Rescuers of Jews
Lickūnaitė-Gumbienė Michalina
MICHALINA LICKŪNAITĖ-GUMBIENĖ
In the spring of 1944, Michalina Lickūnaitė-Gumbienė sheltered the Kacew family, who had escaped from the Vilnius Ghetto, on her farm in the village of Grabijolai (now in the Elektrėnai municipality). The Kacew family included Leo and Ida Kacew and their two daughters: seven-year-old Joan and two-year-old Fran. Before the war, the Kacews owned a butcher shop on Kalvarijų Street in Vilnius.
The family stayed with Michalina for more than three months. "She lived modestly and shared everything she had with us," recalls Joan. When a neighbor noticed the hidden Jews through a gap in the shed and threatened to report Michalina, the Kacew family had to flee once again. After crossing the Neris River, they stayed in the bunker near the village of Kernavėlė for 12 weeks until the end of the war. After the war, the Kacew family moved to the United States, but the kindness of their savior was forever etched in their memories. In 1996, during a visit to Lithuania, they reunited with Michalina Lickūnaitė-Gumbienė after more than 50 years and maintained a connection with her until her passing.
On February 17, 2001, Michalina Lickūnaitė-Gumbienė was (posthumously) awarded the Life Saviour’s Cross.
In the spring of 1944, Michalina Lickūnaitė-Gumbienė sheltered the Kacew family, who had escaped from the Vilnius Ghetto, on her farm in the village of Grabijolai (now in the Elektrėnai municipality). The Kacew family included Leo and Ida Kacew and their two daughters: seven-year-old Joan and two-year-old Fran. Before the war, the Kacews owned a butcher shop on Kalvarijų Street in Vilnius.
The family stayed with Michalina for more than three months. "She lived modestly and shared everything she had with us," recalls Joan. When a neighbor noticed the hidden Jews through a gap in the shed and threatened to report Michalina, the Kacew family had to flee once again. After crossing the Neris River, they stayed in the bunker near the village of Kernavėlė for 12 weeks until the end of the war. After the war, the Kacew family moved to the United States, but the kindness of their savior was forever etched in their memories. In 1996, during a visit to Lithuania, they reunited with Michalina Lickūnaitė-Gumbienė after more than 50 years and maintained a connection with her until her passing.
On February 17, 2001, Michalina Lickūnaitė-Gumbienė was (posthumously) awarded the Life Saviour’s Cross.