Testimony of Rina (Gitelman) Katav, born in Vilna, Poland in 1942, regarding her family experiences in the Vilna Ghetto and in HKP 562 camp, and being smuggled to a monastery

Testimony of Rina (Gitelman) Katav, born in Vilna, Poland in 1942, regarding her family experiences in the Vilna Ghetto and in HKP 562 camp, and being smuggled to a monastery Family life in Vilna; her father works as an architect in Vilna; expulsion of her parents to the Vilna Ghetto in September 1941; her birth in 1942; being smuggled into the ghetto on the day of her birth, without reporting the birth to the authorities; smuggling of food ; hiding and being given sleeping medications while her parents left for work; hiding with her parents in an attic during the "Aktionen" in 1943; given sleeping medications during the "Aktionen"; liquidation of the ghetto in September 1943; deportation of her parents and grandparents to the HKP 562 labor camp (a forced labor camp for repairs to military vehicles) due to her father's profession; being smuggled into the camp; hunt for children in the camp; escape to the Aryan side ; living in hiding with a local resident, Aleksandra Drzewecka (recognized as Righteous Among the Nations); fear of being discovered; transfer to hiding in a monastery several months later; escape of her parents from the camp during its liquidation; reunion with her parents; hiding together with her parents; liberation by the Red Army in July 1944; rehabilitation of life after the war; aliya to Israel in 1949; absorption.