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Grigoriy Galunskiy, the oldest of the siblings, was born in 1896. He became a communist. Mama told me he was under arrest frequently and once he was even sentenced to death. Then the rabbi himself spoke for Grigoriy. Though it was Saturday, he signed a petition, which saved Grigoriy's life. [According to the Jewish Law saving life is the single most important command; it overrules all other commands, including the Sabbath restrictions.] After 1919 Grigoriy lived in the USSR and later he moved to Vilnius as Consul of the Soviet Russia in Lithuania [Lithuanian independence] [15]. The capital of Lithuania at that time was Kaunas [since Vilnius (Wilno) belonged to Poland then] and Grigoriy, his wife Esther Grinblat and their children lived in Kaunas. My mother, who loved her older brother, left Varena to live with them. Mama told me that Grigoriy's children loved her dearly.
Grigoriy's wife was a Jewish woman from Kaunas. She was also a convinced communist. Esther was a dentist by profession. She provided her services to prisoners in the local jail. After finishing his military service in Lithuania, Grigoriy was appointed consul in Trieste, Italy. My mother never saw him again. It was only in the late 1930s when a newspaper published the information that Grigoriy Galunskiy, a famous Bolshevik [16], had died in Odessa. My father decided not to mention to my mother that her beloved brother had died hoping that she would never find out, but she did. Her neighbor visited her and together they were looking at old photographs, when the neighbor expressed her regrets about my mother brother's early death. She also mentioned that she had read about it in the newspapers. Her brother's death was a tragedy for my mother. She mourned for him for seven days sitting on the floor wearing torn clothes [she sat shivah]. I don't know what happened to Grigoriy's wife or children. I failed to find them after the Great Patriotic War however hard I tried.
Grigoriy's wife was a Jewish woman from Kaunas. She was also a convinced communist. Esther was a dentist by profession. She provided her services to prisoners in the local jail. After finishing his military service in Lithuania, Grigoriy was appointed consul in Trieste, Italy. My mother never saw him again. It was only in the late 1930s when a newspaper published the information that Grigoriy Galunskiy, a famous Bolshevik [16], had died in Odessa. My father decided not to mention to my mother that her beloved brother had died hoping that she would never find out, but she did. Her neighbor visited her and together they were looking at old photographs, when the neighbor expressed her regrets about my mother brother's early death. She also mentioned that she had read about it in the newspapers. Her brother's death was a tragedy for my mother. She mourned for him for seven days sitting on the floor wearing torn clothes [she sat shivah]. I don't know what happened to Grigoriy's wife or children. I failed to find them after the Great Patriotic War however hard I tried.
Location
Lithuania
Interview
Fania Brantsovskaya