Rescuers of Jews

     During the Nazi occupation, Jadvyga Petrovskaja and her husband Vladislavas Korvin-Petrovskij lived on the Karsinuvka farmstead near Pabradė, close to the village of Pušalotas. One day, their good acquaintance Jakob Blitz, who had lived in Pabradė before the war and who, together with his family, had been hiding for a long time with Witold and Genowefa Mieczkowski, came to see them. Jakob Blitz asked the Petrovskis to shelter the Blusinski family – a mother and her young daughter. Jadvyga and Vladislavas agreed. Their house had a cellar, where the woman and her child were accommodated. To conceal the entrance to the cellar, a rug was placed over the trapdoor, with a loom standing on top of it. Whenever Jadvyga went to visit the new arrivals, she would move the loom aside. Mrs. Blusinski and her daughter gradually became part of the Petrovski family. Jadvyga prepared meals for the entire household, although at times, when house searches threatened, the fugitives had to move from one hiding place to another. Consequently, the Blusinski and Blitz families also found refuge with other residents of the Pabradė area.
     From a letter written by Jakob Blitz to Witold Mieczkowski in 1964:
Thank you, Witold, for writing about all of you, about your children and grandchildren. I may not remember what happened yesterday or a few days ago, but I remember everything that happened twenty-five years ago as vividly as if it were happening before my eyes. I remember every bush in Giraitė, I remember the forest path that led to the Petrovski family. It saddens me deeply that Vladislav Petrovskij is no longer with us, nor is Anton Verikas, such a righteous man. I will not list everyone to whom I send my greetings – you know very well who was dear to me. Please give them all my regards and write to me about everything...
     From the memoirs of the Mieczkowski family's daughter, Genowefa Marcinkiewicz (née Mieczkowska):
During the war I lived with my parents, Witold and Genowefa Mieczkowski, on the Giraitė farmstead. Today this farmstead is located in Molėtai district, near Arnionys. I clearly remember that from 1943 until the end of the German occupation my parents hid the Blitz family in our home at Giraitė: Jakob Blitz, his wife Eta Blitz, and their eight-year-old daughter Juna Blitz. Before the war, my father had known Jakob Blitz well, as Jakob often visited him. My father worked as a forester. When Jakob Blitz asked him for help, he gave it wholeheartedly, despite risking both his own life and the lives of his family.
     Hiding places were prepared in the cellar of the house and in the bathhouse. The Blitz family spent the entire day concealed there. As the eldest daughter, it was my responsibility to bring them food, and at night they were allowed to leave their hiding places to wash themselves and breathe the fresh air. My younger brother and sister were told that these people had lost their home and had nowhere to live, and that they must never tell anyone about them. There were no neighbours nearby. Sometimes my father would send me to look around, and if everything was quiet, the Blitz family would come out into the yard for an hour or two.
     After the war, Jakob Blitz often visited our home. With tears in his eyes, he would thank us all for helping him. Later, he emigrated to Canada with his family. For some time, he and my father remained in close contact and exchanged letters frequently. Then one day we received a letter from his son Notik, informing us that his father had died, and our correspondence came to an end...
     At the same time that the Blitz family was hiding with the Mieczkowski family, they also gave temporary shelter to the Blusinskis family. Later, the Blusinskis moved to the Petrovskij family, where they remained until the end of the war.
     In 2026, Vladislavas Korvin-Petrovskij, Jadvyga Petrovskaja, Witold and Genowefa Mieczkowski, and their daughter Genowefa Marcinkiewicz, who helped save members of the Blitz and Blusinski families from Pabradė, were awarded the Life Saving Cross.