Rescuers of Jews

      After the restoration of Lithuania’s independence, in the summer of 1991, Dovydas Goldšteinas and his wife arrived to Lithuania from Los Angeles, USA. Dovydas came to Eržvilkas to meet the rescuers of the Goldstein family and to visit the sites where the Jews of Eržvilkas were murdered during the summer of 1941. Among the victims were many of the Goldstein family’s relatives, friends, and neighbors. Throughout the war, Dovydas, then three years old, and his brother Arielis, aged eight, hid together with their parents, Chaim and Menucha Goldstein. If not for Chaim Goldstein’s resourcefulness, inventiveness, the family’s unwavering belief that they could overcome the cold, illnesses, all possible and impossible hardships, and the help of many Lithuanian farmers, the Goldstein family would have faced the same tragic fate as the other Jews of Eržvilkas.
     Before the war, Chaim Goldstein was engaged in cattle and grain trade in Eržvilkas. He knew many farmers in the surrounding areas. When the Germans occupied Eržvilkas, the persecution of Jews began immediately, and soon all Jews were ordered to prepare for a three-day journey to a camp. Although the Jews were already surrounded by police officers, Chaim Goldstein, along with his wife and children, managed to escape. Initially, they hid in nearby forests, receiving food from local farmers. As the weather grew colder, they sought shelter in farmers’ homesteads, frequently changing locations, sometimes hiding together, sometimes separately.
     Some of the rescuers of the Goldstein family have already been awarded the Life Saviour’s Cross Award. During this ceremony, we are also introducing several other farmers from the Eržvilkas region who helped save the Goldstein family, including Stanislovas and Petronė Ambrozaitis, who lived in Aneliškė village, Tauragė district, during the war.

From the memories of Petronėlė and Stanislovas Ambrozaitis’s daughter, Zosė Gvildienė:
     I am the eldest, Zosė Ambrozaitytė, and I remember well those times when innocent people faced death. One night, my father brought three people into our home: a mother, a father, and their lively, beautiful little boy. They lived in cold quarters, but we were happy to welcome the little one into the group of children whenever his mother allowed. The mother was skilled at knitting, using a special wire, and she taught me too—I still remember the way she taught me today. They were endlessly grateful for every service or piece of food we provided, always saying, “God will reward you”.
     On February 18, 1946, Stalin’s cursed hand seized our innocent large family and exiled us to the Urals. There were six children and our parents. We endured hunger, cold, and worked in the forest. My father died on February 9, 1947, leaving our mother with small children. I escaped back to Lithuania with my sister Natalija, but the others suffered greatly. For this escape, I was sentenced to three years in prison, while Natalija, being underage, was sent back. <...> I would very much like to meet that little Jonelis, who used to run and hide under Mommy’s wing even when there was no danger.

     After the war, the Goldstein family moved to the USA and settled in Los Angeles. While living in the USA, Chaim Goldstein compiled a list of their rescuers, mentioning many people who helped them survive, including Petronėlė and Stasys Ambrozaitis, who lived in Aneliškė village, Tauragė district. Judelis Ronderis, a member of the Kaunas Jewish community and assistant of the Vilna Gaon Jewish History Museum, who had worked for many years with the rescuers of Jews, managed to locate many of the Goldstein family’s rescuers and their descendants still living in their native places. In 1991, he organized a meeting with Dovydas Goldšteinas, who had come from the USA.