Rescuers of Jews

     Lili Winterfeld (Lile Bokšickaitė), who lives in Israel, appealed to Yad Vashem and the Vilna Gaon Museum of Jewish History for the recognition of her rescuers as Righteous Among the Nations and for their award of the Life Saving Cross.
     Before the war, the family of Sheina and Mendel Bokšickis was very well known in Alytus. The head of the family, attorney Mendel Bokšickis, was a member of the Alytus City Council for many years. He was also the founder of the Lithuanian Alytus police force and the volunteer fire brigade. He had received several medals for his achievements.
     When the war began, attorney M. Bokšickis and his family, including their two children, were confined in the Vilna Ghetto. Attorney Bokšickis was murdered in 1941, and his wife was murdered in Paneriai in 1943 during the liquidation of the Vilna Ghetto.
     During the war, the Bokšickis’ fifteen-year-old son Saadia, now the renowned sculptor Saadia Bahat living in Israel, survived the Holocaust. He was imprisoned in as many as five concentration camps.
     Several Lithuanian families were involved in the rescue of Lilė Bokšickaitė. She escaped from the Vilna Ghetto before its liquidation. At first, she lived in Vilnius with Kazys Janavičius (later Jonaitis). For about two weeks, Lilė Bokšickaitė stayed with a friend of Kazys Janavičius and was also cared for by Vanda Sruogienė, the wife of writer Balys Sruoga.
     After Vanda Sruogienė obtained a false identity document for Lilė, Kazys Janavičius took the girl to Alytus to stay with his mother, Vanda Janavičienė. Lilė lived with Vanda Janavičienė for about a month, but it was dangerous there. Then Juozas Balutis, an acquaintance of Vanda Janavičienė, found her shelter in the village of Paliūnai in the Veisiejai district, with the family of his brother Adolfas Baliutis and Adolfas’ wife Ona Baliutienė. Lile Bokšickaitė remained with Ona and Adolfas Baliutis until the end of the war. She remembers all the people who rescued her with great warmth.
     As the front approached, Lile Bokšickaitė’s rescuer Kazys Janavičius retreated to the West. In 1947, he emigrated from Germany to the United States, Chicago, where he lived with his wife Liliana until his death. In the United States, Kazys Janavičius and his wife Liliana changed their surname to Jonaitis. Vanda Janavičienė changed her surname to Janavicius.
     Kazys Jonaitis (Janavičius), Vanda Janavicius (Janavičienė), Juozas Balutis, Adolfas and Ona Baliutis were recognized as Righteous Among the Nations in 2013. Vanda Sruogienė was awarded the Life Saving Cross in 2002.