Dov Lopatyn

Who was Dov Lopatyn?

Dov Lopatyn was the head of the Judenrat in Łachwa, Poland in 1941-42. He refused the demand of the Einsatzgruppen that the Lakhva Ghetto inhabitants line up for deportation, and, on 3 September 1942, he led one of the first ghetto uprisings of the war.

More than half of the ghetto population was either killed in the fighting or taken to nearby pits and shot. A number did escape to the Pripet Marshes, where some joined partisan units. Lopatyn joined a communist partisan unit, and was killed on 21 February 1944 by a landmine.