Lithuanian families honoured for saving Jews during the Holocaust

Relatives of Lithuanians who rescued Jews during the Nazi occupation were recognised in Kaunas on Sunday with the Righteous Among the Nations award, Israel’s highest honour for non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews from the Holocaust, reports LRT.

The awards were presented posthumously to the families of Antanas and Stasė Volskis, as well as Tadeušas Pocius and Barbora Vacevičienė, all of whom sheltered Jews in Kaunas during World War II. In 1944, Pocius took in eight Jewish people at his home, while the Volskis family provided food to those hiding in the Kaunas ghetto.

Roma Mockienė, the granddaughter of the honoured rescuers, described their actions as “an immense deed of heroism.” She noted that her grandparents had saved seven Jewish families and maintained contact with Miriam Kagan Leber, the daughter of one survivor, who now lives in the United States. “They were people of great heart,” Mockienė said.

Israeli Ambassador to Lithuania Shelly Hugler Livne emphasised the extraordinary courage of the rescuers, who risked their lives and those of their families to help others. “At a time when humanity sank so low, these people were like beacons,” she said. “They shared their last piece of bread to save another child, another family, another couple from the Kaunas ghetto. This is something we must understand and honour.”

More than 900 Lithuanians have been recognised as Righteous Among the Nations for their actions during the Holocaust.