Fugalevičiūtė Natalija

Fugalevičiūtė, Natalija Jegorova, Natalija Natalija Fugalevičiūtė, b.1905, of Russian extraction, lived in Kaunas in a small wooden house, surrounded by big trees. From 1940, she shared the house with her close friend, Natalija Jegorova, b.1899, also a Russian and then a newcomer in Lithuania, who worked for the ELTA news agency. Their friends lovingly called Fugalevičiūtė, “Natashok”, and Jegorova, “Pavlasha”. Being devout Christians, they both came to the aid of all in need, irrespective of their religion or origin. Thus, from the summer of 1941, they cared for their terminally ill friend, Ludmila, and, in September that same year, for several weeks, welcomed and housed Helene and Margarete Holzman*, who were barely known to them from before the war. It was the beginning of a friendship between the four women and their mutual help in rescue efforts. From January 29, 1942, the two Natalijas started hiding Jews in their apartment. The first to come were their long-time friend Rivka Shmukler (later, Osherovich), b.1911, and her acquaintance from the ghetto Gerta Bagrianski. Several days later, Gerta’s six-year-old daughter, Rosian (later, Zerner), joined them. In the first weeks, Rivka would stay with the two Natalijas during the daytime, and slept at the home of Vytautas Kauneckas* Gerta, however, stayed with them all the time until little Rosian was moved to the town of Kulautuva, where Natalija Fugalevičiūtė’s older sister, Lidija Golubovienė*, lived. Gerta stayed in a governess quarters outside the city, where she lived for nearly a year under assumed identity. Rivka, who had stereotypical Jewish features, remained with the two Natalijas for two and half years. At least a dozen ghetto inmates found periodical shelter with these two noble women. Among them were Bat-Sheva Taboriski, Anya Rudaitski, who did not survive the war, Rosa Stender and her little daughter Margita, the Ginkas couple, 14-year-old Gita Judelevičiūtė, 11-year-old Fruma Vitkin (later,Kučinskienė), six-year-old Dvora Biron and others. After the war, most of the rescued left the Soviet Union: the Bagrianskis and Dvora Biron settled in the U.S.A. The rest, with the exception of Fruma, immigrated to Israel. Some of them kept in touch with “Natashok” and “Pavlasha” who moved to Vilnius and lived there until their deaths, in 1985 and 1989, respectively. On February 2, 2005, Yad Vashem recognized Natalija Fugalevičiūtė and Natalija Jegorova as Righteous Among the Nations.