Most of the Lithuanians were Catholics but there was a small minority of Lutherans, some of whom lived on farms surrounding Pakroy. On certain Sundays during the year these Lutherans came to Pakroy to a small chapel to meet their preacher, and Mum told me that together with other girls she loved to watch the women because they were so countrified and they wore such funny, outlandish clothes, especially their hats.

I was amazed that Mum played five stones so well, she played this game five stones with us with a set of bones, on the floor. I never thought that such an anglo game could have been played in Pakroy! Also, I think Mum told me that in the winter the river iced up and she used to skate there - can this be true? Merr says no way – Mum was brought up carefully and fussed over, so how could she even think of skating! At any rate, as mentioned earlier Mum loved going to visit the mill of her maternal grandfather Tanchum in the village. Tanchum was then an old man, as we think he was born in 1841. Mum's paternal grandfather, David Atlas, also spent his last years in Pakroy, he died there in 1907, which means that Mum had known both grandfathers when she was growing up. She told me that her grandfather used to smoke black cigarettes – probably cheroots (= cylindrical cigar) – and as he was very old and tended to doze off easily the cigarette would drop onto his beard which would catch alight and someone had to hurry to put the fire out. I am not sure which grandfather she was referring to, but I think it must have been Tanchum.

Until the First World War Lithuania was a part of the Russian Empire, only after WW1 did Lithuania become an independent country. In WW1 Germany attacked Russia and by 1915 the German Army made rapid progress into Lithuanian territory and were pushing the Russians back. The Russian Government blamed their defeat on the Jews, declaring that this was the result of treachery on the part of Jewish spies, citing in particular the case of the Jews of Kuzhai, a shtetel north-west of Shavel (incidentally, this is the site of the mass-murder of many of the Jews of Shavel) whom they claimed collaborated with the German forces.

On 4th May 1915 (Shavuot time) the Russian Command issued an Order expelling all the Jews of the Kovno Province (also from parts of Latvia) to the interior of Russia far from the Lithuanian border, giving them a choice between the Ekatarinaslav Province and the Poltava Province (both these provinces are now part of the Ukraine). The expulsion was to take effect within 24 hours. This created a terrible upheaval; livelihood was lost, houses, shops and possessions abandoned, and looting by neighbours started almost before they left. The order included the sick and the invalids and new-born babies, there were no exceptions. The more prosperous people hired carts to take them to the nearest railway station, others had to make their way there by foot (I am not sure if Pakroy already had a railway line). Sifrei Torah from most shetlach were concentrated and left for safekeeping in the main synagogue in Kovno. It is estimated that over 120,000 Jews were expelled; I think it was the first time ever that Jews had been expelled from Lithuania. Not everyone managed to leave home in an orderly manner. I seem to recall Mrs. Trifsik telling Mum that her sister-in-law Sima left wearing a smart silk dress and people who did not know her thought that she must be very rich being able to afford such clothes for everyday: they did not realize that that was the only dress she had with her, she had not managed to pack clothes in the rush and helter-skelter.

Mum recalled someone coming to their home and telling them that the Jews of a neighbouring shtetel were being expelled, but typically no one believed him, thought that he was talking nonsense and it just could not be. By the next day everyone in Pakroy was on the move. Mum and her family travelled to Bachmut (re-named Artemivsk following the Bolshevik Revolution) in the Ekatarinaslav Province.

Other Pakroyer such as Yosef and Klara Klavansky also went there and their daughters Ronna (later married to Grischa Morafkin) and Freda (later married to Israel Bonner) attended the local Russian gymnasium. The stay in Bachmut must have been very enriching for Mum, as Bachmut was a real town, not a small shtetel. It had a large refugee population from all over Lithuania, a lot of Zionist, Bund, socialist and other activity, and I think Mum must have been exposed to all sorts of influences which would otherwise have been denied her in provincial Pakroy.

As to managing financially, Mum's parents had been well off and they might have managed to take valuables with them. They were also helped by Mum's uncle Moshe Atlas in Cape Town. The Jewish communities of Moscow and Leningrad (then St. Petersburg) organised welfare not only for the Jews once they were settled in their war-time destinations but also provided for them during the long train journeys. The American Joint Distribution Committee (the Joint) were of course active in giving help.