Faye succeeded in recovering her old photographic equipment. During the next two years, she took over a hundred photographs, developing the medium format negatives under blankets and making “sun prints” during the day. While on missions, Faye buried the camera and tripod to keep it safe. Schulman is the only known Jewish partisan photographer from this era.

“I want people to know that there was resistance. Jews did not go like sheep to the slaughter. I was a photographer. I have pictures. I have proof.”

  • Faye Schulman

After liberation, Faye married Morris Schulman, also a Jewish partisan. Faye and Morris enjoyed a prosperous life as decorated Soviet partisans, but wanted to leave Pinsk, Poland, which reminded them of “a graveyard.” Morris and Faye lived in the Landsberg displaced persons camp in Germany for the next three years and immigrated to Canada in 1948.

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    • someone [comrade/them, they/them]@hexbear.net
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      1 hour ago

      That movie has revived up old arguments in my social circle about musicals. The former theatre-kids (either in reality or in spirit) are haranguing those of us who dislike musicals. They want us to join in on the alleged fun. It’s leading to genuine tensions. Most of us musical-dislikers would be okay with a 90 minute movie, but we are not going to suffer for almost twice that runtime.

      One of them still holds a grudge against me for the time we saw 2022’s “Disenchanted” in the theatre as a group. I only went because otherwise four friends wouldn’t have had a drive to/from the movie. That theatre was on the edge of town with terrible public transportation. One of the guys was apparently hoping I’d join in with him for a romantic duet at some point as part of a big elaborate thing to ask me out. He took my being asleep for almost all of the movie as a personal rejection of his company. (My superpower is being able to quickly fall asleep in any sound environment.)

        • someone [comrade/them, they/them]@hexbear.net
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          22 minutes ago

          He’s a nice enough guy, cute, fit, but when I ask myself “can I see myself enjoying an evening alone in his company?” my answer to myself is “hell no” because the only time he stops talking is when he’s singing. We’re not a good match.