Bražėnienė Konstancija

Bražėnienė, Konstancija Konstancija Bražėnienė, a widow, lived in Kaunas, where she was chairlady of a Catholic women’s organization. In 1943, when rumors about impending Aktionen spread in the Kaunas ghetto, Chaya Shilingovski turned to Bražėnienė and asked her to shelter her five-year-old daughter Sara (later Kapelovich). Bražėnienė obtained false papers for Sara and passed her off to her friends and neighbors as her niece who had come from the village to stay with her. Although Sara spoke fluent Lithuanian without any accent, Bražėnienė was taking a great risk, particularly since her home was near the local SS headquarters. After someone informed the authorities, the SS broke into Bražėnienė’s home. She showed much resourcefulness by wrapping Sara in a shawl to give the impression that the child had a contagious disease, and the Germans left the two of them alone. About the same time, Bražėnienė also took in the child Alexander Gringauz. Despite the danger and the heavy financial burden, Bražėnienė continued to look after her two Jewish wards until the end of the war, in 1945. On July 21, 1970, Yad Vashem recognized Konstancija Bražėnienė as Righteous Among the Nations.