World War II: Two Little Lithuanian Towns, Telsiai (Telz) and Papile, Lithuania: and the Jews--Not To Forget the Past Lest It Be Repeated

 Nadene Goldfoot

Grant Gochin                                                    

World War II started with the German invasion of Poland, the next-door neighbor of Lithuania, on the 1st of September 1939, whereas the USA entered it later after Pearl Harbor was hit by the Japanese on December 7, 1941.  Three days later, after Germany and Italy declared war on it, the United States became fully engaged in the Second World War.                                                          

  Hitler conferring with Haj Amin al-Husseini, the Grand Mufti, a Muslim,   about the "Jews" on November 28, 1941

Earlier, on March 20, 1939, Hitler had transmitted an ultimatum to Lithuania to leave Memel within 24 hours.  About 7,000 Jews who lived in Memel, in the SE corner of the Baltic by the Nieman River,  and in its region escaped, leaving most of their belongings behind, looking for asylum in the Zemaitija region and in Kovno.  Many of them settled in Telz/Telsiai, where the Jewish community cared for them.  

My grandfather, Nathan Goldfus, lived in Telz/Telsiai, Lithuania.  His family had been there for 6 generations to 1730 with Jonah Goldfus.  Telz had 17 butcher's shops and cattle trade of which 12 of them were owned by Jews.  Textile products and furs were also big business with 17 of those, with all 17 owned by Jews.  This was in 1931.  (My father also was a butcher who owned his own business in Portland, Oregon.  Telz had 78 businesses of which 63 were owned by Jews.    

Telšiai is one of the oldest cities in Lithuania, probably dating earlier than the 14th century. Between the 15th and 20th centuries, Telšiai became a district capital and between 1795 and 1802 it was included in the Vilnius Governorate. In 1873, Telšiai was transferred to the Kovno Governorate.

                                                         

By June 1940, Lithuania was annexed to the Soviet Union, becoming a Soviet Republic.  Following new laws, the majority of the factories and shops belonging to the Jews of Telz were suddenly nationalized and commissars were appointed to manage them.  All Zionist parties and youth organizations were disbanded, several of the activists were detained.  Hebrew educational institutions were closed, and the Hebrew school converted into a Yiddish one. 

At the beginning of June 1941, several Jewish families who were considered "unreliable elements" were exiled to Siberia.  They were Zionists, the Volperts, and 2 merchants with 5 in their family of Zax.  Their enterprises were nationalized.  Supply of goods decreased and prices soared.  The middle class, mostly Jewish, bore most of the brunt, and the standard of living dropped gradually.  

When the Jews of Telz became aware that the German army had invaded Lithuania on the 22nd of June 1941, they began to escape to the surrounding villages and to Russia, but very few managed to get there.  On the 23rd, the town was bombed by the Germans, and on the 26th, they entered Telz.                           

"Even before the Germans entered Telz, armed Lithuanians with white stripes on their sleeves took over the town.  On Friday, June 27 (when Shabbat starts at sundown) , Telz's Jews were expelled from their homes and directed to the shore of  Lake Mastis, having been ordered to leave their homes unlocked.  On the shore of the lake they were encircled by armed Lithuanians under German command, which they interpreted to mean that they were going to be murdered or drowned in the lake.  The town's Rabbi Blokh consoled them telling them that they should behave quietly and proudly as Jews behave who are going to die on "Kiddush HaShem", the Santification of G-d).  Men and women with children were separated from each other during the night and anyone showing opposition was beaten with rifle butts.  The women and children were allowed to return home, where they found their homes emptied of their contents, the door and windows broken.  

                                                                   

June 28, 1941, Shabbat (the Sabbath for Jews), armed Lithuanians appeared, expelling the women and children from their homes with beatings, then led the women  to the  Rainiai farm, 4 km from Telz, where they found the men.  A Jew, an American citizen, who had come to visit relatives in Telz, refused to go with them, waving his  American passport.  He was shot on the spot.  

The Jews were placed in a camp created at the farm.  They were put in stalls full of manure with men and women still separated.  They were able to cook rye flour porridge, and had 100 grams of black bread, 20 grams of butter and several potatoes, then could be with their families.  After 8 days, 30 men were put to work, digging up from their graves the corpses of 73 political prisoners murdered by Soviet security men before they left.  Telz men were forced to wash the corpses, kiss them and lick the decayed  wounds under the pretext that Jews had taken part in that murder.  The 30 men were beaten and wounded,, then forced later to kneel in the street during the funeral of the murdered.  The Catholic Bishop Staugaitis proclaimed the day of the funeral, July 13th as HOLY SUNDAY to symbolize victory over Soviet rule.  All the guards in the camp and in the working places were Lithuanians.  

                                                                      

      Crowd views the aftermath of a massacre at Lietukis Garage, where pro-German Lithuanian nationalists killed more than 50 Jewish men. The victims were beaten, hosed, and then murdered with iron bars. Kovno, Lithuania, June 27, 1941.

          SS Camp

By the 14th of July, several Germans and Lithuanians appeared in the camp, driving all Jews from the sheds and barns.  Men up to the age of 15 were beaten as they were forced to run in a circle, fall down and stand up.  Many of the Telz citizens came to see THE SPECIAL SHOW, and clapped.  Several elderly Jews died there, others were smitten and wounded and put back into the barns.  Like a cat plays with his mouse, the Lithuanians were having fun at the expense of the Jews.  

80 young, strong Jewish men were taken and given shovels and buckets, and taken to a grove where a pit was.  they were forced to pump the water out of the pits, then they were shot and thrown into it.  Prisoners at the barn didn't know what was happening.  Lithuanians came to the camp, took 24 more men for work, and later shots could be heard again.  On June 15th, 1941 (20th of Tamuz 5701) all men were taken out, led in groups to the grove and murdered.  They were forced to get naked, stand on a plank that went across the pit and shot.  Those that fell unhurt were buried alive anyway.  Rain stopped the progress so that those still alive had to dress, run to the shacks, but the next morning the killings continued.  The rabbis were in the last group.  Their beards had been  cut off or plucked off together with the skin of their faces.                         

Jewish women with bodies of executed men outside the Seventh Fort. Kovno, Lithuania, date uncertain.

Of the women, they found out what had happened when the Lithuanian guard burst into the barns and frightened them and then raped many.  The women were moved to Geruliai camp, about 10 km from Telz.  They were joined by others, altogether about 4,000 were crowded into these shacks.  On the 30th and 31st of December 1941, the women were taken out from the ghetto and led in groups to the pits beside the Rainiai estate, where they were murdered.  Of the women who escaped, 64 survived and actually survived to LIBERATION DAY.  Several tens arrived at the Shavli (Siasuliai) ghetto, their fate eventually being the same as the other ghetto Jews.                   

Papile is a shtetl, a smaller town than Telz.  It's coordinates are 56°09′10″N 22°47′3″E.  The settlement was first mentioned in 1339, after the area was raided by the Livonian Order. Two hill-forts have been preserved since this time. It's where Grant Gochin's  family is from before they moved to South Africa before WWII.  Many Lithuanians had moved to South Africa, but my grandfather had chosen the USA.

  Papilė is the birthplace of Abraham William Briscoe (1850-1917), who became a prominent businessman in Ireland. Abraham's son, Robert Briscoe (1894-1969), was an Irish revolutionary leader and legislator. Robert was the first Jew to serve as Lord Mayor of Dublin (1956-1957 and 1961-1962). Upon hearing that Dublin had elected a Jew as its mayor, the legendary American baseball player Yogi Berra famously quipped, "Only in America." Robert's son Ben (Abraham's grandson) also served as Lord Mayor of Dublin (1988-1989). Both our families may have been in Ireland after leaving Papile and Telz;  Ours had been in Dublin.  

It is a Shtetl  in Šiauliai County, Lithuania, near the Venta River.  Grant Gochin, our 3rd cousin twice removed,  asked, "What happened to the Jews that never managed to leave Papile?" His family had come from here, and his male ancestor Gochin had married a female Goldfus.  He uses Zagare as the example.  Žagarė is a city located in the Joniškis district, northern Lithuania, close to the border with Latvia. It has a population of about 2,000. Žagarė is famous for Žagarvyšnė - a cherry species originated in Žagarė.

  But first Grant wrote: " Papile, being a small village in the north of the country, had a miniscule Jewish Community. The men of Papile were taken for immediate murder, while the women were locked up in a building for two weeks. During that time, they were raped, beaten, tortured and starved. Simple Jewish village people were brought down to the lowest depths of hell that their Lithuanian neighbors could construct, while their neighbors divided the proceeds of the loot they had stolen from their victims. After two weeks of horror, these Jewish women and children were taken to the Zagare Ghetto, where they were finally slaughtered, and thus ended 700 years of continual Jewish life in Papile. Perhaps only some neighbors participated in the slaughters and rapes, perhaps only a few more shared their loot, but the rest stood by in silence as people they knew and lived amongst were irrevocably destroyed." (1)

"In late July 1941, the activists made a list of Jews who stayed in Zagare and began to transfer them to the ghetto.  The Jews who lived in nearby shtetls were also moved to the ghetto of Zagare.  The area chosen for the ghetto adjoined the market place and included Daukanto, Vilniaus, Maluno, Pakalnio,, and Gedimino streets.  Non-Jewish residents of these streets were moved to other neighborhoods."

"On July 22, 1941, A total of 40 Jewish men were killed by an Einsatzgruppen of 20 Lithuanian policemen and white armbanders (Lithuanian nationalists). Following the slaughter of the Jews, several Soviet supporters were brought to the murder site and killed making a total of 55 people massacred. The remains of the victims have been moved to the Papilė cemetery."

                   Silvia Foti’s grandfather,  Jonas Noreika, was a Nazi.  Family photograph

"I learned that the man I had believed was a savior who did all he could to rescue Jews during World War II had, in reality, ordered all Jews in his region of Lithuania to be rounded up and sent to a ghetto where they were beaten, starved, tortured, raped and then murdered. More than 95 percent of Lithuania’s Jews died during World War II, many of them killed with the eager collaboration of their neighbors. After researching his life for the past 20 years, I’ve dared to call my grandfather a Nazi even though he never officially joined the party. He worked with the Nazis, acted like them, was paid by them, hated Jews like them and, like them, facilitated torture and murder."(2)

On August 22, 1941,, chief of the Siauliai region, Jonas Noreika, informed local authorities and mayors of smaller towns of the Siauliai region that according to the order of the Siauliai Gebietskommissar, all the region's Jews and half-Jews were obliged to move to Zagare by August 29th.  The transfer began with Jews from Siauliai, Joniskis, Kursenai, Zeimelis, and other localities.  On August 25th, the mayor of Zagare informed the regional chief of Siauliai, that the ghetto occupied an area of 12,135 sq. meters and had a population of 715 Jews.  On September 20th, 5,566 people (2,402 Jews and 3,164 non-Jews) resided in Zagare.  (1)                                                   

Scene of barbarity: 'To the Poles and the Jews, these images were of paramount importance as evidence of atrocities' (3)

In the last days of September 1941,  local ethnic Lithuanians were marched to the town park where they were forced to dig a ditch.  On the morning  of October 2nd,  Jews from the Zagare ghetto were ordered to gather in the market square.  Commandant Mannteuffel addressed the crowd in German, assuring them that they would all be given work to do.  All had to form separate lines.  When the German whistle blew,, white arm-banders and policemen from Zagare and other towns began to surround the square.  The arm-banders shot into the crowd and beat them.  Scores of killed and wounded people were left on the square.  the survivors were forced to lie down on the ground where they had to stay until several trucks arrived.  Jews were then transported to Naryshkin Park. (1)

Money, jewelry, and other valuables were seized from the Jews as they marched to the murder site.  At the ditch, the victims had to remove everything except their underwear before they were forced to lie down in the pit and were shot.  the executioners sere a self-defense unit from  Siauliai, led by Lieutenant R. Koloska and white arm=banders from Linkuva.  The Zagare white arm-banders guarded the ghetto and led the victims to their deaths.  Several German SS men who had arrived from Siauliai supervised the killings and also participated in them.  The mass murder went un until very late at night.  The next day another Jewish group they found were murdered in the same ditch. (1) 

22,236 Jews (663 men, 1,107 women and 496 children were killed in Zagare.  during the panic, 150 Jews were killed and 7 white arm-banders who guarded them were wounded.  The Soviet special commission, who examined the mass grave in 1944, found 2,402 corpses (530 men, 1,223 women, 625 children, and 24 infants.(1)  

                                                              

6 million slaughtered Jews, who only wanted to live and not bother anyone.  Will we ever understand the immense number that 6 million was?  Who we lost?  Will we ever understand why somebody would want to cause this?  Those of us who managed to get born and live, how lucky we are to be here.  Remember, Never again.   

Resource

(1) Malice, Murder, and Manipulation--One man's quest for truth by Grant Arthur Gochin

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%BDagar%C4%97,   Zagare

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papil%C4%97

Preserving Our Litvak Heritage-a history of 31 Jewish communities in Lithuania by Josef Rosin

https://www.proquest.com/openview/666b4aced0cf4c0896831957e9e620fc/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=1817084    Memel

https://www.grantgochin.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/the-jewish-cemetery-in-papile.pdf

(2) Silvia Foti 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tel%C5%A1iai

https://time.com/4084301/hitler-grand-mufi-1941/

(3) https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2004/jan/27/photography.museums