My father’s family sheltered a Jewish girl during the war. My father would like to locate his “sister” after these many years. I have attached a photo of her and following is all the information I have at this time.
We believe the girl’s name is Rachala (Rachel) Goldberg. She was born around 1940 in the Suwalki region of Lithuania. Her father was in the textile manufacturing industry and mother a school teacher. They were taken to the Kaunas Getto. In about 1943 the Nazis ordered the elimination of all Jewish children (this is what my father was told) from the Getto, and her father sought to hide her. My birth grandmother lived in Kaunas and apparently put bread on the fence for people walking to forced labor. The family approached her and asked her to hide Rachala. She agreed. I do not know if there was compensation involved. Rachala was taken in a sack by bus to Panevezys, Lithuania, and then to Naujamestis, a small town south-west of Panevezys, where my great-grandfather had a mill. At the time, Rachala spoke only Yiddish and/or Hebrew. Rachala was renamed Halina (Helen) and was raised with my father by my great-aunt, Apolonia Shaparis (nee Mazeika), who I refer to as my grandmother. My father was raised believing she was his mother, and Rachala his sister.
In the closing days of the war the family fled by boxcar ahead of the front. The train stopped in Poland, and they settled there, in Slupsk. My family spoke Polish, Lithuanian, as well as some German and Russian. The attached photo is of Rachala at my other great-aunt Lina’s wedding, October 23, 1946, Slupsk, Poland. My father is to her left in the full print. In Poland my family translated Shaparis as “Szaparys”, “Szaparyski” and the like. They lived on Chopin street in Slupsk.
Rachala’s father located her and took her back a short time later, in Dec. 1946 or early 1947.
I have forwaded this information to JewishGen.org, and have posted a “missing person” listing there. However, I would appreciate any further leads or assistance.
Thank you for your time.
Aneta B. Dubow
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