I can say I did not have childhood since then. Almost right after mother’s death father got married and a stepmother appeared in the house. I do not remember her name. All I know is that she was much younger than my dad. My paternal grandmother was very sorry for us children and decided to take the youngest to her. Thus, shortly after stepmother appeared in our house, I was taken to Prenai. My childhood and adolescence were spent there.
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Displaying 44341 - 44370 of 50826 results
Geta Jakiene
My father Gerts Ushpits, born in late 1880s in Prenai, did not get any other education but cheder and several classes of elementary Jewish school. He was literate. I do not know how my parents met, I think their date was arranged with the help of Jewish matchmakers- shedchens. After wedding they settled in Shakai. They had a two-storied stone house. Their store was on the ground floor of their house. Father was the owner of that store. In 1914 my elder brother Meishe was born and in 1917 my sister Leya was born. I was the third in the family. Of course, I do not remember mother. I only remember the warmth of her touch. In 1924 mother gave birth to a daughter, she died shortly after parturition. Soon mother died.
Meer Kuyavskis
In early 1940 ghetto was founded in Lodz. Our Zhidovska street was inside the ghetto. There were Jews from cities there as well. One young lady housed in with us. Her parents disappeared during the one of the first actions of the occupation. I cannot recall her name. First everybody thought that everything would be OK. Judenrat was established in ghetto consisting of prominent Jews, which was supposed to take care of people there. Its function was not only provision with primary good food given by cards, but also providing them with work. My brother and I had odd jobs at the sewing factory. Ghetto was surrounded with barbed wire. There were armed guards at the gate. Very soon we understood that the life there could hardly be called living, it was a bitter existence. None of its inhabitants knew what the next day had in store for him. One of the main functions of Judenrat was to fulfill the orders of the commanders, including supplying people for all kinds of actions.
In a while German officers came in our apartment. It turned out that there was a German hospital in Lodz, which needed quits and they ordered a large batch of quilts form my father. They brought him all raw materials needed- cotton wool, cloth, threads. Father hired several ladies, who used to work for him before the war and the workshop was reopen. There was a lot of work. They took the readymade quilts in the truck. As far as I know, father received no money for his work. He was happy to stay alive. Father received several orders from commanders during occupation.
As per order of the commandant each inhabitant of the city was supposed to welcome the officer by making a bow and taking the hat off. If the order was violated, the person was punished. There were cases when Jews bowed and took his hat off and said «Guten Morgen», he was beaten by the fascist as the Jew dared to greet Aryan. People merely were afraid to go outside as Jews were often caught and arrested. My parents stayed in nearly all the time. Only brother and I walked in the streets until fascists got irritated with us. During the first day there was an imperative to wear a strap with yellow star, soon we had to have yellow stars in front.
The first days of war were rather calm. The denizens got outside and looked at German planes in the sky. Fortunately, Lodz was not bombed as a lot of Germans were living there. In about a week German fascist occupied the city. Every there were some orders by the commanders, resulting in execution if they someone failed to fulfill them. There was a curfew. There were more restrictions for Jewish population than for the rest, the Jews were allowed to go outside from 7am to 5pm. There actions against Jews, but they were not systematic. It was impossible to predict behavior of fascist barbarians. The Jews were allowed to walk only on the roadway as they were forbidden to step on the sidewalk. We were not permitted to go to all the stores. There were specials ones for Jews. Most of the Jewish stores were closed. Plunder impoverished even well-off merchants. The worst thing is that people started disappearing. The whole families vanished. Mostly it referred to rich families. Something like that happened with the family of my uncle Shmuel Kuyakovskiy. In early October my father went to see him and found a huge lock on his door. His store was closed at the beginning of occupation. I remember that father came back in low spirits as he saw neither Shmuel nor his family. We still do not know what happened to them. Either they became victims of fascists or of those people who wanted to have their property. There is another option though. During the first days of occupation Poles took Jews to the forest, hid them there helping them to survive, and it cost a lot of money. I think that Shmuel and his family must have perished as their names have not been mentioned any more. They vanished into a thin air.
On 1 September 1939 fascist German unleashed Second World War by attacking Poland. The first two days Molotov-Ribbentrop treaty [11] was effective, allowing people to abandon Poland via Soviet Union borders. Large groups of fugitives got together on the boarder. Elder brothers went there. They tried to convince parents that all of us should leave together. My parents were rather elderly and it was hard for them to go in nowhere, leaving the apartment and things that they have got by blood and sweat. They also could did not let my brother and I go either as they did not know what might have happened with us. It happened so that on the first day of war we parted with Moishe and Isaac as we stayed in Lodz.
In late 1930s anti-semitism [10] was streamlined in Poland. All of us knew about Hitler, about things happening in Germany and understood that there would be nothing good for the Jews, if Germans occupied Poland. Nationalistic Polish organizations appeared in Lodz. There was even a period of time when it was banned to sell kosher meat. Jews boycotted Polish butcheries and that ban was lifted. There appeared the following slogans in newspapers: «Do not buy from kikes!», but it did not affect our family. In June 1939 brother and I finished seven grades of our school and got school certificates. We had to think of our future. Our idea was to work for a year and save some money for the education. But our future was the war….
Jewish youth of the 1930s in Lodz was extremely political-minded. There were all kinds of Zionistic organizations- Maccabi [6], Betar [7], Hashomer Hatzair [8]. There were some Jewish people who were attracted by communistic ideas. They were underground communist and komsomol [9] members. There were none of them in our school. My elder brothers Moishe and Isaac became members of underground organizations. Brothers disseminated communistic fliers, literatures, attended underground meetings. Of course, our parents did not know anything about it, but my brother Benjamin suspected that and sympathized with them. Father was in shock when in 1936 there was a search at home because of my elder brother. I was on my way from school, when our neighboring kid cried out that there was police in our place. Moishe was detained in couple of hours. There was a real mess at home. They found underground literature during the search. Parents took son’s arrest real hard. Moishe was imprisoned for two years. Luckily, Isaac was not arrested. It was a little bit comforting for parents. He assured parents, that he stopped all underground activities and he kept his word. Moishe also forgot about his interests upon his return from prison ( he was pardoned in 10 months for exceptionally good behavior). Elder brothers worked really hard and even managed to save a certain amount of money to open their own store.
There were only Jewish children in our school, the teachers were also Jews with the exception of some Polish teacher and some other. It was prohibited to speak Yiddish in our school. We were told to go to Yiddish school if we did not want to speak Polish. Of course, we spoke Yiddish with each other as it was easier for us. Other than that, it was an ordinary compulsory school with the additional classes in Jewish religion, history and traditions. I was among Jews, and my friends were only Jews. We even had frays with the students from Polish schools, though there was nothing serious, just ordinary conflicts, taking place between the students of different schools and lyceums. Those conflicts had nothing to do with the nationality. I was a mediocre student, I liked sciences, though I never got higher mark than ‘good’. My brother Benjamin since childhood happened to be gifted, especially in liberal arts - literature and history.
My education started at cheder which was typical for the boys of that time. I went to melamed, who also taught my elder brothers. At times there were up to 30 people in the class, but sometimes there were only four. We were taught how to pray in Yiddish, but I was not eager to study as I wanted to play with children outside. I went to cheder for half a year, but my elder brothers insisted that Benjamin and I should go to the school where subjects were taught in Polish. There were all kinds of Jewish educational institutions in Lodz. There was Yiddish elementary school not far from us, but my brothers fairly thought that I should study for having a chance to continue education in state language. Many guys who went to Yiddish school spoke broken Polish and they could not think of continuing education their education in the institute. My elder brother Moishe and Isaac finished Jewish school, where subjects were taught in Polish and thanks to them my brother and I also went to that school. Moishe and Isaac did not go on with their education as both of them became excellent furriers, they made fur coats and hats and earned pretty good money. They wanted their junior brothers to get higher education. They were willing to help us in that.
On Channukah we lit channukia.; one candle was added every day. Those candlesticks were placed on the window sill and the entire Zhydovskaya street was radiant with Channukah lights. Mother baked potato fritters and father gave us channukakh gelt according to the tradition. Purim was also marked in our family – mother baked hamantashen, make festive dinner. As a rule we took shelakmones to our friends, cousins or some other relatives.
On Sukkot we did not make our own sukkah as we rented our premises. The landlord made it for everybody in the yard. Father gave him some money for that and we used it. There was an interest holiday Simchat Torah after Sukkot. I liked the tradition, which was characteristic for our location. On that day the water was taken from the wells, sanctified and people danced around it. Of course, there was a festive procession of Jews carrying torah, accompanied by songs and dances. All that pleased us.
In a week after Rosh Hashanah Yom Kippur came. Parents were fasting. The children were given less food than on other days. In the evening, when parents came back home from the synagogue, mother gave everybody a week broth with semolina, which was good for the stomach. Then they started eating other food.
I also enjoyed Jewish New Year- Rosh Hashanah. It was the time of early spring, when people did the harvesting and basked in the fruits of their labor. The tables were full of fruits and pastries. During this holiday, the table is decorated with herbs, making it look very beautiful. For that holiday mother cooked the tastiest gefilte fish from a huge pike and gave father the head of the fish as a symbol of the head of the family.
Brother and I liked Jewish holidays very much. First of all, the workshop was closed and our apartment was to ourselves. I loved Pesach most of all. First of all, long before the holiday, it could foretaste it, being in festive spirits. The apartment was thoroughly cleaned- windows were washed, curtains, tulles, tablecloths were laundered. We had a very beautiful table dishes and silverware. Pots and pans were koshered – the fire was made right in the middle of the yard, where all those utensils were placed in a huge pig iron pot. Father bought a bottle of kosher wine for the holiday. Probably it was our annual doze of alcohol as on other occasions we did not drink. Matzah was brought from the synagogue in a big hamper covered with white cloth. During the first evening of the holiday father carried out Pascal sedder, reclining on the pillows. Afikoman was hidden under it. We pretended that we could hardly find it. Father made it so that Benjamin found it as he was younger than me and in general he everybody’s favorite. Benjamin also asked four traditional questions regarding the holiday. At the end of sedder father left a glass of wine for prophet Iliah. Mother flung the door open and father prayed for the prophet to come. He tried to rock the table stealthily. The wine spit and father gladly said: «Well, Ilia came in our house!». Then he turned to mother and said: «You can close the door now!». We started feeling perturbed saying that we had not seen the prophet, but father used to say that we should have looked better. At night we all went to bed, and elder brothers tied to outsmart each other to drink the wine meant for Iliah. The fete did not end with the first sedder. It lasted for the whole week. All that time we used to stroll in the yard, only coming home to eat. Mother fried matzah, made pancakes from it, baked all kinds of pastries. It was a real treat for us. As a rule, we went to the grandfather for the second sedder. During the week we also came to see mother’s brothers. At times they visited us.
In general, we were typical Jews. We were neither rich nor poor. Now our living conditions might seem rather constraint, but in our environment they were considered normal. We were not perturbed by the fact that there were no rooms for all members of the family and we had to sleep together. On the contrary it was fun. On holidays we went to eat ice-cream in the park sometimes or hired a cabman to visit our relatives. In 1930s there were taxies in Lodz, but it was extremely expensive. There was also radio, which was a luxury for people. Every summer we went to dacha. Father rented two poky rooms at the farmstead not far from Lodz.
We were looking forward to Friday. On that day mother worked only half a day. Then parents cleaned the apartment and made the house ready for Sabbath. We also helped mother, otherwise she would not mange to clean everything for Sabbath. We bought Sabbath challachs in special bakery as mother did not have time to bake them. As for the rest of the dishes- chicken, all kinds of tsimes from beans, carrots and potatoes as well as the main Sabbath dish-gefilte fish- were cooked by mother. On Thursday we went to the bathhouse. On Friday we put clean clothes on. When father came back from the synagogue, mother lit the candles and we sat at the table. On Saturdays parents went to the synagogue and took us with them. It was very tedious for me and I could not wait to go outside to play with children, who were waiting for their parents to come back from the synagogue. On Saturday we ate cholt, which had been placed in the stove since Friday. Very often after Sabbath meal we went to maternal grandmother, where his relatives got together to have tea and to listen to Torah in grandfather’s interpretation.
My mother was raised in a religious family and strictly observed Jewish traditions. She always wore wig and only in postwar times she took it off keeping abreast with the times. We only had kosher food. Meat and poultry was bought only in kosher meat stores. Live poultry, purchased on the market, was taken in synagogue to shochet by some of the elders. When I grew up a little bit, it became my responsibility. I always observed how shochet made a precise cut on fowl’s throat, put it on the hook over the funnel, where blood was trickling down. By the way, the meat purchased in kosher store was twice or thrice more expensive than non-kosher meat. I remember such a case from my childhood. Mother was sick and was put in the hospital. Father asked one of the ladies who worked with us to buy meat for us and gave her money for that. When she brought the meat, father was surprised that there was so much of it. It turned out that the lady bought us non-kosher meat as she did not stick to the traditions despite being a Jew. Father decided to conceal that blatant fact from mother, but some of the workers told her about it later on. Mother said to my father: «Well. Shleime have you saved a lot of money? - Now buy me new dishes». She threw away all the dishes, including spoons and father had to buy new one.
Our apartment was on the ground floor of the four-storied house. It consisted of two rooms. There was a workshop in the first room. Eight women worked here from morning till night. They sewed, quilted and embroidered the covers. Each worker brought some food with them. Mother gave them tea or coffee. There were two large beds in the second room, which was considered to be parents’ bedroom. Very often there was a lack of working space and seamstresses worked in bedroom. There other beds in room- sofa, camp bed, arm-chairs. We, children, did not have a place for recreation. We had been loafing until evening waiting for the seamstresses to leave and at times we fell asleep either at the sofa or at the cot. When I was a little boy, I often fell asleep before others, and parents tucked me in bed while I was sleeping. Even now I am still wondering how mother managed to cope with everything- to run the workshop, sew, cook, feed a large family, make clothes for us and do laundry. She cooked food on large stove in the first room behind partition. The whole family usually had meals at a specific time. Mother cooked porridge, curds pancakes or casseroles for breakfast. Lunch was substantial, consisting of three courses- soup, broth or borsch, meat course, compot or kissel. Mother demanded that the elder brothers, who were adolescence with their plans, showed up for lunch on time. Everybody dined separately. Usually I had dinner with parents and younger brother Benjamin. Moishe and Isaac came home rather late. They just had milk or tea with rolls and went to bed.
Now I am unwell. I became disabled after operation. I am bed-ridden. I live pretty comfortably- get 400 Euros (German pension to the camp prisoners). There was time when I got the compensation from Switzerland for being Dachau prisoner. All of that helps me to get by as well as my daughter Aldona. There is enough money for food, medical care. No money can make up for all those people I lost during war- my perished parents, brothers, with whom I had been severed for many years, and still being unable to be with them. I will not survive a trip to Canada, and they refuse to come to Lithuania. Moishe has a strong antipathy to USSR and I cannot convince him that we are living in a different country now, which is free. Benjamin is not willing to go to Lithuania either. Brothers are helping me. They call me. I am still hoping that I will see them again.
My biggest joy was when I met Benjamin. My son and I visited him in Montreal in 1995. Life parted us, but there are times when the twins can feel each other at the distance. Brother and I thought that we had never been severed, though our lives differed a lot. Benjamin became rather rich. He was in fur business. In the 1960s he had his own fur production and a network of fur stores. Now Benjamin lives on the interest form the capital that he earned. He can do what he wants. He gives free lectures on holocaust in the university. He opened up the exhibition of photographs on catastrophe. He cannot go to his motherland, Lodz, Auschwitz as neither I nor him can imagine walking on the streets that imbibed Jewish blood.
My wife’s death and my loneliness happened to take place in the period of state changes- Lithuanian independence. Finally, I got the chance to visit my brothers. I visited my elder brother Isaac in Israel. We have not seen each other for fifty years. In 1998 Isaac died and it was the last time I saw him. His daughter Chava is living in Israel and keeps in touch with my sons. I also went to my native city Lodz, walked along the streets, where ghetto was located. At first, I could not even recognize that place. My house was not preserved. There was a modern building in its place. Big stone synagogue is not longer there either. As it turned out, fascists put all remaining Jews from ghetto and burnt it. People burnt down quickly, and the stone building of the synagogue was destroyed by artillery. It was hard to walk along the streets from childhood, where the blood of my kin was shed. It was the last time I was in Lodz. I did not go to Auschwitz for the same reason, though the society of ghetto prisoners invited me there on a number of occasions.
We had always stayed with the family of the elder stepdaughter Aldona. In 1993 my Stepha died. I retired in 1993 as my Stepha became bed-ridden. I had to quit work when she became disabled. I had to look after her. She passed away that year. I have lived with my daughter since then. Unfortunately, Aldona’s husband died of infarction. His daughter Yustina, has her own children.. They are living in Kaunas, but we see each other very rarely as everybody has his own life.
Younger son Evgeniy is living Kaunas. He is an electrician. His wife, a Lithuanian Layma, is a nurse. They have a son Bandas, who is studying at the university, and a 7-year old daughter.
My second son Alyukas, also became a tailor. He was also married to a Lithuanian, whom he divorced. His son from the first marriage named after my twin brother Benjamin, is living in Kaunas. Alyukas left for Israel. He met his wife Ira there and got married for the second time. They are currently living in Jerusalem.
Upon return from the army Shlema married a Lithuanian right away. They broke up. Shlema did not have a profession. He just had some odd job, and it was not enough for his wife. Having divorced, Shlema married another Lithuanian Edite and left for Israel with her. They are currently living in Haifa. He is working at the institute Technion as a janitor. This non-prestigious job makes his life materially comfortable. My grandchildren, born in marriage with Shlema’s first wife, stayed in Kaunas -30- year old Renata, who has her own children, and 26-year old Thomas. Renata has lived in England with her family over the past several years as her husband is working there. I do not know anything about Tomas. He took his parents divorce hard. He is not keeping in touch with me.
My children grew up in the true international family. Of course, we did not mark Jewish holidays, but we always had matzah at home for Pesach. We also respected Lithuanian traditions. My children went to Lithuanian school and considered Lithuanian to be their mother tongue. When the elder turned 16, he chose Jewish nationality for his passport. I had a serious talk with him and said that living with that nationality would not be easy. My son replied if he Shlema Meerovich was put as Lithuanian in his passport, it would make people laugh. Younger sons followed the example of their brother. All of them chose Jewish nationality for their passports.
My life was good. In 1956 my second son was born. Stepha asked to give him Lithuanian name Alyukas as it was her father’s name. In 1960 my third son Evgeniy was born. Our family was very friendly. Elder daughter Aldona had also treated me like father and I loved her as my own daughter. I work hard at the factory and also took private orders at home. I provided a good living for my family. Stepha and I never parted with the exception of the three months in 1957, when I had to go through additional training in the army. In early 1950s the factory granted us a small one-room apartment and in late 1960s I had the apartment built in cooperative building and paid my own money for it. I had a car. My family and I went to Palanga, Druskeninkai. We did not go anywhere but Baltic countries. In early 1970s I submitted my documents to immigration for Israel. We did not get the permit, because the elder brother served at the border with China. I was no willing to leave without son, though I regret it now, as later on sons left without me.
In 1956 I received my first letter from brothers. My brothers Isaac and Moishe shortly after crossing Polish border, were taken to Siberia. Formally they were charged with evasion from army service. Brothers did not tell what was happening indeed. When Great Patriotic War was over, both of them returned to Poland in 1945. Then Isaac left for Israel and Moishe for Canada. Brothers had already had families by the time we started keeping in touch. Moishe married a Polish Jew Sonya. They had a daughter Chava. Isaac’s wife was Bronya. He had two children, whose names I cannot recall. From their letter I found out that my twin brother Benjamin was alive. When we parted, while was unconscious, he was taken out from the camp. Benjamin decided that I died and left for Canada upon liberation. There Benjamin settled down well. He started fur business and even opened up his own store. Soon he married a Jew Enna. They had children and were very prosperous. Benjamin’s elder daughter was named after mother Ella. I cannot recall the name of the younger daughter. I was so happy to have my family back, to find out that they were alive. I could see them in a while- in 1988 when the iron curtain [14] was removed and perestroika commenced [15].