Mar 17, 1924: On this date Sara Ginaite was born in Kovno, Lithuania. She was a Jewish Lithuanian partisan veteran of WW2. Lithuania was invaded by Nazi Germany in 1941 & anti-Jew pogroms by Germans & Lithuanians began. The Kaunas pogrom led to the massacre of 9200 Jews, almost half children, & 3 of Sara’s uncles.
“In this moment, I decided that I am not going to die how the Germans preferred for me. I will join any underground organization & I will really be the master of my fate.” (1/9) #WW2
Sara Ginaite’s family & 40,000 other Jews were forced into the Kovno Ghetto. In the ghetto, a 17 y/o Sara joined the Anti-Fascist Organization, met & married her husband Misha Rubinson, & the two decided to flee the ghetto to fight the Nazis. Her mother did not want Sara to leave the ghetto, fearing for her daughter’s life. Ultimately, Sara’s sister promised she would not leave her mother’s side if her mother allowed Sara to escape. (2/9)
In the winter of 1943, in a daring escape plan, a truck appeared at the ghetto gate, the driver claiming to need forced labor for a night shift. Some of the Jewish ghetto police at the gate were in on the plan. They went into action to deceive the Nazi guards. A shout went up & they forcibly detained the nearby Jews, forcing them into the truck. But instead of taking them to forced labor, the truck drove on to the Rudninkai Forest where Sara & Misha joined the partisans. (3/9)
#WW2 #Resistance
The partisans in the Rudninkai Forest included ~40 fighters & included Poles, escaped Soviet POWs, Lithuanian paratroopers, & 11 Jews from the ghettos. Over time, the detachment grew to number 300 fighters with the majority Jews. (4/9)
Sara Ginaite & others helped Jews escape from the ghettos. Once, in order to smuggle weapons into the ghetto, she pretended to be a German nurse claiming she was there to escort 4 sick Jews who needed to be detained. Flirting with the Nazi guard she was able to distract the Germans & managed to get the armed partisans through the gate. (5/9)
The partisans attacked Nazi garrisons & cut communication lines. In one raid, the partisans attacked a farmer who was selling grain to the German military; the partisans would confiscate the grain for Lithuanians. “Entering the farmer’s house, I could see (the farmer’s) wife get out of her bed... The wife looked over carefully at me & told me that ‘war was not for woman (sic) to fight.’ So I asked her, ‘The killing of women & children is proper work for men?’” (6/9)
In 1944, the Russian Red Army advanced on Vilna & Kovno. As the Allies approached, the Nazis liquidated the ghettos of Lithuania. The partisans joined forces with the Russians & Sara & Misha took part in the liberation of Vilna & Kovno. The iconic photo of Sara with her rifle was taken by a Jewish Soviet major who was surprised to see a female, Jewish partisan standing guard in Vilna. (7/9)
At the time of liberation of the ghettos, ~90% of the Jews had already died or been killed by the Nazis. Sara Ginaite’s mother and sister were already forced to a concentration camp.
It was not until 1945 & the end of the war, when Sara found out the fate of her family. Her mother died in the concentration camp. All of her family was dead, except her sister & a young niece. (8/9)
#WW2 #Resistance #Lithuania #WomensHistoryMonth #antifa #Holocaust
After WW2, Sara Ginaite continued to fight rampant anti-semitism. She became a professor of Political Economics at Vilnius University. She published on the history of the Holocaust in Lithuania, including “Resistance and Survival: The Jewish Community in Kaunas 1941–1944.” Her husband Misha died in 1983 & she subsequently immigrated to Canada to live with her 2 daughters. She died April 2, 2018 at the age of 94. (9/9)
