rescuers of jews
Valionienė Teofilė
I was overcome with fear to be left all alone
Judita Mackevičienė-Pacaitė
Vincas protected me, took compassion on me, told me fairy tales, and promised not only to save me, but also my parents. Unfortunately, such a duty was too difficult for children.
My family – father Fishelis Patsas (Fišelis Pacas), mother Hinda Pesya Finaite Patsiene (Hindė Pesė Finaitė-Pacienė), brothers Bezalel, Eliyas and me - their sister lived in Kaunas on Laisvės Avenue until the war. My father studied commercial science in Berlin. My parents had a kitchen supplies shop in Kaunas and a store of various items in Jurbarkas.
We were driven from our home and imprisoned in the Kaunas Ghetto in July 1941. When I got there, I was 4 and a half years old. My recollections are child-like, and fragmented. I was overcome with a great fear of being left all alone. I would hear a scratching on the other side of the door, and think that maybe someone had come to shoot? My 12 year-old brother Bezalel would go with my father to work, while little Eliyas was perhaps at school, I don’t know.
A few episodes have stuck in my mind: my brother with a long winter coat to the ground and a cap that went over his ears going with our father to work; my father coming from work and pulling a small bottle of milk from his secret pocket. What a joy! It seems to me, that I saw the arresting of “criminal” families. This image accompanied me from my childhood, before I had read about it in books.
My parents and both brothers stayed in the ghetto, while I was taken by my father in a potato sack on a sledge at the end of 1943. Through my father’s acquaintance Balsevičienė I ended up in the family of Vincas and Teofilė Valionis. The Valionis family lived in Vilijampolė and were raising two children: 10 year-old Vincas and 5 year-old Aleksandra. All that time I was in the back room, and only rarely saw my father, who would come to visit me. Once my mother came there. I remember well how the tears flowed in rivers.
During the entire horrible time my friends and guardians were not only the adults Vincas Valionis and Teofilė Valionienė, but also their children Vincentas and Aleksandra. Little Vincas turned 10 in April 1944, and was going to school, and probably loved me more than his little sister. He protected me, took compassion on me, told me fairy tales and promised to not only rescue me, but also my parents. Unfortunately, such a duty was too difficult for children. However, more than once little Vincas saved me and his family from the misfortune. He had forced his sister to promise not to say anything about me. His sister was obedient. Not only their neighbours, but also the relatives knew nothing about the Jewish girl that was being hidden. Once 10 year-old Vincas had to speak with a German officer, however even the German chocolate and a mouth harmonica didn’t tempt the child, though it could have been a temptation, as Vincas played the accordion...
With the front approaching, I along with the Valionis family withdrew to Kaunas region, where one could see, how the red of the fire covered the whole sky. It burned while the Kaunas ghetto was liquidated. In its ruins my parents and brothers Bezalel and Eliyas were killed in July 1944.
From the 4th book Hands Bringing Life and Bread
The Vilna Gaon State Jewish Museum
Judita Mackevičienė-Pacaitė
Vincas protected me, took compassion on me, told me fairy tales, and promised not only to save me, but also my parents. Unfortunately, such a duty was too difficult for children.
My family – father Fishelis Patsas (Fišelis Pacas), mother Hinda Pesya Finaite Patsiene (Hindė Pesė Finaitė-Pacienė), brothers Bezalel, Eliyas and me - their sister lived in Kaunas on Laisvės Avenue until the war. My father studied commercial science in Berlin. My parents had a kitchen supplies shop in Kaunas and a store of various items in Jurbarkas.
We were driven from our home and imprisoned in the Kaunas Ghetto in July 1941. When I got there, I was 4 and a half years old. My recollections are child-like, and fragmented. I was overcome with a great fear of being left all alone. I would hear a scratching on the other side of the door, and think that maybe someone had come to shoot? My 12 year-old brother Bezalel would go with my father to work, while little Eliyas was perhaps at school, I don’t know.
A few episodes have stuck in my mind: my brother with a long winter coat to the ground and a cap that went over his ears going with our father to work; my father coming from work and pulling a small bottle of milk from his secret pocket. What a joy! It seems to me, that I saw the arresting of “criminal” families. This image accompanied me from my childhood, before I had read about it in books.
My parents and both brothers stayed in the ghetto, while I was taken by my father in a potato sack on a sledge at the end of 1943. Through my father’s acquaintance Balsevičienė I ended up in the family of Vincas and Teofilė Valionis. The Valionis family lived in Vilijampolė and were raising two children: 10 year-old Vincas and 5 year-old Aleksandra. All that time I was in the back room, and only rarely saw my father, who would come to visit me. Once my mother came there. I remember well how the tears flowed in rivers.
During the entire horrible time my friends and guardians were not only the adults Vincas Valionis and Teofilė Valionienė, but also their children Vincentas and Aleksandra. Little Vincas turned 10 in April 1944, and was going to school, and probably loved me more than his little sister. He protected me, took compassion on me, told me fairy tales and promised to not only rescue me, but also my parents. Unfortunately, such a duty was too difficult for children. However, more than once little Vincas saved me and his family from the misfortune. He had forced his sister to promise not to say anything about me. His sister was obedient. Not only their neighbours, but also the relatives knew nothing about the Jewish girl that was being hidden. Once 10 year-old Vincas had to speak with a German officer, however even the German chocolate and a mouth harmonica didn’t tempt the child, though it could have been a temptation, as Vincas played the accordion...
With the front approaching, I along with the Valionis family withdrew to Kaunas region, where one could see, how the red of the fire covered the whole sky. It burned while the Kaunas ghetto was liquidated. In its ruins my parents and brothers Bezalel and Eliyas were killed in July 1944.
From the 4th book Hands Bringing Life and Bread
The Vilna Gaon State Jewish Museum