Hear The Compelling Story Of Charlie Thau
Hiding From The Nazis and Serving In The Soviet Army

United States troops of the 69th Infantry Division (left), shake hands with Soviet troops in a staged photo on the wrecked bridge over the Elbe River at Torgau, Germany, to mark the previous day’s link-up between American and Soviet forces on April 26,  1945. The Soviet soldier in the centre is Lieutenant Charles Thau, a Pole drafted into the Soviet Army in 1943.
(Photo by Allan Jackson/ Getty Images)

Our congregation will be observing Yom HaShoah with a online service on Wednesday, April 7 starting at 6:15 pm. We will be told of the experience of Charlie Thau as told by his son, Marty Thau. The service will be followed by a question and answer session with Marty for those who wish to learn more about his Father’s experience. Click to view all the slides from the Yom HaShoah service

Prior to the invasion of Poland, Charlie lived a very normal life with his brothers and parents. His parents were local peddlers and farmers located in the far southeast part of Poland/ Ukraine. When the Nazis came into town, his parents told the three boys to run and hide in the neighboring forest until the Nazis left. The two younger brothers refused to leave and stayed with their parents. His parents and two brothers were never seen or heard from after that day. This is when Charlie went into hiding from the Nazis in the nearby forest for 19 months in eastern Poland. He learned to survive by living off the land, eating food from farm fields, sleeping in barns and caves he created in the forest. Charlie then joined a partisan resistance fighter group, while hiding in the forest. After fighting with the partisans, he joined the Soviet Army, trained in Siberia and fought in the front lines as a commander of four tanks. He never revealed that he was Jewish while in the Soviet Army.

After the war he traveled back to his hometown of Zablotow, Poland. It was in ruins and the pre-war population of primarily Jewish residents was virtually gone. Charley Thau never went to a ghetto or concentration camp, but hid in the forest, fought and survived.

Click to view all the slides from the Yom HaShoah service