Tag #117878 - Interview #100315 (Geta Jakiene)

When grandpa died I moved to grandmother’s room. I had stayed there before I lived Prenai. When I turned seven I went to Prenai elementary Jewish school. It was an ordinary Jewish school. I do not have any recollections in regard to that. I had studied there for four years. Here I got the rudiments- learned how to read and right in Yiddish, some arithmetic’s. Thus, in accordance with the Jewish traditions, I could stop my studies with that. According to grandmother, my father insisted that I should not go on with my education. Grandpa,who was still alive at that time, dreamt that I- his favorite granddaughter- should get a good education. He was the one who insisted that I should enter lyceum. There was only one lyceum in Prenai. It was a state Lithuanian lyceum. Most of the students there were Lithuanian. There were few Jews. Apart from me there were two Jewish girls in my class. I did not demonstrate bright results in my studies. I was a rather mediocre student. I learnt Lithuanian language and literature. Jewish kids were treated fairly. We were taught Jewish religion by the teacher who came to us from Jewish school. There was a really good relationship between teachers and students. I had never heard any reproaches concerning my nationality. My best friends were Lithuanians. Unfortunately I do not remember the names of childhood friends. We often strolled in the park, went to the cinema. I enjoyed going to the cinema. I went there almost every Saturday. I came home rather late from cinema and went to bed quietly no to wake up grandma. By the way she was breathing I always understood that she was not asleep, waiting for me to come back. At that time I also made friend with some Jewish girls. They were members of youth Zionistic [3] organization in Prenai. There was a small kibuts and the ladies got ready to depart for Israel. One of my friends took me to the underground komsomol [4] meeting. I liked those people very much as they spoke of equality, brotherhood and gave me a warm welcome. There were couple of times when I stealthily attended their meetings, but I did not join komsomol.