Day 9: Leaving a legacy

It occurs to me today, while listening to Josef, that from those we have heard from, it is possible to characterize their life stories in a few words. (As you can imagine, my mind tends to wander as there's usually a gap between when the interviewee speaks and the translation; pockets of time to think about my response.) These words would be deceptively simplistic of course and won't do justice to their experiences. However, I suppose they may be useful to provide a sense of the main 'theme' of their lives. With Berl, I think of 'regret'; with Dobke, 'beauty'; Cholem, 'humour'; Isroel, 'loneliness and longing' and Chasia 'resigned.'

When we ask Josef to start wherever he likes in telling us about himself, his narration is peppered with his successes, at school, at work (where he was an engineer and rose to a prominent level in the Soviet administration) and so on. This makes me think of the words 'achievement' and also 'legacy.' This is because Josef, in his later years, has made it his life work to commemorate the holocaust in Lithuania. He has written and collaborated on 2 books, The Shoah (Holocaust) in Lithuania published in 2006, and Skausma Knyga: The Book of Sorrows in 1997. Of his books, he says, "memorials may be destroyed but this book will last for centuries." What drives him it appears is the fear that the suffering of those in the holocaust are forgotten because "what if evil returns?"


Josef is animated when he describes the history of his birthplace, Veiseijai (pronounced vee-see-yeh)

Josef was in the Lithuanian Division of the Red Army during the war. At the end of the war, he returned to find that his family had been killed; his father in Katkiske village. He says he was frozen in place when he heard of what took place in his village. He says he knew that horrible things were taking place when the Nazis occupied Lithuania but it did not prepare him for the scale of the tragedy. He made himself a solemn vow then, "I have to do something to make it known to others." He is doing what he can to honour that vow. On his first book; he spent about 6+ years researching massacre sites and working with local officials to erect or refurbish existing memorials. The 200+ sites are meticulously recorded in Skausma Knyga.

Today, he takes us back to his hometown, about 2 hours drive from Vilnius. He says much has changed but is able to point out the main square; the streets where Jewish families lived; the area beside the lake where his grandfather's home was (he remembers learning that the house was dismantled and the bricks distributed to build other homes); the synagogue building which is now a baptist church. How there was a fire in 1924 and it was burnt down but later rebuilt by funds from the Zimmerman family. His memory is very clear and sharp. As we drive into town, he anticipates what is ahead of us, "there is a church on the right; on the left is the square..." They are still there.


Main street in Veisiejai


The road leading to his grandfather's house, taken from our van


Town square


Heading towards what used to be the synagogue (green building at end of road)

I walk around and take photos of the town. An elderly gentleman smiles at me. A younger man in a tractor slows down and turns in his seat; I wave to him and he waves back with a smile. I look for the team.

Shiv waves excitedly at me and I join them. A woman whom they meet on the street has taken offense to us, strangers in her town. For some reason, she decides that Jesse and Dan are Jews and that we are there to record or suss out what used to be Jewish property. She says she had a bad experience with Jews before and she seems convinced that we are part of some project that involves restitution. She is afraid that if the Jews come back, they will take everything and they will be out on the streets. She says that Jews are bad people, cursed people. Josef is wearing a pinched smile; he shrugs off the comments by the woman but seems somewhat distressed. Her fellow town member is more compassionate; he tells Josef that as a child, he remembers playing with his Jewish friends and what happened was sad.


Different folks, different experiences and memories. Some townsfolk share their opinions with Josef.

We head away to the massacre site where Josef's father was among the 1535 people killed there. There is a sign on the main road which points out the exit. We enter a narrow road and there are fields all around. It is quite isolated, we aren't sure when we come to a fork in the road whether to keep going. We stop and ask a man for directions. We drive on and see a marker; we are on the right path. When we get there, I see that it is a small enclosure in the forest; maybe 25 feet by 20 feet. Without the two 3 feet high pillars and the monument in the centre of the field, it could be a lawn anywhere. He is surprised he says, positively surprised, to find it well tended; the grass has been cut and there are candles on the memorial there. Quite unlike the fate of some, he tells us.





It is late now; we have to head back to Vilnius. We should arrive about 8-ish. Josef may be 91 but he puts the rest of us to shame. I look behind me in the van; Ruta is resting with her eyes closed, Shiv has dozed off, Jess and Dan are quiet - I can't see if they have dozed off or not. But Josef stares straight ahead at the road in front of him; his eyes are bright and his face is set in a stoic, dignified pose. We drive back in silence.