Rescuers of Jews

     Before the Second World War, Juozapas and Julija Dautartas lived with their three sons – Zigmas, Juozas, and Vladas – in the village of Šilelis, Raudondvaris rural district. After Nazi Germany occupied Lithuania, the Dautartas family rescued Ariela, the young daughter of the well-known Kaunas physician Dr. Jokūbas Abramovičius and his wife Bronia.
     Ariela Abramovičiūtė was born in the Kaunas Ghetto on 24 October 1941. On the fifth day of her life, wrapped in swaddling clothes and tied to her mother's chest, Ariela was taken to the Great Action. Every Jew in the Kaunas Ghetto was herded into Demokratai Square. The square was surrounded by armed guards, where selections took place: the sick, the elderly, people with disabilities, and newborn babies were sent to their deaths under the pretext of being assigned to “light work according to their abilities,” while the young and healthy were selected for work “for the benefit of Germany.” The operation was commanded by SS officer Rauca. Dr. Jokūbas Abramovičius, his wife Bronia, and their daughter Ariela managed to end up on the “good” side of the selection and survived. During those fateful days of 28–29 October 1941, 9,200 Jews from the Kaunas Ghetto were murdered at the Ninth Fort, including 4,273 children.
     Jokūbas and Bronia Abramovičius managed to keep their daughter Ariela hidden inside the ghetto for two years, but it became clear that death was drawing ever closer and that they had to seek help. In December 1943, Dr. Abramovičius succeeded in taking Ariela out of the ghetto and bringing her to the nursery home Lopšelis, then directed by Dr. Petras Baublys.
     From the memoirs of Ariela Abramovičiūtė-Sef: On 14 December 1943, my father gave me an injection for sleeping, and my parents, disguised as peasants, carried me to the nursery home. My father left me in a sack by the entrance door. Attached to the sack was a card that read: “I am an unmarried woman, a single mother. I cannot raise and care for my child myself, and therefore I ask you to take my daughter, Bronė Mažilytė, into your care.” My mother's real maiden name was Bronia Maizelytė. That is how I became an abandoned child.
     Thanks to the humanity and self-sacrifice of Dr. Petras Baublys and his colleagues, the Lopšelis nursery home became, between 1942 and 1944, not only a home for orphans but also a place of refuge where brutally persecuted Jewish children were rescued. Unfortunately, after only a few weeks at Lopšelis, Ariela became critically ill. Through an intermediary, Dr. Baublys sent word to Ariela's parents that the little girl was dying and that, if there was even the slightest possibility, they should take her away. But they could hardly bring her back to the ghetto.
     One day, while working with a labour brigade of ghetto prisoners on the embankment near Lampėdžiai, Jokūbas Abramovičius saw a fisherman he knew, Juozapas Dautartas, from whom he had bought fish before the war while spending summers in the area. After renewing their acquaintance, Juozapas Dautartas would secretly leave fish or other food for Dr. Abramovičius at an agreed location. On the night of 3 January 1944, Ariela's parents left the ghetto with a single purpose – to persuade Juozapas Dautartas to take their daughter Ariela from Lopšelis. The Dautartas family made their decision, and one day Julija Dautartienė and her son Zigmas brought Ariela from the nursery home to their house in the village of Šilelis.
     From the memoirs of Ariela Abramovičiūtė-Sef: Mother Julija had been told that the little girl was very clever and blond, but what they were given at “Lopšelis” was something beyond description – a bleeding, barely recognisable little bundle. Completely panic-stricken, they took me home with them. They had been deceived. What blonde child? What nonsense? Just some screaming little creature who would soon die.
     What could deeply religious people do? They began to pray that I would recover, although there was very little hope. Soon my parents came to see whether everything had worked out. In the bitter winter cold, they walked through the forests for several days to reach my new home.
     My parents begged the members of the Dautartas family to try to save me. The decision rested with Mother Julija. My father promised that he would come at night to help, would try to obtain medicine, and would treat me.
     Ariela's father would leave his hiding place and, despite the severe frost, walk dozens of kilometers to treat his daughter. Together with Juozapas Dautartas, who was knowledgeable in folk medicine and skilled in the use of medicinal herbs, he succeeded in pulling Ariela back from the brink of death.
     From a statement written by the Dautartas' son, writer Vladas Dautartas, on 2 December 1991 for the Commission of Deputies of the Supreme Council:
     First, the two-year-old daughter of the Abramovičius family, Ariela, was brought to our home. Then the doctor and his wife also came to us. That very same day, the village was surrounded by the Gestapo and gendarmes. Dr. Abramovičius and his wife hid in our cellar while the Germans searched every house. They would certainly have found both fugitives, but they were saved by my brother Zigmas Dautartas, who now lives in the United States. He spoke German quite well. He went out to the gate, met the Germans, and calmly told them that he had seen two Jewish people who had recently run off into the forest. Amazingly, the Germans believed him! They never searched our farmstead. Nevertheless, it was decided that the Abramovičius couple should be hidden in another village, since many German repatriates lived in Šilelis. After some time, the doctor and his wife moved to another hiding place, while their daughter Ariela remained with us.<...>
     I, too, took part in caring for and hiding the little girl. Whenever Germans appeared in the village, I would grab Ariela, wrap her in a padded jacket, get into a boat, and row across to the other side of the Nevėžis River. There, among the bushes, it was safe...
     When the neighbours began to suspect who Ariela really was, the Dautartas family did not give in. They continued to care for the little girl with great love until the end of the war in Lithuania. Ariela's parents also survived the occupation, having been sheltered by the Kumpaitis family from the village of Luškakiemis in Kėdainiai district.
     From the memoirs of Ariela Abramovičiūtė-Sef: After the Germans retreated, my parents did not take me back immediately. I absolutely refused to part with mother Julija. Clinging tightly to her skirt, I greeted my parents by saying, “Good day, sir; good day, madam.” Whenever they tried to explain that they were my real parents, I would burst into tears. Only after several visits did mother Julija finally manage to gently separate me from her skirt.
     After the war, the future writer Vladas Dautartas became very close to the Abramovičius family. He lived and studied with them in Kaunas. Every summer, Dr. Jokūbas Abramovičius would visit Šilelis to see Ariela's rescuers, Julija and Juozapas Dautartas. The friendship between the Abramovičius and Dautartas families continued until the Abramovičius family emigrated to Israel. Later, after the deaths of Jokūbas and Bronia Abramovičius, Ariela and her brothers, Solomon Abramovičius and Benas Brahmsas, who were born after the war, maintained warm relations with the children of the writer Vladas Dautartas until the end of their lives.
     In 1995, Julija and Juozapas Dautartas were awarded the Life Saving Cross for saving Ariela Abramovičiūtė, and in 2004 they were recognized by Yad Vashem as Righteous Among the Nations. In 2026, the Life Saving Cross was also awarded to Vladas Dautartas, the son of Julija and Juozapas Dautartas.