rescuers of jews
Gvildys Juozas
Emilija GVILDIENĖ
Juozas GVILDYS
„Dear Staff of the Jewish Museum,
My parents were hiding and rescued two Jewish girls in Kaunas and in Gailiušiai village in Kaunas region. These girls were Moisiejus Milneris and Klara Šapiraitė's daughter Žana, and Niuta, the daughter of the well-known Kaunas dentist Akabasas. Both girls hid in our home from early 1944. My mother Emilija Spudaite-Gvildienė (1887–1965) was a primary school teacher, and a Christian Democrat member at the Constituent Seimas during the first years of Lithuania's independence. My father Juozas Gvildys (1884–1968) was a teacher of mathematics, and as for social life, he was an active member of the Temperance Society. The parents of Žana Milnerytė were killed in the 9th Fort in Kaunas, she appeared in our home at the request of her grandmother, Šapiriene. After the war my mother's sister Viktorija Spudaitė adopted Žana. Later she graduated from Kaunas Medical Institute, worked as a pediatrician in Kapsukas and died tragically in 1978. Niuta Akabasaitė's parents survived the war. She also graduated from the Medical Institute in Kaunas where she studied stomatology, married and left for Israel. I wish you all success in your noble work. Let your activities make a contribution to the struggle against the madness of the world. Respectfully yours, Jonas Gvildys“ From Hands Bringing Life and Bread, Volume 1,
The Vilna Gaon State Jewish Museum. Vilnius, 1997
My parents were hiding and rescued two Jewish girls in Kaunas and in Gailiušiai village in Kaunas region. These girls were Moisiejus Milneris and Klara Šapiraitė's daughter Žana, and Niuta, the daughter of the well-known Kaunas dentist Akabasas. Both girls hid in our home from early 1944. My mother Emilija Spudaite-Gvildienė (1887–1965) was a primary school teacher, and a Christian Democrat member at the Constituent Seimas during the first years of Lithuania's independence. My father Juozas Gvildys (1884–1968) was a teacher of mathematics, and as for social life, he was an active member of the Temperance Society. The parents of Žana Milnerytė were killed in the 9th Fort in Kaunas, she appeared in our home at the request of her grandmother, Šapiriene. After the war my mother's sister Viktorija Spudaitė adopted Žana. Later she graduated from Kaunas Medical Institute, worked as a pediatrician in Kapsukas and died tragically in 1978. Niuta Akabasaitė's parents survived the war. She also graduated from the Medical Institute in Kaunas where she studied stomatology, married and left for Israel. I wish you all success in your noble work. Let your activities make a contribution to the struggle against the madness of the world. Respectfully yours, Jonas Gvildys“ From Hands Bringing Life and Bread, Volume 1,
The Vilna Gaon State Jewish Museum. Vilnius, 1997