Shtetl Links: Lyakhovichi

Wilfred Kay provided the information about his search for his brothers and sisters that we report in The Katz Children of Pultusk and Lyakhovichi . The genealogy community reached out to him and offered many suggestions on locating his sibs who may have survived in Russian orphanages and , we are still awaiting the results of Wilfred's attempts to have his search aired on a Russian language television program suggested by a Belarus SIG member in Germany. Wilfred has become a staunch supporter of our research efforts generally and has translated several Yiddish language pieces about Lyakhovichi.


Dr. Narkunsi and Zvi Mukasey who testified at the trial of Bloody Yusef and reported on his criminal fate to their fellow Lyakhovichi survivors and mourners.

A Summary

The mass murderer: His name - Yusef Gruniewich, born in Kovno 1923, there he finished gymnasium, came from Lithuanian background, but considered himself Polish at the trial, calculating that a Polish court would be more lenient. He was fluent in Lithuanian, Polish, German & Russian.

Yusef's invented story for his defense was that he decided to penetrated the German SD (Sicherheitsdienst) to serve the Polish cause. He started his criminal career in Kovno, later moved to the Baranovici area. According to his lies, he penetrated the SD Service as a "Polish Patriot", so that, as an insider, he could report what the German plans against the Polish community leaders were. He said, he wanted to avenge the death of his parents; he wanted to destroy the German's from within. He used the old argument other prominent defendants used.

The Germans immediately started to recruit local helpers for their occupation plans.Yusef Gruniewich immediately joined the SD (Security Services) to provide reporting services, obviously, to spy for the Germans. He became a translator and "negotiator" for Jewish problems. He quickly advanced to higher positions, gained the trust and admiration of the Germans in the Baranowici area.

His murderous talents were exposed during the trial. As written by a reporter "his fantasies and pathalogical methods were exposed at the trial". He and his helpers were responsible for the death of 25,000 victims, mostly Jews.
(I will skip the gory details of some of his crimes)
The three phases of the murderous Yusef:
First, he started as a friendly, sympathetic person, he was known as the "Good Looking Yusef". Second, he pretended to help the Jews by extracting large summs of money to buy them favorable treatment from the Germans. He was then known as the "Friendly Yusef". Third, when the Jews had nothing left to extort, he became the sadistic "Bloody Yusef", this label also came out at the trial. He was occused of crimes against the Jews, The killing of partisans, forcibly removing hidden children from churches - never to be seen again, etc.

When the Russians liberated the area, he loaded his stolen jewish valueables and escaped with his family to a safe area. But he was discovered in Wroclaw (the area was part of Germany before 1945, it is now part of Poland). Many witnesses testified against him, including two Jews; witness Hirshel Mukasai was from Lyakhovici / Israel.

Yusef Gruniewich, "Bloody Yusef", was found guilty, sentenced to death and executed by hanging.