Rescuers of Jews
Laurinavičius Jonas
ELENA LAURINAVIČIENĖ
BRONISLOVAS LAURINAVIČIUS
JONAS LAURINAVIČIUS
PRANAS LAURINAVIČIUS
’My parents’ Mommy’ is how my parents used to refer to Elena Laurinavičienė. I keep a picture of her with her two sons Jonas and Bronius and my parents Chaim Leib and Dora Tatz in my office in New York, – Dr. Shmuel Tatz reminiscences about Mrs. Laurinavičienė, who saved his father Chaim Leib Tatz.
As WWII began and Nazi Germany occupied Lithuania, Elena Laurinavičienė lived in the village of Naukaimis, Girkalnis parish, in the district of Raseiniai, together with her three sons Jonas, Bronius and Pranas. It was during those terrible days that Chaim Leib Tatz asked Mrs. Laurinavičienė for help. His wife Ida, eight-year-old son Cvika, four-year-old daughter Feiga, father Shmuel Tatz and numerous other relatives had already been massacred with the other Jews of Girkalnis in August of 1941.
Being sympathetic to the plight of the ruthlessly killed people, Elena and her sons decided to save Chaim Leib and his cousins the Blachers from their imminent deaths. Mina Chodonaitė Ran of Raseiniai sometimes came by and was sheltered by Mrs. Laurinavičienė as well. Bronius used to say that his family’s relationships with Jews were always very good. Chaim Leib’s father Shmuel, who had a shop in Girkalnis, would often come to his neighbors’ aid.
Since it was too dangerous to stay in the same place for long, the refugees had to constantly search for new places of hiding. Chaim Leib spent the most time with Mrs. Laurinavičienė and her sons. During the entire war, he was given a safe haven by a total of twenty-four families.
After the war, Mrs. Laurinavičienė’s sons suffered a tragic fate. Bronius and Pranas joined the partisans in the fight against the Soviet occupation. Bronius was sent to Siberia where he spent 1948-1949 as a prisoner in Novosibirsk and 1949-1956 in the Norilsk labor camp. Pranas took part in the Battle of Berlin and finished the war by the border with Japan. Upon his return to the homeland in 1946, he fought against the occupation, as his brother had done. Pranas Laurinavičius died during a firefight on July 28th, 1949, in the village of Trakučiai, Girkalnis parish.
Chaim Leib helped Elena and her sons as much as he could during their difficult times. They continued their exceptionally close relationship until Chaim Leib’s passing in 1981.
In 1993, upon the request of Chaim Leib’s son Yosef Tatz, who was the chairman of the Kaunas Jewish community at the time, Bronius Laurinavičius was awarded the Life Saviour’s Cross as the only surviving member of the Laurinavičius family. In 2010, Elena Laurinavičienė and her sons Jonas and Pranas Laurinavičius will posthumously receive the Life Saviour’s Cross.
BRONISLOVAS LAURINAVIČIUS
JONAS LAURINAVIČIUS
PRANAS LAURINAVIČIUS
’My parents’ Mommy’ is how my parents used to refer to Elena Laurinavičienė. I keep a picture of her with her two sons Jonas and Bronius and my parents Chaim Leib and Dora Tatz in my office in New York, – Dr. Shmuel Tatz reminiscences about Mrs. Laurinavičienė, who saved his father Chaim Leib Tatz.
As WWII began and Nazi Germany occupied Lithuania, Elena Laurinavičienė lived in the village of Naukaimis, Girkalnis parish, in the district of Raseiniai, together with her three sons Jonas, Bronius and Pranas. It was during those terrible days that Chaim Leib Tatz asked Mrs. Laurinavičienė for help. His wife Ida, eight-year-old son Cvika, four-year-old daughter Feiga, father Shmuel Tatz and numerous other relatives had already been massacred with the other Jews of Girkalnis in August of 1941.
Being sympathetic to the plight of the ruthlessly killed people, Elena and her sons decided to save Chaim Leib and his cousins the Blachers from their imminent deaths. Mina Chodonaitė Ran of Raseiniai sometimes came by and was sheltered by Mrs. Laurinavičienė as well. Bronius used to say that his family’s relationships with Jews were always very good. Chaim Leib’s father Shmuel, who had a shop in Girkalnis, would often come to his neighbors’ aid.
Since it was too dangerous to stay in the same place for long, the refugees had to constantly search for new places of hiding. Chaim Leib spent the most time with Mrs. Laurinavičienė and her sons. During the entire war, he was given a safe haven by a total of twenty-four families.
After the war, Mrs. Laurinavičienė’s sons suffered a tragic fate. Bronius and Pranas joined the partisans in the fight against the Soviet occupation. Bronius was sent to Siberia where he spent 1948-1949 as a prisoner in Novosibirsk and 1949-1956 in the Norilsk labor camp. Pranas took part in the Battle of Berlin and finished the war by the border with Japan. Upon his return to the homeland in 1946, he fought against the occupation, as his brother had done. Pranas Laurinavičius died during a firefight on July 28th, 1949, in the village of Trakučiai, Girkalnis parish.
Chaim Leib helped Elena and her sons as much as he could during their difficult times. They continued their exceptionally close relationship until Chaim Leib’s passing in 1981.
In 1993, upon the request of Chaim Leib’s son Yosef Tatz, who was the chairman of the Kaunas Jewish community at the time, Bronius Laurinavičius was awarded the Life Saviour’s Cross as the only surviving member of the Laurinavičius family. In 2010, Elena Laurinavičienė and her sons Jonas and Pranas Laurinavičius will posthumously receive the Life Saviour’s Cross.