Rescuers of Jews

Markevičiūtė-Stanevičienė Valerija

Juozapas MARKEVIČIUS
Elena MARKEVIČIENĖ
Jonas MARKEVIČIUS
Vladas MARKEVIČIUS
Romas MARKEVIČIUS
Marija MARKEVIČIŪTĖ-RYTMETIENĖ
Valerija MARKEVIČIŪTĖ-STANEVIČIENĖ


Juozapas Markevičius lived in a farmstead near Subačius, Panevėžys district, with his wife Elena and their seven children. Shortly after the Germans invaded Lithuania, Markevičius agreed to shelter Wolf Kushnir, his daughters Sonia and Asia and his son Josef in the granary of his farmstead. He did not tell his wife about their new wards but the older siblings knew the secret and helped actively. Conditions in the hiding place were very cramped and harsh. The danger of discovery was ever present and in 1943 the Kushnirs decided to join a group of Jews who were being used by a German official to build a home in Panevėžys. The overseer of the group was a Jew named Szpindel and he allowed the Kushnirs to join the workers, without registering them. One of the workers was 16-year-old Sholom Shorenzon, originally from Vilnius. One day in September, the workers were told that the group was to be moved to a new location and knowing that meant their death they all decided to escape. The Kushnirs, minus one daughter who went elsewhere, returned to the Markevičius farmstead. Altogether there were eight people hiding with the Markevičius family. It was no small feat to find food for so many people, and to look after all their other needs, as well. Shorenzon remained for two months and then moved on. After the war Juozapas Markevičius his son Romas and daughter Valerija were exiled to Siberia.

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