Michael Gebelev One of the leaders of the communist underground in the city of Minsk Date of Birth: 15.10.1905

1. Early Life and Education
2. Military Service and Political Activism
3. Life after Demobilization
4. World War II and Underground Activities
5. Leadership and Resistance
6. Arrest and Execution
7. Legacy

Early Life and Education

Mikhail Gebelev was born in the village of Uzyany in 1905. His father was a carpenter, and his mother died of typhus in 1919. Gebelev grew up with eight siblings in a modest household.

Military Service and Political Activism

In 1927, Gebelev was conscripted into the Soviet army and served in the 10th Rifle Regiment of the 4th Division. During his service, he joined the Communist Party and rose to the rank of section commander. He also met and married Khaya, the daughter of a barber from the town of Lyubonichy.

Life after Demobilization

After his discharge, Gebelev moved to Minsk and worked as a carpenter at the Molotov plant. He continued his education, attending night school and propaganda classes. In 1939, he became an instructor-propagandist for the Stalin District Committee of the Communist Party in Minsk. His family lived in a small room in a house on Myasnikova Street.

World War II and Underground Activities

When the Nazis invaded in June 1941, Gebelev zunächst joined an army assembly point but returned to Minsk after witnessing chaos and disorganization. He then took the initiative to lead the Jewish ghetto's resistance movement, which had been established by the Nazis in July 1941.

As the sole Minsk native in the ghetto's leadership, Gebelev played a vital role as a liaison between the ghetto underground and the "Russian" areas outside the ghetto walls. He earned the nickname "Fearless Herman" for his bravery and leadership.

Leadership and Resistance

Gebelev supervised various aspects of the underground operations, including sending able-bodied ghetto prisoners to partisan units, establishing the ghetto's first underground printing press, rescuing Jewish children by providing them with new documents and hiding them outside the ghetto, and sheltering urban underground members wanted by the Gestapo.

Arrest and Execution

In July 1942, Gebelev was arrested by the Nazis and imprisoned. The underground planned his escape but was unsuccessful when he was unexpectedly transferred to the Gestapo headquarters. On August 15, 1942, Gebelev was hanged.

Legacy

After the war, Gebelev's contributions, along with those of other Jewish resistance fighters, were largely downplayed. He was finally recognized as a hero of the resistance movement in 1993. In 2005, a street in Minsk was named after him, and he was posthumously awarded the medal "60 Years of the Liberation of the Republic of Belarus from the German Nazi Invaders."

Gebelev's wife and children managed to evacuate before the war and returned to Minsk after its liberation. His father was killed by German soldiers in 1941, and his wife passed away in 1987. Gebelev's three daughters and their families currently reside in the United States.