Efrajim Barasz

... When Chajke Grosman (today a member of the Israeli Knesset) was active as a representative of Hashomer Hatzair in the underground resis- tance movement in Bialystok, we met several times with the Chairman of the Judenrat, Efrajim Barasz. In one of their discussions, Ms. Grosman ...

... In mid-July, 1943, a rumor circulated that an impor- tant Gestapo committee would arrive in the ghetto, which was awaited with the greatest apprehension. On that day practically no one appeared in the streets. Word had it that this committee would be the last, its decision final as to whether the ghetto would live or die. It seemed as though the Nazis had to choose between the two remaining larger ghettos: Lodz, with its more than 80,000 Jews, and Bialystok, with its 40,000. One of these ghettos would surely be promptly destroyed by the Nazi murderers. After the visit by the committee, Efrajim Barasz confided in his closest associates that he was not optimistic. This cryptic assessment made it clear that Lodz would be left alone and that Bialystok was Slated for liquidation. Some members of the Juden- rat, however, still clung to the hope that somehow a final tragedy could be averted. ...

... Mordechaj Tenenbaum-Tamarof established close contact with members of the Judenrat, particularly with its Chairman, Efrajim Barasz. At the end of 1942, when ...

... the past year, as well as their hopes for the future. The main figure at this gathering was of course Efrajim Barasz. ...

... Generally speaking, life in the ghetto at the end of 1941 seemed to stabilize. People had already grown accustomed, more or less, to the chronic misery in which they were forced to live. Jewish men, women and children were able to pass through the ghetto unharmed as long as they wore their yellow badges. The Judenrat was functioning like a well-oiled machine, thanks to the impeccable integrity of its Chairman, Efrajim Barasz. ...

... Rabbi Rozenman, the Chairman, and his Vice- Chairman, Efrajim Barasz, usually started their day in conference with Nazi officials. Thereafter, they would meticulously carry out every order, taking pains to make certain the Jewish community in the ghetto faith- fully obeyed the rules. The slightest infraction brought about severe consequences, every rule bearing implicit or explicit threats of grim reprisals if transgressed. ...

... In the minutes of Judenrat meetings, we often find that Rabbi Rozenman and Efrajim Barasz chided the population for being lax in reporting to work. At one meeting in the hall of the Linas Hatzedek, Dr. Rozen- man proclaimed in a doomsday tone, “An orgy of rebellion is rampant throughout the ghetto. The rules are disobeyed. People do not show up for work. All of this will rain destruction upon our heads.” ...

... Sunday, June 29, 1941, two days after the Nazis entered Bialsytok, their commandant summoned Chief Rabbi Gedalja Rozenman and the former Director of the Kehilla, the engineer Efrajim Barasz. He ordered them to form a Judenrat (a Jewish council), through which the local Nazi authorities could issue all kinds of ordinances and regulations affecting the Jews. Rabbi Rosenman and Engineer Barasz conveyed the new edict to other leading Jewish figures. Soon afterward, a Judenrat was appointed containing twenty-four Jews, including two women. They included: Rabbi Rozen- man, Efrajim Barasz, Dowid Subotnik, Mr. Liman, Jakow Goldberg (these five constituted the executive committee); Mend! Kaplan, Dr. M. Kacenelson, H. Glikson, Pejsach Kaplan, Mordechaj Chmelnik, Szmuel Punianski, Rabbi Boruch Eli Halpern, Rabbi Pinje Ajzensztat, Jakow Lifszic, Aba Furman, Mojsze Szwif, Izak Markus; Awrom Tyktin, Cwi Wider, Pejsach Chmelnicki and Szmuel Polonski. ...