Jūratė Baranova
Vilnius University, Philosophy Institute, Education Institute
The author of this article graduated from the high school in Lithuania at Soviet time. She was rather good at history, but recently she is not able to remember any information on Holocaust she received in the school. How she learned about Holocaust during her early childhood? From the two sources: from the book she found accidently in the book shelf at her home and from the story her mother used to tell about the events. In 1965 G. Erslavaitė published the book Mass Masacre in Lithuania (1941-1944) (Vilnius: Mintis, 1965). The book was illustrated by the photos of the naked bodies of people and the views of opened mass graves. Somebody from the family (probably – the mother) bought it for the family library. The shock for ten years old child was impressive: she never asked anyone from adults about the meaning of the terrible pictures she saw and never was been able to return to the pictures. Could it be that the events would be eliminated from young child’s memory as too traumatising in the case never spoke with her about the events? It could be. But the mother spoke – she used to tell her personal stories from time to time. What is the best Holocaust teacher: the shocking pictures, the abstract numbers or some persons one is able to identify with from the personal story?
The hypothesis suggested by this article is following: our moral response to the events are developed not by the abstract numbers and shocking pictures, but by stories – personal, or reflected in literature. In 2003 I was adapting the German textbook on Ethics for 5 and 6 rades. The German textbook was written by prof. Frieder Burkhardt and prof. dr. Peter rahulec. The chapter on different religions had the title “The Jews, Christians and Muslims. hey described the three monotheistic religions and the three different sacred books. In the textbook manner the history of Jews was also described. Also some important religious rituals, for example Sabbath, Hanukkah, Bar Mitzvah and Bat Mitzvah were also described.
I added the chapter Jews in Lithuania, informing about Litvaks and Vilnius Gaon. Also it was a sentence concerning numbers. I wrote that before the second world war it was 110 Synagogues in Vilnius and 10 religious schools – Yeshiva. Also it was said that during the second world war 90 percentage of Lithuanian Jews were massacred and that some Lithuanian helped the Germans to kill. How do I knew this information about the Lithuanians participating? Giambattista Vico suggested to investigate the history using the research of the language. How it could be that the word “žydšaudys” , it means ‘A Jew’s killer” functioned as a curse, as very dirty and nasty name in our vocabulary in everyday discourse if it were not the real phenomenon in the history? It was not possible. One of my relatives together with her parents was sent to Siberia for the reason they were rich farmers and in 1960-ties succeeded to return. They received the letter asking for help to return from their former neighbor who as also in Siberia but condemned for the slaughter of Jews. Her mother said with disgust: “Never answer it. He is a Jew-killer” . People despised the one who was involved in the killing. They were treated as degenerates. How to live being the descendent of a Jew killer? The designer for the textbook presented me her picture with the title “The Sacrifice” and asked me to decipher it. I could.’ not . She asked me for several times, but in vein. After some years she told me that the picture is on the topic of Holocaust. She already passed away and I am still deciphering the picture. It is hanging before my eyes . I see it every evening. And only before her death some years ago I learned that her father as condemned and was sitting in jail for the involvement in Jew killing. I do not know if I have a right to announce it publically. It was the secret that hurt her very deeply. And there are her children left behind. I am afraid this knowledge of being the descendents of Jew killer would destroy their lives.
It is a great relief to know that no one from my family was participating. It is a great relief to know I grew up in the house in which not one thing from massacred Jews was inside our house. Mother told me, that after the massacre everyone who had the horse and the chariot were obliged to help with the transportation of the Jews property to the special place. It was organized . The journalist from the Biržai told me that the very nice woman, the wife of the very famous man important for Biržai man took part in this redistribution of things. The best things – the jewelry and the gold took the German officers. The other things first of all were suggested to the employee’s of the state.
My grandparent was a postman. He had big family – nine children. He was suggested to take some of the Jew propriety. My grandmother Anelė (the descendent of the nobleman’ s Audickas from Grand Duchy of Lithuania) said “never”. Mother used to repeat it But the small propriety of Jews – their cloths, their plates, their small belongings were dispersed among the population. For my family it was very difficult to understand how it was possible to live with these things, how it was possible to use them and not to cry for their real owners? To cry and to feel deep sense of guilt? Every day, every night. Because of family education for me it is very easy to recognize the reality of the Holocaust. My mother cried when she was fourteen. Now she is ninety three. She is crying still. She never forgets. When the Holocaust in her native town Birzai, in the North of Lithuania took place my mother Vanda Stiklerytė, (later Patkauskienė after the marriage) was teenager – she was fourteen. After 60 years from the events she heard on the radio the invitation by the editor of the newscast the Franciscan priest Julius Sasnauskas for the listeners to send him the stories they still remember about Holocaust. My mother wrote and send to the radio. It was broadcasted. In 2003 I was adapting the German textbook on Ethics for 5 and 6 grade . This is the text (‘The Sad Eyes of Chait’):
‘During my childhood it happened for me to communicate with the Jews the same extent as my parents communicated. The doctor Levinas cured our family. The family was big, so the doctor sometimes refused to take the money for his help. “Let’s keep it for your children”, I heard him saying , In the cloth shops as usual were working Jews women. They invited my mother to select the cheaper cutting for the dresses for girls. There were several Jews also in our class. Best of all I remember Chait he was tiny, small, very slow and very good boy. He used to entertain us with Eastern pies – macai. He was always smiling, even in the case the taller boys jostled him. , When the war started during the summer holiday I met him in the town. He was very sad and said they will be pushed from home to ghetto very soon. At this time I did not know what ghetto was and I did not understand his sadness. Nobody explained us what was going.
All our teachers were taken to Siberia when the Soviet came. The new oneswere accident people. During this one year of the Soviet time we received new teacher and the new subject – Russian language. She was for some reason angry with Chait who was sitting in the first row and once expelled him from the class. Somebody had to leave and opened the door and Chait just bust into the class.- he was leaning against the door. It was funny and we laughed. I always remember him as an interesting child. After our meeting in the town one day we heard the shootings. We lived in the other side of the town, but the shooting were heard very well. We could not stay outdoors, could not bear the sound, tried to close inside. Somebody told that the Jews are being killed and were terribly scared. We asked each other: “When it would be our turn?“ We had no idea why and what was going.
After this one evening I went the hill fort and suddenly saw the picture I am not able to forget. Somebody from the building was throwing the clothes and the crowd of the people, pushing one another and cursing were trying to catch the clothes and afterwards to put them into the sack of potatoes. Somebody said it were the clothes of Jews they had to take of before killing. In this mob one of my classmate also was actively jostling. I felt terrible sick and run home. For two weeks I did not eat. I did not move. I felt terrible headache. I could not believe what I saw. And all this time before me I saw deep large sad eyes of Chait’.
In 2017 Jūratė Baranova planted a stone at Birzai Jewish old cemetary
to the memory of doctor Levin who saved her mother’s life.
