rescuers of jews
Balkienė Nina
Nina BALKIENĖ
Lidija PETRAUSKIENĖ
The sisters Elka and Rivka Chwoles ran away from the Ghetto No. 2 in Vilnius on October 20, 1941, the eve of its liquidation. They hid for several weeks in one of the city cellars and then by a Polish acquaintance. There, at the beginning of 1942, the Chwoles sisters met Nina Balkienė, and her younger sister Lidija (later Petrauskienė), who agreed to take one of the Jewish women with them on their way to the village of Gelūnai (today in Belarus), 70 km from Vilnius, where their elderly aunt lived. The choice fell on Rivka, whose name was to be Maria from now on. Some days later, the three of them arrived at their destination. The Jewish woman was introduced to the neighbors as a relative whose parents were deported by the Soviets to Siberia several days before the German invasion. But something in Rivka’s appearance arose suspicions and very soon she was asked to report to the local police station and confirm her identity. Rivka had no papers confirming her Lithuanian origin and the policemen did not accept Nina and Lidija’s testimony that she was their relative. She was arrested and waited to be sent back to Wilno, where her identity would be investigated. Nina, using all her connections with the local authorities, begged and persuaded those who had power to release Rivka, and finally she succeeded. Released from jail, Rivka hurried to leave the village and until the liberation of the area from Nazi occupation, in August 1944, she moved from place to place using the Lithuanian name given to her by Nina Balkienė, and thus survived. Upon her return to Vilnius, she found out that her sister Elka, as well as her other relatives, had perished. After the war, Rivka Chwoles (later Lichtenfeld) immigrated to Israel.
Lidija PETRAUSKIENĖ
The sisters Elka and Rivka Chwoles ran away from the Ghetto No. 2 in Vilnius on October 20, 1941, the eve of its liquidation. They hid for several weeks in one of the city cellars and then by a Polish acquaintance. There, at the beginning of 1942, the Chwoles sisters met Nina Balkienė, and her younger sister Lidija (later Petrauskienė), who agreed to take one of the Jewish women with them on their way to the village of Gelūnai (today in Belarus), 70 km from Vilnius, where their elderly aunt lived. The choice fell on Rivka, whose name was to be Maria from now on. Some days later, the three of them arrived at their destination. The Jewish woman was introduced to the neighbors as a relative whose parents were deported by the Soviets to Siberia several days before the German invasion. But something in Rivka’s appearance arose suspicions and very soon she was asked to report to the local police station and confirm her identity. Rivka had no papers confirming her Lithuanian origin and the policemen did not accept Nina and Lidija’s testimony that she was their relative. She was arrested and waited to be sent back to Wilno, where her identity would be investigated. Nina, using all her connections with the local authorities, begged and persuaded those who had power to release Rivka, and finally she succeeded. Released from jail, Rivka hurried to leave the village and until the liberation of the area from Nazi occupation, in August 1944, she moved from place to place using the Lithuanian name given to her by Nina Balkienė, and thus survived. Upon her return to Vilnius, she found out that her sister Elka, as well as her other relatives, had perished. After the war, Rivka Chwoles (later Lichtenfeld) immigrated to Israel.