Rescuers of Jews
Pečiulis Petras
Testimony of Juozas Pečiulis, eldest son of Petras Pečiulis
From September 1942 until 16 July 1944, my father Petras Pečiulis secretly kept, protected from the Nazi occupiers and their collaborators, fed, and gave clothes to a Jewish family, Ovsiejus Belkinas and his wife Rašelė Belkinienė. Petras Pečiulis undertook such a dangerous mission at the risk of his own life and the lives of his family members because he had lived his whole life in good coexistence with his neighbours, Jews, Russians, Germans, and people of other nationalities, and had respected their national customs, religious and political beliefs.
The refugees O. and R. Belkinas lived free of charge together with the family of Petras Pečiulis, a family of 9 persons, in a house he owned in Vangeloniai village, Alytus County, where they ate the same food together. I contributed only to the extent that I helped to dig a camouflaged trench from the cellar of the house to the wood store, a bunker to hide the Belkinas in case we were searched by Hitler's collaborators.
As far as I know, O. and R. Belkinas were hiding from the Holocaust in the house of the teacher Konstantinas Bajerčius in the town of Alytus from 23 June 1941 to August 1942, and were materially supported by the teachers Kazys Klimavičius and Haškerienė and her German husband Haškeris. The Belkinas were brought to Petras Pečiulis in Vangelioniai by Kazys Malinauskas, a worker from Alytus, through whom the Belkinas were in regular contact with the teachers.
From September 1942 until 16 July 1944, my father Petras Pečiulis secretly kept, protected from the Nazi occupiers and their collaborators, fed, and gave clothes to a Jewish family, Ovsiejus Belkinas and his wife Rašelė Belkinienė. Petras Pečiulis undertook such a dangerous mission at the risk of his own life and the lives of his family members because he had lived his whole life in good coexistence with his neighbours, Jews, Russians, Germans, and people of other nationalities, and had respected their national customs, religious and political beliefs.
The refugees O. and R. Belkinas lived free of charge together with the family of Petras Pečiulis, a family of 9 persons, in a house he owned in Vangeloniai village, Alytus County, where they ate the same food together. I contributed only to the extent that I helped to dig a camouflaged trench from the cellar of the house to the wood store, a bunker to hide the Belkinas in case we were searched by Hitler's collaborators.
As far as I know, O. and R. Belkinas were hiding from the Holocaust in the house of the teacher Konstantinas Bajerčius in the town of Alytus from 23 June 1941 to August 1942, and were materially supported by the teachers Kazys Klimavičius and Haškerienė and her German husband Haškeris. The Belkinas were brought to Petras Pečiulis in Vangelioniai by Kazys Malinauskas, a worker from Alytus, through whom the Belkinas were in regular contact with the teachers.