Dvoyra Shoylovna Belinovich was born in 1920 in the town of Tuzly in Izmail region (now part of Odessa region of Ukraine). She participated in World War II: from August 1944 to March 1946, she served in the Soviet Army. A curious detail: in the army, but "in the MGB organs" (Ministry of State Security), as stated in her file. Dvoyra's position and rank are unknown to us. However, her 10 years of education allowed her to work as a typist or clerk. Dvoyra lived in the town of Chernivtsi in southwestern Ukraine, 50 kilometers from the border with Moldova.
On May 21, 1949, Dvoyra was arrested by the Chekists. The charges brought against her were serious: participation in the Zionist organization "Bricha" – assistance in smuggling Zionists from the USSR to Romania. On July 13, three more people were arrested: sisters Fanya Yakovlevna and Ida Yakovlevna Potik (born in 1924 and 1921) and 57-year-old Elizaveta Yakovlevna Zagalyuk. The Potik sisters (both rank-and-file participants in "Gordonia" from 1935-1938) were accused of wanting to go abroad and establishing contact with Zionists. Elizaveta Zagalyuk was charged with contacts with Zionists and using her apartment for their meetings.
It is unknown how harshly the interrogations were conducted: after all, these were women. But there is no doubt that powerful psychological pressure was applied to the arrested. The prosecution used testimony from convicted Zionists Yashchikman, Bernstein, Kogan, Mikhaylyan, and Trakhtman. Witnesses included Sheyman, Lanchinsky, N. K. Koyfman, and F. K. Koyfman. Physical evidence and operational documents were added to the case.
Apparently, it was difficult to deny the charges, and excessive stubbornness would only have angered the investigators. Dvoyra Belinovich fully admitted her guilt. It was revealed that in 1938 she had joined the ranks of "Gordonia" – a youth Zionist organization named after its founder, philosopher and publicist Aaron David Gordon, a native of Volhynia province. Dvoyra was a convinced Zionist: according to witness Kogan, the girl repeatedly expressed her desire to go to Palestine and urged him to remain faithful to the ideals of Zionism.
Being a Zionist in the USSR – especially during the dark Stalin era – was extremely dangerous. But devotion to ideals and a burning desire to find a homeland did not allow Dvoyra to sit idle. Shortly before World War II, her native "Gordonia" merged with another youth Zionist movement, "Ha-bonim." In the USSR, it had no significant influence. However, in 1944-1945, Zionists who survived the Holocaust created the underground organization "Bricha," whose goal was to transport thousands of Jews from Central and Eastern Europe (the Baltics, Poland, USSR, Romania, Hungary, Czechoslovakia) to Mandatory Palestine. "Bricha" transported Jews on specially chartered ships from the end of World War II until 1949. Operating in virtually all European countries, its members facilitated illegal travel to Mediterranean ports, from where Jews then made their way to Eretz Israel.
With the emergence of "Bricha," Dvoyra realized that she finally had a chance. In 1946, she established contact with "Bricha" leaders Weisman and Yashchikman to seize this opportunity for herself and help others. Current issues were discussed at Dvoyra Belinovich's place, while Elizaveta Zagalyuk's apartment was used for meetings with guides: Weisman personally knew Elizaveta and recommended her to Yashchikman as a reliable person. For her assistance, Zagalyuk received 2,000 rubles from Weisman. Zagalyuk denied her involvement in Zionism.
In the days when Dvoyra began collaborating with "Bricha," Chernivtsi was visited by Baruch: a lean, fit man of about 30. Tiger-like gait, piercing brown eyes, confidence in every gesture... The chief instructor of "Bricha" in Central Europe immediately made an impression. The Chekists had long been hunting him: in their reports, Baruch appeared as the mysterious "English paratrooper." The Chernivtsi Zionists were somewhat afraid of Baruch. But Dvoyra saw behind his outward composure and business acumen a gentle, responsive character. A mutual attraction quickly arose between the young people. Dvoyra – her conspiratorial name was Umen – helped Baruch gather necessary information, provided housing, and supplied him with food. But Baruch's code name turned out to be unsuited to his appearance and steely character: "Baranka" (little bagel). This name contained both a bit of childish playfulness and tenderness. Could it have been Dvoyra who came up with it? Why not? Baruch-Baranka trusted the girl so much that he revealed his real surname to her: Kaminker. He was originally from the city of Akkerman – now Belgorod-Dnestrovsky in the Odessa region.
After two weeks, Baruch was returning to Romania. Dvoyra's heart ached: there was no way she could leave with him. Here, in Chernivtsi, she was held by the struggle and the need to help friends. Yes, she felt needed at home. And yet she desperately didn't want to part!..
Baruch's visit helped establish the border-crossing procedure. In 1945-1946, Weisman and Yashchikman smuggled 4-5 people monthly to Romania in 2-4 operations. Dvoyra had a very important role: she served as a liaison between Yashchikman and Weisman in Chernivtsi and the Zionists in Bucharest. The parties exchanged necessary information through letters and telegrams. The leaders gave advice and supplied local Zionists with money through trusted intermediaries.
Years in the Zionist organization and service in the MGB had surely taught Dvoyra secrecy and caution, a heightened sense for surveillance. But by early 1947, even a child would have understood: Dvoyra was in great danger. On February 3, she complained to Genrikh, an agent infiltrated into the organization by the Chekists: frequent visits by the smuggling organizers "Zelik" (also Zelikhman and Weisman, real name Zeylik Weisman) and Yashchikman (Moyshe Yashchikman) had compromised her: she needed to flee abroad as soon as possible!
Zeylik Weisman managed to escape to Bucharest shortly before this conversation, but Moyshe Yashchikman was not so lucky: he was captured by the Chekists. Before leaving, Zeylik Weisman left Moyshe Yashchikman 500 dollars and 6 five-ruble gold coins of tsarist minting: they were hidden away for further underground work. The reports contain many facts about the transfer of funds for Zionist activities.
The two years of Dvoyra's life between Moyshe Yashchikman's arrest and her own detention passed in anxiety and desperate attempts to escape to Romania. After Zeylik Weisman's escape, Dvoyra sent him a telegram to the address Bucharest, Șerban-Vodă Street, 92 (she signed it "Dvorman"). She asked Weisman to help Yashchikman, who had been captured by the Chekists. Weisman replied in Romanian. He wrote about his good health and inquired about Misha's (Moyshe Yashchikman's) fate. Obviously, such a response did not satisfy Dvoyra, and the girl sent Zeylik Weisman another 13 telegrams about help and establishing contact. Alas: all of them remained unanswered.
By this time, the Chernivtsi Zionists were under tight surveillance by the security services. Literally every step of Dvoyra's was tracked. She was entangled in a network of "their people": for credibility, they referred to Zeylik Weisman and his acquaintances in Bucharest. Besides Genrikh, agent Erfolg regularly met with Dvoyra. As soon as Dvoyra established contact with Elizaveta Zagalyuk - the owner of the new safe house - Erfolg immediately learned about it. Soon after Dvoyra Belinovich learned from "Aunt Liza" (Elizaveta Zagalyuk) the contact of a smuggler in Romania (Natalya Matfeevna Olaru, village of Tereblicha in Odessa region), the smuggler was captured by the Chekists and sentenced in 1948.
Erfolg accompanied Dvoyra when visiting the mother of the arrested Moyshe Yashchikman: the girl gave her a hundred rubles and a kilogram of sugar. The elderly woman hoped to leave for Romania, and Dvoyra tried to encourage her: "Don't worry, mama, our organization won't forget you, it will always help you. We will try to write to Sklyar Shunya, who is in Bucharest, so that she organizes your passage across the border." Erfolg already knew: Shunya Sklyar was one of the leaders of the Bucharest Zionist center.
So, almost two and a half years passed between the arrest of Moyshe Yashchikman and the detention of Dvoyra Belinovich. At first glance – strange, however the Chekists were in no hurry. Dvoyra and her contacts in Chernivtsi – Elizaveta Zagalyuk, sisters Fanya and Ida Potik, the mother of Zina Pripas (the Zionist Zina Pripas managed to escape to Romania in early 1948) – were under constant surveillance. The agents methodically gathered information, and some of the intelligence obtained during this time proved quite valuable to them.
Once in conversation with Dvoyra, agent Genrikh mentioned Baruch – saying he knew him well and could pass along greetings. Even someone far removed from spy games would have noticed how Dvoyra's tormented face brightened, and a happy smile touched her lips.
"Baruch? Oh, how wonderful that you know him!" The girl suspected no trick and sincerely told Genrikh everything she knew about Baruch-Baranka-Kaminker, which she undoubtedly regretted many times afterward. Dvoyra yearned to go abroad to Baruch and asked Genrikh to help her, to which came an evasive answer: he was supposedly too busy now with the fate of the arrested Moyshe Yashchikman.
Then Dvoyra asked Genrikh to at least deliver a note to Baruch, in which she recalled their code names – Baranka and Umen. The girl sent greetings to Baruch and wrote that she remembered him.
...Hiding a treacherous smile, agent Genrikh left Dvoyra. The girl's thoughts were far away. She dreamed of the sun-bathed streets of Bucharest. She and Baruch strolling along the embankment of the quiet Dâmbovița River, admiring the views of the Romanian capital. Dvoyra's heart sparkled with delight, then enjoyed quiet happiness. Anxiety and fear vanished without a trace; the habit of looking over her shoulder, peering into the faces of passersby disappeared. The past sank into oblivion, and very soon the road to Israel awaited them.
...Dvoyra came to her senses, looked out the window: the same painfully familiar street – dusty and deserted. A lonely streetlamp shone drearily, the wind chased scraps of newspaper somewhere. Dogs howled nearby: mournfully, hopelessly. Dvoyra shivered, wrapped herself more tightly in her shawl.
Most frightening of all was the unknown. It was worse, more oppressive than tangible danger. This feeling tormented Dvoyra for more than two years, while the "Chekists" Jesuitically "fed" her false hopes. On March 22, 1948, Dvoyra met Filip – another Chekist agent. According to his cover story, he had supposedly met with some acquaintance of Zeylik Weisman in Budapest, had come to Chernivtsi briefly and would soon leave for Romania.
Dvoyra was clearly delighted by the unexpected guest, even embarrassed: after all, he – surely not an ordinary participant in "Bricha" – remembered her, and found time for a meeting. For a girl exhausted by waiting, such meetings were like a gulp of fresh water in the middle of an endless desert. Dvoyra complained: for a year now the Zionist movement in Chernivtsi had been inactive, only lucky individuals like Zina Pripas managed to cross the border. The girl was also resentful toward the former underground leaders – primarily Zeylik Weisman: they had fled to Romania and forgotten about those who remained.
In February of the previous year, 1947, a representative of the foreign Zionist center with the surname Shmul came to Chernivtsi. His arrival inspired the local Zionists – Shmul promised to maintain contact from abroad. But he too, it seemed, forgot about Dvoyra and her comrades. Shmul's "forgetfulness" is explainable: February 3, 1947 is the date of Dvoyra's first meeting with the Chekist agent "Genrikh." Apparently, he was that very Shmul. A year later, Filip replaced Genrikh: it was his turn to surround the girl with care and "inform the necessary contact in Bucharest" about the unenviable position of Dvoyra Belinovich.
More than a year remained until her arrest. Another agonizing year in uncertainty, when days become drawn out, and in the corners of consciousness a nauseating lump of fear crawls and slowly, inexorably grows…
On December 17, 1949, Dvoyra Belinovich was sentenced to 10 years in corrective labor camps (the term was counted from May 18, 1949) for "participation in an anti-Soviet nationalist organization, aiding nationalist organization leaders in crossing the state border, and treasonous intent." The sisters Fanya and Ida Potik and "Aunt Liza" – Elizaveta Zagalyuk – received the same sentence. In January 1950, all four were sent to distant Vorkuta, pierced by icy winds. It's hard to imagine a more grim "New Year's" atmosphere…
But nothing in this world is eternal – not even the hopeless darkness of the era of Stalinist repressions. On March 5, 1953, the leader died, and in February 1956, Nikita Khrushchev, who had won the struggle for power, denounced the Stalin cult at the 20th Congress of the CPSU Central Committee. Thousands of political prisoners were soon released from the camps – among them Dvoyra Belinovich, the Potik sisters, and Elizaveta Zagalyuk.
Six years is no small term. Quite enough to undermine a person's health and break them psychologically. But the four women were undoubtedly immeasurably happy. They understood: the all-powerful "mountaineer" could have lived much longer – luminaries of Soviet medicine took care of his health. Instead of Khrushchev, someone else could have won the "game of thrones" – someone more conservative and cruel. Then Dvoyra Belinovich and her comrades would have spent another three long years among the grim landscapes of Vorkuta…
Did our story have a continuation? In 1958, the case of "Aunt Liza" – Elizaveta Zagalyuk – was used by the KGB Higher School for educational purposes. Interesting, what were future Soviet spies learning? Perhaps the art of ensnaring enemies in a web of "reliable, trustworthy people"?
Dvoyra Belinovich's cherished dream came true. In 1958, she first went to Poland, and from there moved to Israel. Dvoyra lived a long and, one hopes, happy life. She passed away in 1999 at the age of 79. She is buried in the city of Petah Tikva.
Unfortunately, we know almost nothing about Dvoyra's relatives. Perhaps someone among them will read this article and share new information about her life. More precisely, we know one name. In April 1985, the KGB administration in the city of Belgorod-Dnestrovsky (Odessa region) began investigating a certain Alexei Leibovich Belinovich, born in 1939. It's not known exactly how Alexei was related to Dvoyra, however the man regularly received packages from foreign firms. And the Belgorod-Dnestrovsky Chekists requested from their Chernivtsi colleagues the case file of Dvoyra Shoilovna Belinovich, which had long since been archived. Mikhail Gorbachev's perestroika had just begun, but even in the era of change, Soviet special services "remained vigilant."
...Dozens, hundreds of yellowed sheets of archival documents: reports, protocols, testimonies of the accused and witnesses, Chekist "moles." Through their thickness, it's not easy to see the person with their unique character, unrepeatable inner world. What was Dvoyra Belinovich like? It's a pity that no memoirs remain from Dvoyra herself or her relatives, friends. And yet we understand something – more precisely, we feel it, even after decades.
Dvoyra Belinovich of the 1940s – an energetic, cheerful girl. For her time, she was quite educated. She had a cherished dream – to find a homeland. But she was not prone to quiet, fruitless dreaming in the spirit of Manilovism. For the sake of her cherished goal, for the sake of helping like-minded people, Dvoyra was ready to act, to take risks.
Dvoyra was not alien to the longing for ordinary feminine happiness: how can one not remember those two weeks with Baruch-Kaminker. Together they risked their freedom and completely trusted each other. But then came resentment: after all, Baruch didn't just leave, but didn't write to her either!..
But most importantly, hope never left Dvoyra. Yes, even though the Chekists deceived her, presenting themselves as successive "acquaintances of acquaintances from Bucharest." Then, in the last two years before her arrest, she desperately grasped at any news from comrades abroad. Even a ghostly shadow, the slightest hint of a happy outcome brought a smile to her face. Inexhaustible inner strength and energy helped her endure in the camp. And after years of hardship, fate rewarded Dvoyra: she found her homeland, her dream came true. The ancients were right when they said: while I breathe, I hope…
09.06.2025
Author: Mikhail Krivitsky
Bibliography and Sources:
1. Sectoral State Archive of the Security Service of Ukraine. Case No. 2843-O.
2. https://billiongraves.com/grave/16369193/סופר-דבורה?referrer=myheritage (Information about the burial site of Dvoyra Shoylovna Belinovich)
Dvoyra Belinovich
