Leon Bakst

Leon Bakst was born in Ivia, Poland, in May, 1923, to Marsha and Schleme Bakst. He had one older brother and two younger sisters. When the Germans occupied Ivia in 1941, Leon and his family, along with the rest of the town’s Jews, were forced into a ghetto. Several months later, Leon and his brother Jason were sent to a labor camp near Lida. While they were away, the ghetto was liquidated and Leon’s parents and sisters were killed.

At the labor camp, Leon worked loading weapons and ammunition onto trains. After hearing about partisan groups living in the nearby forests, Leon, Jason, and several other young people, began slowly stealing rifles and ammunition, hiding them in holes in the ground. After stockpiling enough guns for the entire group, they escaped into the Naliboki Forest and joined the Bielski Brigade partisans, a group of Jewish resistance fighters.

Leon spent the war resisting the Nazis however he could – from sabotaging rail lines to gathering food to feed the partisans. He had many close calls, once barely escaping with his life as the Germans bombed the partisan camp. At the end of the war, Leon and Jason left Poland for Berlin, along with Leon’s future wife Libby, who had been part of another partisan group. They made their way to a displaced persons camp in Munich, where Leon and Libby were married and had their first child.

In 1949, they came to the United States, where they created a rich and beautiful life. Leon will be sorely missed. We extend our condolences to his beloved daughters, Marsha Gaswirth, a Lifetime Director on the Board of the Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum, and Paulette (Pepe) Bakst, and their families.

Pictured left: Leon Bakst and his wife Libby Abramowitz Bakst on their wedding day at the Neu Freimann Siedlung Displaced Persons Camp in Munich, Germany, November 1945.

Pictured right: Leon Bakst.