Vobolevičius Vincas & Vobolevičienė Elena

Vobolevičius, Vincas Vobolevičienė, Helena (Elena) Lukoševičius, Bronius Lukoševičienė, Monika Vincas Vobolevičius’ family resided in the village of Saliai, not far from Vandžiogala, a district of Kaunas. During the German occupation Vincas and his wife Helena had two sons, Bohdan and Jonušas. The Vobolevičiuses got acquainted with the Rosenblum family, who were Jewish, in November 1943, when Vincas’s friend, an agronomist Midvikis, paid them a visit. Midvikis did not come alone. He was accompanied by Raya Rosenblum and her three-year-old son Moshe. Raya, a prisoner of the Kaunas ghetto, was looking for decent and reliable people to leave her child with. Several hours spent at the Voboleviciuses convinced her that it would not be possible to conceal them from neighbors here. Raya thanked the hosts for their readiness to help and returned to Kaunas. Their visit, Raya’s stories about life in the ghetto and the mass murders left a deep trace in Vincas’s and Helena’s hearts. They made a decision to try and help the Rosenblums. After some time Raya received a note from Vincas, which said that the had found a safe place for Moshe. Helena’s sister Monika Lukoševičienė, who lived in the village of Maironiškes, very close to Kaunas, agreed to shelter him. Once again Raya paid the ghetto guard who let her and Moshe out. They spent 24 hours in the house of Vladys Zubovas*, their pre-war acquaintance, who helped them and other Jews in many ways. Then they set off for Maironiškes. Assuming that the boy would not want to stay alone with strangers, Raya gave Moshe a sleeping pill. When the child woke up he cried with despair, calling for mother and pressing her handkerchief to his face. One night, when Moshe got more accustomed to the new place, the Lukoševičiuses’ house was searched by white armband wearers (Lithuanian Nationalists). They were looking for Jews who had broken out of the 9-th Fort prison. Monika put little Moshe in her own bed and did not get outuntil the search was over. The tension she endured caused her to faint. In spite of the fear they went through, Monika and Bronius did not return Moshe to the ghetto but continued to care for him for the following eight months until the liberation. Raya Rosenblum and her husband Anatoliy, as well as Raya’s parents Faivush and Haya Kenigsberg, left the ghetto in March 1944 and were welcomed by the Vobolevičiuses. They constructed a double wall in a barn, made four bank beds in a narrow space. Through the cracks in the wall of the barn people in hiding could see what was happening on the road leading to the farm. An opening to the hideout was from outside, covered with a pile of old planks. Here they spent four months and were liberated by the Red Army. After the war the survivors and their rescuers maintained friendly relations for many years. On October 23, 2006, Yad Vashem recognized Vincas and Helena Vobolevičius and Bronius and Monika Lukoševičius as Righteous Among the Nations.