THE ALLEY OF THE RIGHTEOUS: MIKALINA, JONAS, STASYS, ANTANAS, GABRIELĖ, JUZĖ LUKAŠEVIČIAI |
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Published: 2021-10-12
MIKALINA LUKAŠEVIČIENĖ
1881–1974
JONAS LUKAŠEVIČIUS
1924–1993
STASYS LUKAŠEVIČIUS
1914–1997
ANTANAS LUKAŠEVIČIUS
1908–1978
GABRINĖ LUKAŠEVIČIŪTĖ-DAUGEVIČIENĖ
1912–1999
JUZĖ LUKAŠEVIČIŪTĖ-SEMAŠKIENĖ
1924–2001
Our rescuers, the support of the people in the area, their goodness, support and ability to keep a secret, helped us survive in the forest, although this was not easy, as we found out. The rural people of Sventijanskas, Bugieda, Macevičiai and Vainiūnai are worthy of the greatest respect. At that time they seemed to me to be a beautiful island in a shark-filled ocean.
Moshe Kukliansky
When the first forest dugout became unsafe for the Kuklianskys, the Daugevičius family’s neighbours, the brothers Jonas and Stasys Lukaševičius, selected a new site for a hiding place on the far side of the forest, distant from the villages and the river. With Moshe Kukliansky’s help, Jonas Lukaševičius set up a new hideout well camouflaged by moss, junipers and small pines. Moshe Kukliansky remembers: ‘Mikalina Lukaševičienė gave us an extraordinarily original gift as a house-warming present at the pit: she said their potato cellar was always open to us and we could at any time take as many potatoes as we wished. Of course we did not abuse this and took moderate amounts. And whenever we went there, we also found some meat or cheese. Mikalina was an intelligent, good and generous woman, and she understood how best to help us. And her children Jonas, Stasys, Gabrinė, Juzė and Antanas were the same kind of people, one ever better and more intelligent than the other, very honest, with great hearts, people who knew how to love and respect others, and they were themselves moral and respected. Without their intelligent suggestions, based on direct knowledge of the place and the people, and their constant support, we almost surely would have perished.’
From: Whosoever saves a single life, saves an entire universe
Vilna Gaon Museum of Jewish History, Vilnius, 2019
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