The young man we see in this picture, taken in 1951 in the centre of Rozalimas, is Aleksandras Olius Jovaisa. His parents’ neighbours were the Jewish family Machatas (nicknamed Simse by the locals) whose house is shown in the picture. It was a large family (a lot of children) and the family was very poor. Machatas himself was a tanner. When there was not enough food in the house, Machatas asked Jovaisa for help which they always received. Olius often helped Machatas digging up potatoes in the yard. During the Jewish Pesach Olius and his family got matzos from their neighbours Machatas as a present from their Jewish fellow-citizens.

The Jewish Pesach is a very important religious holiday for the Jews. During eight days the Jews remember their liberation by God Himself from 400 years of slavery in Egypt. During these eight days they don’t eat bread with yeast, but matzos (bread made from water and flour). It had to remind them, that during the night of their liberation, they didn’t have enough time to bake bread. The little time that was left was just enough to make matzos. 

During the first days of Pesach, the Seder, the Jews tell the children about the miracle God had done for them.These are important festive days. The Jews are dressed in their best clothes and they eat all kinds of good meals with matzos. They sing all kinds of songs to praise and honour God. The last day of Pesach is very important: The Jewish people think of their future redemption and of the redemption of the whole world when the lion will sit next to the lamb. And there will be peace for ever and ever.

Olius was the so-called Shabbos-boy to the Machatas-family. It means, that he lit and extinguished the fire on Sabbath.(Saturday). The Jews aren’t allowed to light fire on Sabbath, because according to their religion God created the heavens, the earth, the sea and all that they contain in six days, and on the 7th day(Sabbath) He rested. Therefore the Jewish people are not allowed to do any creative work on Shabbath. They asked their non-Jewish neighbours to light the fire for them, fire which was used for heating, lightning and cooking. Olius remembers, that on one Sabbath-day the iron of Machata’s wife fell down on the floor and that there started a fire in the room. They asked him for help and he extinguished the fire quickly.( Nowadays, because of all the modern equipment Shabbos-boys and Shabbos-girls are no longer needed ).

Machatas was shot together with three ‘komsomols’ from Rozalimas just before the big tragedy, the tragedy of the elimination of the Jewish citizens of Rozalimas (28-7 and 4-8-1941). Olius remembered that specific early summer morning in 1941 when policeman Karosas and farmer Motieka took Simse, J.Zadlauskas, his son Vytautas and Egnaras to a specific spot, where a big oak was the ‘eye-witness’ of the four men being shot to death.They carried out the Command of the German-Nazi Occupant’s order to eliminate.