rescuers of jews
Skripkauskas Viktoras
BRONĖ SKRIPKAUSKIENĖ
VIKTORAS SKRIPKAUSKAS
MAGDALENA STANIENĖ and her daughter Olimpija Stanaitė-Rutienė
Zipora Zimanaite (Zipora Zimon-Toker) was born in 1923 in Darbenai and lived there together with her parents.
One of Zipora‘s brothers emigrated to Palestine before the war and the second brother escaped for Russia. After the occupation of Lithuania by the Nazi Germany, persecution and mass murders of Jews followed. Zipora‘s father was killed in Darbenai; she herself and her mother escaped for Liepaja, but soon both of them had been caught and taken to the murder site to be killed. Zipora managed to tear off her clothes the yellow sign and escape, but her mother had been killed in Liepaja. During the period of hardships that followed Zipora received help from a tailor from Darbenai – Viktoras Skripkauskas and his wife Brone. At the beginning Zipora was hiding at their pace, but later on, in order to avoid danger, she looked for shelter in different places. During one winter she lived in the house of Magdalena Staniene – Brone‘s mother. Magdalena‘s second daughter, Olimpija Stanaite, lived in the same house. Olimpija and Zipora were very good friends. Zipora Zimanaite lived in the house together with all the others, like a member of the family. They called her Stase. Since the owners of the house drew the curtains very early, the neighbours started to be suspicious and therefore, Zipora-Stase moved once again to Viktoras and Brone Skripkauskas, who, in their turn, moved from Darbenai to the village of Pelekai.
Thanks to the help received from Viktoras and Brone Skripkauskas and also Magdalena Staniene and her daughter Olimpija, Zipora Zimanaite survived the war, got married, became Zipora Toker and, in 1947, together with her husband, emigrated to Palestine. Nowadays, she lives in Israel.
VIKTORAS SKRIPKAUSKAS
MAGDALENA STANIENĖ and her daughter Olimpija Stanaitė-Rutienė
Zipora Zimanaite (Zipora Zimon-Toker) was born in 1923 in Darbenai and lived there together with her parents.
One of Zipora‘s brothers emigrated to Palestine before the war and the second brother escaped for Russia. After the occupation of Lithuania by the Nazi Germany, persecution and mass murders of Jews followed. Zipora‘s father was killed in Darbenai; she herself and her mother escaped for Liepaja, but soon both of them had been caught and taken to the murder site to be killed. Zipora managed to tear off her clothes the yellow sign and escape, but her mother had been killed in Liepaja. During the period of hardships that followed Zipora received help from a tailor from Darbenai – Viktoras Skripkauskas and his wife Brone. At the beginning Zipora was hiding at their pace, but later on, in order to avoid danger, she looked for shelter in different places. During one winter she lived in the house of Magdalena Staniene – Brone‘s mother. Magdalena‘s second daughter, Olimpija Stanaite, lived in the same house. Olimpija and Zipora were very good friends. Zipora Zimanaite lived in the house together with all the others, like a member of the family. They called her Stase. Since the owners of the house drew the curtains very early, the neighbours started to be suspicious and therefore, Zipora-Stase moved once again to Viktoras and Brone Skripkauskas, who, in their turn, moved from Darbenai to the village of Pelekai.
Thanks to the help received from Viktoras and Brone Skripkauskas and also Magdalena Staniene and her daughter Olimpija, Zipora Zimanaite survived the war, got married, became Zipora Toker and, in 1947, together with her husband, emigrated to Palestine. Nowadays, she lives in Israel.