Many personal experiences, historical events and facts have inspired me to write this book, including the interesting life stories of my fellow countrymen which have stirred up many memories for me. After visiting Israel, I decided to write a book about the fate of the Lithuanian Jews whose lives have a lot in common. However, because the fate of each person and each family is unique, I tell their stories in the pages of this book.
I wrote this memoir to tell the story of the lives of many Lithuanian Jews without writing in any strict chronological order. I titled it "Sketches of the Fate of the Lithuanian Jews" because a literary sketch is a small piece of writing devoted to a separate event or human life.
In this book I tell of the destiny of those who were killed, and those who miraculously survived the ghettos, Nazi concentration camps, Stalin’s GULAG (the Soviet system of forced labor concentration camps), and the Siberian exile. I also tell the story of those who were able to escape the German invasion by fleeing deep into the Soviet Union.
There are not many of us, the Lithuanian Jews who survived the Catastrophe. And we have children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren now… This book is for them. Our children need to know that their parents, grandparents and other relatives went through all the circles of hell and survived, because they refused to be helpless victims. Our children need to know that they did fight back, they did stand firm in their convictions and their belief in a better world. The Lithuanian Jews did all they could to stay alive, showed great resourcefulness to save their lives, and even in the most tragic times did not let despair take over and always hoped for the best. They proved to the world that they had an incredible will to survive.
Unfortunately, that great piece of luck fell to only a small group of people. Many of our fellow countrymen are gone, exterminated by delirious people mesmerized by the racist theories of the Nazis, just because they were born Jewish. Among those who were murdered were many talented men and women, intellectual people who loved their families, their nation, indeed, all humankind; old people whose life experiences were priceless; little children and teenagers, the pride and the hope of Jewish people. Many Jews had perished during Stalin’s repressions. As long as they are remembered, as long as they remain a part of us and future generations, they will never die.
This book also talks about the many Jews who bore arms against the "brown plague," and helped to bring victory over a horrible, inhumane enemy.
There are sketches in this book that talk about the attitudes of non-Jews toward the Jews. Some non-Jews hid and saved Jews from certain death. We will forever be grateful to them, for their courage, mercy, and heroic deeds of humanity. However, unfortunately, there were not many people like this in Lithuania. Among our Lithuanian neighbors there were many scoundrels, thieves, and killers. And future generations need to know who saved the Jews and who killed the Jews.
I wrote this book for those who want to know about fate of the Lithuanian Jews; for those who piously revere the memory of their relatives, friends, fellow countrymen who vanished into the flames of the Holocaust, Stalin’s camps, and the Siberian exile; for those who are interested in the history of their family and nation; for those who are compassionate for the pain of others.
The protagonists of this book are kind, wise, fearless, honest, and active people. Each of them deserves our love and respect.
