rescuers of jews
Bražėnienė Konstancija
Konstancija BRAŽĖNIENĖ
In Aleksotas, Kaunas, she rescued four-year-old Sarah Shilingauskaite (Kuke) and Alex Gringauz. From 1941 to 1944 she supported Bela Baronienė and her daughter Dina. When women from the ghetto were driven to the Aleksotas aerodrome, Bela Baronienė would secretly drop by K.Bražėnienė and would be given food and medicine. K. Bražėnienė obtained Lithuanian documents for her daughter Dina. The girl, however, failed to reach Bražėnienė's flat and was detained by the Gestapo. Prom the prison, the girl was again returned to the ghetto, and eventually she escaped from there. Her mother Bela Baronienė succeeded in escaping from transport to Germany and she reached Bražėnienė's house. Here she had been hiding for three weeks when the Germans were driven from Kaunas.
(Information provided by Nijolė V. Bražėnas, 20 August 1996 Rockland Road, Sparkill, New York 10976)
Remembering late Konstancija Bražėnienė and her deed in rescuing the Jews in Lithuania during World War Two
Dina Baronaitė-Steinberg, born in 1926 in Kaunas and having lived there until December 1944, relates:
“Before World War Two my family lived in 34 Ukmergės plentas, in Kaunas. My father, Benjaminas Baronas, a book-keeper, worked as a clerk in the Bank, besides he took care of the widow Mrs. Bražėnienė's financial matters, in particular, of the book-keeping of the rent of the house in Laisvės Alėja, close to Soboras, to shops and offices.
When the war began, early in June 1941, my father and brother Danielius were arrested at night and later killed as Jews. My mother Bela and myself were to go to the Vilijampolė Ghetto. Mrs. Bražėnienė who lived in Aleksotas and whom my mother and I did not know in person, on her own initiative informed my mother that she was ready to help us. At the time we were moving to Vilijampolė together with our neighbours Mrs.Shilingauskienė and her four-year old daughter Sarah (“Kuke”). We lived in the ghetto from 1941 to 1944. All these years my mother kept in touch with Mrs. Bražėnienė. When the Jewish labour brigade would be driven to the Aleksotas aerodrome, my mother would from time to time secretly drop by Mrs. Bražėnienė. In October 1943, having prearranged it with Mrs. Bražėnienė, my mother succeeded in taking from the ghetto the girl Kuki and the boy Alex Gringauz and passing them to Mrs. Bražėnienė. In this way these two children were saved. For me personally Mrs. Bražėnienė prepared documents in a Lithuanian name, to help me to escape from the ghetto. In October 1943 I ran away from the ghetto; I was on my way to Mrs. Bražėnienė's house to fetch these documents when I was detained by the Gestapo and put to prison in former Mickevičiaus Street in Kaunas. Thus I failed to reach Mrs. Bražėnienė's flat. If I had succeeded, then, according to the plan, my mother too would have found shelter at Mrs, Bražėnienė's.
From the prison I was again taken back to the ghetto. On 14–15 June 1944, the commandant of the ghetto announced that all residents of the ghetto would be sent to Germany for labour. One day before the liquidation of the ghetto, I escaped through the barbed wire surrounding the ghetto, with the aim of reaching Mrs. Bražėnienė, but I could not cross the Vilijampolė bridge, as the papers of all passers-by were checked. My mother managed to escape the transport bound to Germany and go to Mrs. Bražėnienė's house. Here she was hiding for three weeks, until the Germans were driven from Kaunas.
Risking her own life and those of people close to her, Mrs. Konstancija Bražėnienė rescued the persecuted above-mentioned Jewish people. In her honour a tree has been planted in the A venue of the Righteous Among the Nations of the World of the Yad Vashem memorial in Jerusalem. Let her bright memory be eternal in our hearts.”
Dina Šteinberg
30 June 1992, Savyon, Israel
From Hands Bringing Life and Bread, Volume 1,
The Vilna Gaon State Jewish Museum. Vilnius, 1997
In Aleksotas, Kaunas, she rescued four-year-old Sarah Shilingauskaite (Kuke) and Alex Gringauz. From 1941 to 1944 she supported Bela Baronienė and her daughter Dina. When women from the ghetto were driven to the Aleksotas aerodrome, Bela Baronienė would secretly drop by K.Bražėnienė and would be given food and medicine. K. Bražėnienė obtained Lithuanian documents for her daughter Dina. The girl, however, failed to reach Bražėnienė's flat and was detained by the Gestapo. Prom the prison, the girl was again returned to the ghetto, and eventually she escaped from there. Her mother Bela Baronienė succeeded in escaping from transport to Germany and she reached Bražėnienė's house. Here she had been hiding for three weeks when the Germans were driven from Kaunas.
(Information provided by Nijolė V. Bražėnas, 20 August 1996 Rockland Road, Sparkill, New York 10976)
Remembering late Konstancija Bražėnienė and her deed in rescuing the Jews in Lithuania during World War Two
Dina Baronaitė-Steinberg, born in 1926 in Kaunas and having lived there until December 1944, relates:
“Before World War Two my family lived in 34 Ukmergės plentas, in Kaunas. My father, Benjaminas Baronas, a book-keeper, worked as a clerk in the Bank, besides he took care of the widow Mrs. Bražėnienė's financial matters, in particular, of the book-keeping of the rent of the house in Laisvės Alėja, close to Soboras, to shops and offices.
When the war began, early in June 1941, my father and brother Danielius were arrested at night and later killed as Jews. My mother Bela and myself were to go to the Vilijampolė Ghetto. Mrs. Bražėnienė who lived in Aleksotas and whom my mother and I did not know in person, on her own initiative informed my mother that she was ready to help us. At the time we were moving to Vilijampolė together with our neighbours Mrs.Shilingauskienė and her four-year old daughter Sarah (“Kuke”). We lived in the ghetto from 1941 to 1944. All these years my mother kept in touch with Mrs. Bražėnienė. When the Jewish labour brigade would be driven to the Aleksotas aerodrome, my mother would from time to time secretly drop by Mrs. Bražėnienė. In October 1943, having prearranged it with Mrs. Bražėnienė, my mother succeeded in taking from the ghetto the girl Kuki and the boy Alex Gringauz and passing them to Mrs. Bražėnienė. In this way these two children were saved. For me personally Mrs. Bražėnienė prepared documents in a Lithuanian name, to help me to escape from the ghetto. In October 1943 I ran away from the ghetto; I was on my way to Mrs. Bražėnienė's house to fetch these documents when I was detained by the Gestapo and put to prison in former Mickevičiaus Street in Kaunas. Thus I failed to reach Mrs. Bražėnienė's flat. If I had succeeded, then, according to the plan, my mother too would have found shelter at Mrs, Bražėnienė's.
From the prison I was again taken back to the ghetto. On 14–15 June 1944, the commandant of the ghetto announced that all residents of the ghetto would be sent to Germany for labour. One day before the liquidation of the ghetto, I escaped through the barbed wire surrounding the ghetto, with the aim of reaching Mrs. Bražėnienė, but I could not cross the Vilijampolė bridge, as the papers of all passers-by were checked. My mother managed to escape the transport bound to Germany and go to Mrs. Bražėnienė's house. Here she was hiding for three weeks, until the Germans were driven from Kaunas.
Risking her own life and those of people close to her, Mrs. Konstancija Bražėnienė rescued the persecuted above-mentioned Jewish people. In her honour a tree has been planted in the A venue of the Righteous Among the Nations of the World of the Yad Vashem memorial in Jerusalem. Let her bright memory be eternal in our hearts.”
Dina Šteinberg
30 June 1992, Savyon, Israel
From Hands Bringing Life and Bread, Volume 1,
The Vilna Gaon State Jewish Museum. Vilnius, 1997