About Grigorijus Teperis
In the spring of 1944, probably May, one early morning I felt an unusual bustle in our home. My mother was up and even back from somewhere already and was looking out of the window all the time. And there came the news – a baby boy, probably a week old, was found at the doorstep of the hospital. He had a cross on his neck and there was a note that his name was Jurgis. The hospital (Putvinskio St. 3) had a labour and delivery department at that time. My father was a director of the hospital despite the fact that it was nationalised by the government. He suggested taking the baby to the children’s room. After doctors examined him, they said he was perfectly healthy and there will be enough food and space for him in the hospital for some time.
The hospital staff was sure the boy was abandoned by one of the women who had given birth in the hospital, and they even tried to find the mother. But the truth was that Jurgiukas was a Jewish baby. His abandonment was staged by Petronėlė Lastienė with a blessing from my parents.
Thus, Jurgiukas grew in the hospital. After some time, he was moved to the other room, further from the newborns. He already needed cow milk. The Germans were leaving the city and it was difficult to get such products. Petronėlė Lastienė came to help again. We both went to Panemunė sanatorium – it seemed quite a long way without any transport. There were cows kept in the sanatorium. One of the sanatorium staff, Petronėlė Lastienė’s friend, agreed to get us some cow milk everyday. Unfortunately, I can not remember her name or surname.
When the front line passed through Kaunas, there was a lot of shooting, and Jurgiukas and I we hiding in the hospital basement. When the Red Army entered the city, Jurgiukas was about 4 months old. One day Petronėlė Lastienė brought a young man in a military uniform to the hospital. He was Jurgiukas’ uncle and he took the baby. Only then everybody got to know Jurgiukas’ real name – Grigorijus Teperis.
