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Klovainiai
A
walk through Jewish Klovainiai, the way it was a few years before 1941. Chapters: 1 2 3 stories from: Elzbieta Stefa Stefa's story Stefa
Klivickiene-Gruodyte |
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As Stefa recalls: One day, during the German Nazi Occupation-period, Stefa was cycling from Klovainiai to the forest of Rozalimas to pick nuts and berries .She remembered: It was a beautiful sunny day in August 1941.Suddenly she saw a horse cart full of men. Four of them, Lithuanians, carried guns and the unarmed other five were Jews. They were from Klovainiai. Their names of Jewish men were: Irshkis, Kaimukas (Irshkis’ brother-in-law), Dermeika (Fredke’s and Zyske’s father; Fredke and Zyske were Stefa’s closest friends), Dermeika’s brother-in-law and lastly a person whose name Stefa couldn’t recall. Irshkis and Kaimukas often went from Klovainiai to Rozalimas to buy flax from the farmers. Stefa recognised one of them as Irshkis, the young man whom she often danced with at parties. He was such a fine dancer! Irshkis could only nod at Stefa to express his honour and greetings to her. They were about three kilometres off Rozalimas. As soon as she reached the bushes full of nuts and Stefa started picking them. Suddenly she heard shooting. After a few hours of picking berries and nuts, she decided to search for the spot from where she heard the shooting. Stefa found the place and was terrified: The earth and bushes were stained with blood and at a certain spot she could see that the ground was recently dug. She understood that the Jews were shot, and that her dancing-friend Irshkis must have been killed too. It was clear to her that they were buried on the same spot as they were murdered. |
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Stefa
was very shocked and she cried and didn’t sleep for days. Later the bodies were reburied at the Jewish cemetery, but when exactly, I don’t know. It could have happened in August 1941 (during the German Nazi Occupation) or in August 1944, after the liberation from the German Nazis.
According to another eye-witness, the names of the four Lithuanians who
killed these five Jewish men were:
Antanas Siratavicius. †
According to the same eye-witness these Lithuanian men helped the German
Nazis with the killing of Jews from the
Klovainiai-neighbourhood.Also, they escorted other Jews to their
execution spots (for example Panevezys) and killed as many Jews as
possible. It seems that Steponas Jurgaitis was very proud of his
deeds. Especially because the German Nazis gave him the honour to be
the first to shoot at the Jewish men, women and children.
Immediately afterwards the German Nazis followed. Not one of the Jews of Klovainiai survived the big tragedy, except for Ziske Dermeikaite who had already emigrated to South-Africa in 1936.
Copyright
© 2005 Dora Boom |
