rescuers of jews
Leščinskas Stanislovas Vytautas
Marija Leščinskienė
Marija Leščinskienė lived with her three sons in Kaunas near the Kaunas ghetto. She was a courier of the anti-fascist underground The leaders of the various underground branches arranged their important meetings at her home.
Gita Abramson, Dmitry Gelpern, Peisach Shater, Lusia Zimmerman, Rachel Padison and other Jews active in the underground, hid there at different times.
On July 13, 1944, during the liquidation of the ghetto, the Germans discovered a group of Jews hiding in a bunker. The Germans ordered them to line up, told them they would be taken to work. Lesčinskienė, who was on the street at the time and saw the roundup, persuaded her Jewish friends, Gita Abramson and Nina Finkelstein to run away. They both headed for Leščinskienė’s house and she quickly hid them in a secret place under the steps. At first, she kept them in her home, and then she arranged another hiding address for them. She continued to bring them food and care about their welfare. When their hiding place was nearly discovered by the Germans, Leščinskienė took Gita and Nina and hid them at her home until the liberation on August 1, 1944. After the war, Gita Abramson remained in Lithuania, married Josef Bereznitzky. She immigrated to Israel with her family in 1990. Nina Finkelstein (later Anshell) moved to Canada.
Marija Leščinskienė lived with her three sons in Kaunas near the Kaunas ghetto. She was a courier of the anti-fascist underground The leaders of the various underground branches arranged their important meetings at her home.
Gita Abramson, Dmitry Gelpern, Peisach Shater, Lusia Zimmerman, Rachel Padison and other Jews active in the underground, hid there at different times.
On July 13, 1944, during the liquidation of the ghetto, the Germans discovered a group of Jews hiding in a bunker. The Germans ordered them to line up, told them they would be taken to work. Lesčinskienė, who was on the street at the time and saw the roundup, persuaded her Jewish friends, Gita Abramson and Nina Finkelstein to run away. They both headed for Leščinskienė’s house and she quickly hid them in a secret place under the steps. At first, she kept them in her home, and then she arranged another hiding address for them. She continued to bring them food and care about their welfare. When their hiding place was nearly discovered by the Germans, Leščinskienė took Gita and Nina and hid them at her home until the liberation on August 1, 1944. After the war, Gita Abramson remained in Lithuania, married Josef Bereznitzky. She immigrated to Israel with her family in 1990. Nina Finkelstein (later Anshell) moved to Canada.