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[Page 320]
[Page 353]
by Sarah Klas-Abelsky[1]
Translated by Paul Bessemer
I am not a native of Telshe; rather, I was born in Varna [Varniai], which is not far from Telshe.[2] I never imagined that I would be rescued in Telshe. In the years of my youth I studied at the Yavne gymnasium in Telshe. I returned home to my parents and lived there for several uneventful years, until the outbreak of the war. The Lithuanians and the Germans took all the Jews of Varna outside of the town to be killed, and I went with them. The brutal Lithuanian militiamen[3] killed them all at Viešvėnai.[4] There, I lost all of those dear to me: My father (may his memory be a blessing), Chaim Meyer Klas, as well as my younger brother Avrame'le. My mother at that time was with Sheina'le Klas-Vishkin in Ponivezh [Panevėžys], and she perished there.
I succeeded in escaping from the [killing] pit and I found shelter with a Lithuanian farmer, not far from Varna. I was together with Leah Shiff and her sister, Raize'le Shochat-Shiff, and her two sons, Chaim and Yehoshua (all of whom are now in Israel). The farmer went to the police in Telshe and told them that there were Jews at his place. The Lithuanian police came and took us to the jail in Telshe. They stripped us naked and held us like that for 10 days, without food and without clothing. In the end they took the women and brought us to the Telshe ghetto. On the way I took advantage of the opportunity to hide under an automobile that I saw parked not far from the place [where we were]. I lay there for half a day, until a Lithuanian caught me and brought me back to the jail. The police officers beat me and molested me until one [of them] entered and had mercy on me. He said: Enough! She'll be maimed for life. Then they had mercy on me and brought me to the ghetto in Telshe. I was very happy to see that there were still other Jews left in the world. I had innocently believed that they had killed all the Jews in my town. In the ghetto I found a family from my town, the Korklan family, who had been brought there from Varna.
I didn't remain long in the ghetto. When they closed the ghetto in Telshe, I again managed to escape: The first day I exploited the fact that the police officers were drunk and [I] managed to flee. They shot at me and I was hit in the leg in four places. Even though I was wounded in one leg I fled until I reached the village of Plauskiniai[5] and found shelter with a good [-hearted] farmer by the name of Shaulys.
He immediately changed me out of the rags that I had on. I bathed, and he gave me his wife's clothes. On the first night he also gave me his bed. Afterward, two more girls came the Korklan sisters, whom I had found in the Telshe ghetto. The Lithuanian was afraid of hiding three persons in the same place, and, since they had a little money in their possession, they asked him to take them to someplace secure (I myself didn't have any money, and in any case, he let me stay with him). It wasn't many hours later before the farmer returned home alone, beaten and covered with blood. They had been caught on the road by the Shaulists,[6] who discovered that he was smuggling Jewish women in his wagon. They killed the Korklan sisters and beat him mercilessly for trying to save Jews. He told me that he had pleaded with them excessively that they should let the [sisters] live. You've killed enough already! Enough! These are the last of them! … But his pleas were to no effect. Finally, he recounted to me: You have been more fortunate than your friends. They are no more….
After the incident with the Shaulists, he was very fearful and no longer allowed me to sleep in the house. My permanent place was the cowshed, together with the swine and the dogs.
My whole time there I worked, until I was finally forced to flee from there, as well.
Over the next several months the forest was my home, until I arrived at the Shavel [Šiauliai] ghetto. I hid in the ghetto until the Russians liberated me.
[Pages 354-355]
Sarah Elitzur-Ritov
Translated by Paul Bessemer
Was it only a dream I had,[1] where I was saved From the murderers of my people? No! I saw [with my own eyes] how they were torn away from me: my father and my brother.
A frightful, bloody war
From above, the sun caressed warmly [and gently]
Thus, the Jew became the beastly villains' prey; dogs were released upon them by the hundreds
Small children lined up in a row
The mother's heart is torn
And one question pierces the brain:
Eyes are raised to the Heavens.
And amid this vain seeking |
The teeming rabble sprang forth like a beast of the forest Upon those cast off, upon the weak, and upon those heavy-laden with sorrow Before seizing their prey, their fury raging, They growled and roared as they drew their sharp blades.
Right and left they struck, without mercy, As if [to say] Go to hell, you despicable Jew! Sing! Dance the ‘Devil's dance!’[3] Until no trace is left of your nation!
The blood of the martyrs flowed into the depths
The world is filled with the slain of our nation
The voice of my brother bursts forth from the blood: |
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