The Righteous Among the Nations of the World II WW2
Righteous Among the Nations is an honorary title given to non-Jewish individuals for saving Jews during the Holocaust (1933-1945) without seeking personal gain. The title is awarded by a commission under Yad Vashem (the Israeli Holocaust Research Institute in Jerusalem, founded in 1953) and chaired by a justice of the Supreme Court of Israel. The award is given regardless of the person's social status - members of the royal families have also received it, for example, Princess Helena of Denmark and Greece, Princess Alice, and Queen Elisabeth of Belgium.
The search for evidence for the granting of the name begins when the rescued person himself or his relatives apply. The commission carefully examines all documentation, including the testimonies of survivors and other witnesses, assesses the historical circumstances and the threat that existed for the rescuer himself. The main criteria are: only a person of Jewish nationality can apply for the nomination, the assistance must be provided not to a family member or a person who has converted to Christianity, it must be long-term or substantial, and provided without receiving financial benefit.
Those recognized as Righteous Among the Nations are awarded a special medal with an inscription from the Babylonian Talmud: "By saving one life, you have saved the whole world" and a certificate of honor. If the recipient is deceased, the award is presented to their closest relatives. The name of the Righteous is engraved on the Wall of Justice in Yad Vashem's Garden of Justice. Previously, a tree was planted in each person's honor, but due to lack of space, the names are now immortalized on the wall. The awards are presented during a special ceremony in Israel, and if the person is unable to attend, the award is presented by Israeli diplomats residing in their country.
By the beginning of 2022, 28,217 people from 51 countries had been awarded the title of Righteous Among the Nations, including 924 Lithuanian citizens. The largest number of recipients were citizens of Poland (6,992) and the Netherlands (5,778). In terms of the ratio of the number of people who saved Jews during the war to the total population, Lithuania ranks second after the Netherlands.
In Lithuania, rescuing Jews was punishable by death, not only for the rescuer, but also for his entire family. Residents were warned about this by posted notices. In wartime, people had to be hidden not only from the authorities, but also from neighbors or colleagues, because living in an atmosphere of fear, anyone could turn against them for personal gain. The most common ways of helping were providing shelter in one's own home, providing forged documents, and helping to escape from ghettos or prisons.
Among the most famous Lithuanian Righteous Among the Nations is President Kazys Grinius, who in 1942 submitted a letter of protest to the German General Commissariat in Kaunas regarding the murder of Lithuanian Jews and hid Dmitriy Gelpern in his home in 1941-1942. Ona Šimaitė, a librarian at Vilnius University and the first Lithuanian woman to receive this title (1966), used her working position to enter the Vilnius ghetto, bring in food and other supplies, take out valuable historical documents, seek shelter for people, and take out children who had been put to sleep in baskets.
Writer Kazys Binkis and his wife Sofija, whose house was called the "Jewish Hotel", Danutė Čiurlionytė-Zubovienė and Vladimiras Zubovas, who hid and sheltered several dozen Jews, artist Olga Kuzmina-Dauguvietienė, Šiauliai Mayor Jackus Sondeckis, who saved the famous theater expert Markas Petuchauskas and his mother, pediatrician Petras Baublys, who saved children in the Kaunas Children's Home "Lopšelis", and Steponas Kairys, a signatory of the 1918 Act of Independence, who, with his wife Ona, sheltered 11-year-old Anusė Keilsonaitė from the Vilnius ghetto in 1942 - these are just some of the brave people who risked their lives saving others.
In Lithuania, the facts of the rescue of Jews were kept secret for a long time, and only after the restoration of Independence did the rescued stop hiding it. Since 2005, ceremonies honoring the Righteous Among the Nations of the World have been held regularly in Lithuania. In 2015, a street in Vilnius was named after Ona Šimaitė, in 2018 a memorial stone to the rescuers of Jews was unveiled in Vilnius, and in 2019 a square named after the "Righteous Among the Nations" was opened in Šiauliai. A traveling exhibition "Saving One Life, Saves the Whole World" is traveling around the country, telling the stories of 105 rescuers. Since 2019, the graves of the Righteous have been marked with a special 76 mm diameter brass sign with two clasped hands and inscriptions in Lithuanian, English and Yiddish.
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Righteous Among the Nations Square (Monument)
On October 22, 2021, the Righteous Among the Nations Square was opened in Šiauliai, at the intersection of Ežeros and Vilniaus Streets. This is the first monument to the Righteous Among the Nations in Lithuania. The author of the monument is designer Adas Toleikis, originally from Šiauliai, and the initiator is the chairman of the Šiauliai County Jewish Community, Sania Kerbelis.
The created monument “Union” features the names of the Righteous Among the Nations of the Šiauliai County, immortalizing 148 rescuers of Jews, and artistic accents mark the locations of the gates of the Šiauliai ghettos. Two ghettos were established in the city of Šiauliai: in the so-called Kaukaza quarter and in the Ežero–Trakų g. quarter. Physically strong and fit persons were sent to the first ghetto, and specialists (doctors, mechanics, and others) to the second. The ghetto in Šiauliai was established in the summer of 1941 by order of the military commandant of the city of Šiauliai, and was liquidated in 1944, when Nazi Germany retreated and the remaining Jews were transported to the Stutthof and Dachau concentration camps. More than 5,950 Jews were imprisoned in the ghettos. During the interwar period, about 6,500–8,000 Jews lived in Šiauliai, some of whom voluntarily fled to the depths of Russia, and after the Holocaust, only about 350–500 residents of Jewish origin remained.
Kaušėnai Holocaust Memorial
A memorial to the victims of the Kaušėnai Holocaust has been installed in the village of Kaušėnai (Plungė district) at the site of the Jewish massacre. The memorial is dedicated to the memory of the Jewish community of Plunge and surrounding villages destroyed during the Second World War.
The memorial was founded on the initiative of the last Jew of Plunge, Jakov Bunka. The first monument was erected in 1952 to the victims of the Second World War, and in 1986-1989 a memorial was built to honor the dead Jews. In 2011, the Memorial Wall was installed, which is made of 1,800 bricks from the demolished Plunge synagogue, each of which is dedicated to the memory of the murdered person, and plaques with the known names of 1,200 (out of 1,800) Jews are attached to the wall. Rescuers' Alley has been created next to the memorial, where individuals who saved condemned Jews in Plunge and its surroundings during the Nazi occupation are listed on separate name columns.
On July 12-13, 1941, about 1,800 Jews from the Plunge region were killed and buried in the Plunge synagogue in brutal conditions. On the day of the genocide, those who could walk were driven to walk 5 km to the place of execution, others were transported by trucks in separate groups. The victims were ordered to dig holes for themselves, after which they were shot. The other group had to bury the dead and dig a new hole for themselves.
The memorial is in the top ten of the most impressive memorials reflecting the tragedy of the European Jewish people.
Vytautas Macernys Birthplace Trail
In the village of Šarnelė, Plungė district, in the birthplace of the Lithuanian poet Vytautas Mačernis, a path to the poet's birthplace has been established. Walking along this 545 m long path, you will reach the poet's grave. The poet died on October 7, 1944, during the Battle of Seda, when he was accidentally hit in the head by a fragment of an artillery shell. After his death, the poet's relatives returned the deceased back to Šarnelė to be buried in his homeland.
While walking along the V. Mačernis hiking trail, don't miss the nearby Kerpauskas spring and information stand. This spring commemorates an important historical period - the genocide of the Jewish people during World War II. The Kerpauskas spring is located by the path leading from the parking lot to the poet's grave. During World War II, the family of Juozas and Adolfina Kerpauskas hid Jews in underground bunkers installed at the foot of a small hill near the spring and in the homestead below. For three and a half years, the family took care of several Jewish families - 16 people in total - and protected them from destruction. During the Soviet era, Adolfina and Juozas Kerpauskas and their children Bronė and Tomas were deported to Siberia. Juozas Kerpauskas in 1992 and Adolfina Kerpauskienė in 2009 were awarded the Salvation Cross.
Venclauskiai House-Museum
Venclauskių House-Museum is an exclusive residential house of interwar historicist architecture located in the city of Šiauliai. The building, nicknamed the White House, was built in 1926. in the former Šiauliai suburb lands for the family of Kazimieros and Stanislavas Venclauskiu. Kazimieras and Stanislava Venclauskiai - actors of the Lithuanian national movement and the restoration of the Lithuanian state, also famous as guardians of many strays and orphans.
During World War II, Stanislava Venclauskienė and her daughters Danuta and Gražbyle became famous as saviors of Jews. Despite the fact that the German commandant's office was located in their house during the war, they helped the Jews imprisoned in the Šiauliai ghetto and hid them at home. Danutė Venclauskaitė had permission to enter the Šiauliai ghetto, visiting there secretly bringing food and medicine. All three women have received the title of Righteous Among the Nations and have been awarded the Cross for the Rescue of the Perishing.
in 1991 Gražbylė and Danutė Venclauskaitė donated the family home to the "Aušros" museum in Šiauliai. In the building in 2019 after the reconstruction, the Venclauskių House-Museum was established. The permanent exposition of the museum tells the story of the Venclauski family, and the rooms in the basement are devoted to the themes of the Holocaust and the rescue of Jews.
