PBS.org - Daring to Resist: Faye Schulman

Faye as a young girl

"We were not like lambs going to the slaughter.
Many fought back — if there was the slightest opportunity
— and thousands lost their lives fighting the enemy and working to save lives."

born: Lenin, Poland (now Belarus), 1924

Faye’s Family
Faye Lazebnik Schulman had four brothers and two sisters in her large, Orthodox Jewish family. The Lazebniks considered themselves Jews first and foremost, but before the Nazi invasion in 1941 experienced no anti-Semitism in their small town on the Russian border. A Jewish child growing up in Lenin quickly learned four languages: Yiddish at home, Polish at school, Hebrew in religious school and Russian around the town.

The Schulman Family

The Roots of Faye’s Resistance
One of Faye's sisters had two young children to care for and the other was sickly, so household chores were Faye's responsibility. Faye credits this with making her physically strong and self-reliant. In addition, Faye took over the family photography business at the early age of 16, when her oldest brother, Moishe, a professional photographer, moved to another town. Faye's photography skills would make her valuable to the Nazis — and give her the opportunity to document their atrocities.

"I didn’t choose this type of life. The choices were made for me."

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