The Shadow of Death: The Holocaust in Lithuania

3. The War Begins

3. The War Begins During the last year, when we were living under Russian Communist rule, some things remained the same. My father was still at the textile factory and had even gotten a promotion. Uncle Borach worked as a commissar, supplying the Russian army with food. And Uncle Yenchik was still in the cattle business. I went to school every day and we went to shul on Friday and Saturday. The rabbis never mentioned the political situation; they spent their time talking about miracles. We still ate and talked together in the evenings. We really hadn't experienced any food shortages, and our financial situation was stable. But when the Germans left and people began being deported to Russia, we knew things were more serious and our days were numbered. I had begun to think about leaving Lithuania, but no one else in the family talked about it. I don't know if it would have been possible even if we had had the money to get out. When we saw our neighbors' families beingtorn apart, we didn't know what to do. We were even more worried because my mother had hepatitis or appendicitis and was so sick we had to take her to the hospital for four to five weeks. She came home for a few days, buther pain was so greatthat she had to return. Everyday afterschool I went to visit her at the Jewish hospital. She loved me very much, especially since I was her only child. I was more understanding and attentive than most children my age and she also loved me for that. After my mother returned to the hospital, the Russians started deporting people at a faster pace. What would happen to The War Begins 23 my mother ifthey came back and took our family to Russia? We could not take her with us for she was too sick, but if we were taken and she were left behind, it would tear her to pieces. We were not committed to any party, Democratic or Communist or Zionist-in fact we had nothing to do with politics-but we had heard that they were now taking nonparty members. Uncle Abraham decided, and we agreed, that ifthe Russians came to take us to Siberia, we would leave the house, furniture, and all our belongings to the Lithuanian janitor who helped take care ofthe house and stables. We had known this man and his daughter for a long time. His daughter, Raisa, was in her thirties. She could speak Yiddish better than I could, and Russian too. At this time there was a saying, "A Lithuanian who speaks Yiddish and a chicken who squawks, you have to chop off their heads." We thought if we were lucky enough to live through the war, we would come back and our janitor would return our possessions. Man was thinking, but God was laughing . The Russians didn't take us to Siberia; they didn't have time. June 22, 1941, the first day ofthe war, was a Sunday morning. The sun wasjust peering through the shadows ofthe houses and the grass was covered with dew. The birds sang so sadly that it seemed they also felt that a black cloud was coming over us. At five o'clock in the morning I heard such a heavy pounding that the whole house shook and my bed moved back and forth as ifit were an earthquake. Ijumped out ofbed and ran to my father to ask him what it was. My father had also been awakened; he told me that it was the Russians on aviation maneuvers and that I should go back to bed. I had just fallen asleep when the house started to shake again. Itwas impossible to lie inbed, much less sleep. I ran to the window and opened the shutters. Across the lake on a high hill I saw a big black cloud of smoke. What this meant I didn't know. I called to my father to look. We dressed and went out into the street. Already people were standing in groups talking to each other in whispers. Those who had been listening to their radios that morninghad heard that Germany haddeclaredwar against Russia. This declaration was transmitted at 6:00 AM, but the 24 The Shadow of Death Russian airfields had been bombarded at 4:00 AM-notjustone, but all the Lithuanian...