rescuers of jews
Šaterienė Ida
Tamara Ratner Tamara Ratnerytė), the daughter of a famous member of the underground organisation Ratner was also taken good care of:
...Vilijampolė is enshrouded in darkness. Tonight, under the cover of this darkness we have to take the three year old Tamara Ratner out of the ghetto. A member of underground, Ida Shater is waiting for the girl to fall asleep. Then she will be put in the suitcase which is held ready by the girl’s father /.../. But the sleep does not come, although everything is ready. The persons patrolling the fence tonight have been identified. There, Peisach Shater, the “fence snooping specialist”, is already waiting. And the most important thing is that Dr. Baublys expects an “orphan” tonight and that reliable people are waiting in the foster home. But the girl did not fall asleep. Her sobbing might be heard by the guards. The procedure has to be repeated from the start the next night. But this time, nurse Sheina Berelovich injects the girl with luminalum. The sedated child finally closes her eyes and breathes evenly. Now, there is hope that no sounds escape the suitcase at the most important moment – sounds that can cost the girl her life... This time the escape from the ghetto is relatively fast. And here the girl taken out of the suitcase is lying at the door of “Lopšelis”. Mrs. Shater presses the doorbell button and hides. A minute, two minutes pass. Each of them seems like an eternity to her, but the door does not open. The doorbell is pressed for the second time, but is responded with silence again. It is a cold, windy autumn night outside.
How can the baby left to her fate? Suddenly, there is noise. A car full of uniformed Gestapo officers approaches. Will it stop here? The car drives by leaving heavy silence and waiting behind. Finally, the door opens and woman in white takes the child... The cause of the delay emerged only later. Dr. Baublys had an unexpected visitor in his cabinet, who was not supposed to suspect anything. Doctor could not even trust all of his associates. Some of them had to be bewared of. But he was constantly supported by nurses Elena Uborevičienė and Pranciška Vitonytė, who were entrusted with all “secrets”. Despite the mortal risk, they helped a lot to save the lives of the ghetto children.
From the 4th book Hands Bringing Life and Bread
The Vilna Gaon State Jewish Museum
...Vilijampolė is enshrouded in darkness. Tonight, under the cover of this darkness we have to take the three year old Tamara Ratner out of the ghetto. A member of underground, Ida Shater is waiting for the girl to fall asleep. Then she will be put in the suitcase which is held ready by the girl’s father /.../. But the sleep does not come, although everything is ready. The persons patrolling the fence tonight have been identified. There, Peisach Shater, the “fence snooping specialist”, is already waiting. And the most important thing is that Dr. Baublys expects an “orphan” tonight and that reliable people are waiting in the foster home. But the girl did not fall asleep. Her sobbing might be heard by the guards. The procedure has to be repeated from the start the next night. But this time, nurse Sheina Berelovich injects the girl with luminalum. The sedated child finally closes her eyes and breathes evenly. Now, there is hope that no sounds escape the suitcase at the most important moment – sounds that can cost the girl her life... This time the escape from the ghetto is relatively fast. And here the girl taken out of the suitcase is lying at the door of “Lopšelis”. Mrs. Shater presses the doorbell button and hides. A minute, two minutes pass. Each of them seems like an eternity to her, but the door does not open. The doorbell is pressed for the second time, but is responded with silence again. It is a cold, windy autumn night outside.
How can the baby left to her fate? Suddenly, there is noise. A car full of uniformed Gestapo officers approaches. Will it stop here? The car drives by leaving heavy silence and waiting behind. Finally, the door opens and woman in white takes the child... The cause of the delay emerged only later. Dr. Baublys had an unexpected visitor in his cabinet, who was not supposed to suspect anything. Doctor could not even trust all of his associates. Some of them had to be bewared of. But he was constantly supported by nurses Elena Uborevičienė and Pranciška Vitonytė, who were entrusted with all “secrets”. Despite the mortal risk, they helped a lot to save the lives of the ghetto children.
From the 4th book Hands Bringing Life and Bread
The Vilna Gaon State Jewish Museum