Rescuers of Jews

       When Jewish women in the Vilnius Ghetto were forbidden to give birth and searches for infants and small children began, underground fighters from the Vilnius Ghetto, Ber Shershnevsky and Roza Katz, rushed to find a way to save their infant son, Grigorijus. Sonia Madeiskerytė, an active member of the Vilnius Ghetto’s FPO resistance organization who lived illegally outside the ghetto under the name Sofija Romanovska during the war, carried out missions for both the city’s antifascist group and the ghetto’s resistance movement. She also searched for hiding places for children. Upon learning that Aleksandra Drzewiecka, who lived at 5 Užupio Street, was already caring for children, Sonia arranged for Aleksandra to take in the son of her friends Roza Katz and Ber Shershnevsky.
       From Ber Shershnevsky’s recollections: We waited for Sonia’s signal. And finally, the day came... It was dark and foggy. People in the ghetto were already getting ready for work, standing by the gates. During the night, Roza had packed everything needed to keep the child warm and comfortable into a large bucket... So, we hid the baby in the bucket. Roza just stood there, watching, watching... I urged her, "Cover him, I have to go." But she didn’t respond. Silent. As if she didn’t hear me. I touched her shoulder. She turned and looked at me – with such pain in her eyes! Now I understand: she knew she was seeing her son for the last time, that she would never again be able to hold him. <…> We succeeded. They didn’t check me at the gate. Many people were going to work. Some knew what I carried in the bucket. Outside the fence, I placed the bucket on the sidewalk and walked away. The baby didn’t cry. No one approached. A note in the bucket read: “For the love of God, please take care of my child. I cannot take him to my parents. I have nowhere to go. Take the child, help a desperate mother…” People began to gather around the bucket. They were discussing what to do. Then Aleksandra Drzewiecka walked up and, without asking anyone, took the bucket: “I’ll take him to a family that wants a child.” No one objected. (from “Hands Bringing Life and Bread”, vol. IV, Vilna Gaon Jewish History Museum, 2009.)
       Thus, little Stasik (a name Aleksandra Drzewiecka gave him on the way home) ended up in the basement of 5 Užupio Street. Roza and Ber Shershnevsky’s son was later named Stanislovas Marijonas Kostka. Sometimes Aleksandra would bring a stroller near the ghetto fence. Roza managed to see her son through the window from a distance a few times. She stared intently – trying to see him even for a second, to etch him into her memory…
       From Grigorijus (Stanislovas) Shershnevsky’s recollections: When I was handed over to Aleksandra Drzewiecka – Mommy, as I later called her – I was seven months old. So I can’t remember anything. Everything I know comes from my father, my stepmother Frida Mackevič, my uncle Daniel Katz, and Aleksandra Drzewiecka’s memories. According to my calculations, I was given to Aleksandra Drzewiecka in early November 1941. I lived in her basement at 5 Užupio Street until the end of the war. The image of that dark, smoke-filled cellar left such a deep impression that sometimes I wonder – maybe I dreamt it, maybe it didn’t really happen... When registering me with the city authorities, Mother claimed she had found me on the steps of a church and wanted to adopt me. She told this story to her neighbors and the older children she cared for. No one knew I was a Jewish child, especially since I didn’t (and still don’t) look like a typical Jew. After the war, I rarely visited Mommy. Usually only on Catholic holidays. Though she was very poor, for Christmas Eve she always made the traditional twelve dishes: fried potatoes, potato pancakes, several types of herring... The last time I saw her in Vilnius was in 1957, when she was preparing to leave for Poland. In 1967, a year before her death, I visited her in Poland with my wife Raja and my uncle Daniel Katz. Like many other events, this visit is described in my uncle’s book – Daniel Katz. Koncert grany żywym. Warsaw: Agencja Wydawnicza TU, 1998 (translated from “Concert Played for alives”).
       Another unforgettable story is that of a girl born in the Vilnius Ghetto on January 7, 1942. Her parents, David and Leja Gitelman, named her Getele – a symbolic name derived from “ghetto.” For a long time, David and Leja managed to escape repeated liquidation actions in the ghetto, and just before the ghetto’s final liquidation in September 1943, the Gitelman family was transferred along with other inmates to the HKP labor camp on Subačiaus Street. In the labor camp, the parents had to hide Getele several times. The danger was constant. So David Gitelman asked Viktoria Burlingis, who lived near the HKP camp, to save little Getele. Viktoria and her husband Pavel agreed to take the child in, even though she spoke only Yiddish. Soon, however, Viktoria began looking for a safer place for her, as raids in the area were frequent and authorities were searching for escaped Jews. Upon learning that the nun Aleksandra Drzewiecka cared for orphans, the Burlingis family arranged for Getele to be taken in by her – though she was already sheltering other children, including Grigorijus (Stasik) Shershnevsky.
       Both Getele Gitelman and Grigorijus Stanislovas Shershnevsky were among the few Jewish children who survived thanks to the selfless courage of their rescuers. After the war, Ber Shershnevsky retrieved his son Grigorijus from Aleksandra Drzewiecka’s home. In 1943, shortly before the liquidation of the Vilnius Ghetto, Grigorijus’s parents, Ber and Roza Shershnevsky, escaped and joined the partisan resistance. That same year, Roza was killed. Getele was eventually reunited with both her parents – David and Leja Gitelman – who had managed to escape the HKP labor camp during its liquidation.
       Grigorijus Stanislovas Shershnevsky is still alive today and lives in Canada. He offers these words to Aleksandra Drzewiecka: I have no doubt about her motives for rescuing us – only deep religious conviction (she was a Catholic), love for children, and compassion can explain her self-sacrifice. She helped other children too, rescuing them regardless of their nationality. Even though she risked her life by hiding Jews, it didn’t stop her – and because of that, not only I, but also Getele Gitelman, now living in Israel, survived. And because of that, our children and grandchildren are alive today.
       In 1992, Aleksandra Drzewiecka was recognized by Yad Vashem as Righteous Among the Nations. During a 2025 ceremony, she was awarded the Lithuanian state award – the Life Saviour's Cross.