Meishe Ushpits, his wife Sarah and children Channa and Shloime

This is the family of my brother Meishe Ushpits, his wife Sarah and children Channa and Shloime. The picture was made in 1964 in Shakai.

Only my sister Leya, my brother Meishe and me were the only ones out of our entire family, who survived the war. Leya and Meishe were in Kaunas. They had stayed in Kaunas ghetto during the entire period of occupation and saw all horrors of that. Before ghetto was liquidated, Leya and Meishe managed to find a shelter and survive somehow. There were some people upon liberation, who blamed Meishe for treason. As they told that he allegedly gave away children's crib (editor's note.: in ghetto crib was the shelter, where Jews were) and children died in ghetto because of him. It was a slander, but neither Meishe nor Ghetto were able to prove the truth. My brother was to go through the trial and he was sentenced to 10 years in severest camp. By the came when in 1946 I came back in Lithuania, Meishe had been in Siberia having to go through underserved punishment.

Meishe, who in early 50s came back from the camp, settled with us. In a while he married a Jewish lady Sarah. They had two children- Channa and Shloime. Unfortunately, ghetto, then soviet prison and camp undermined my brothers' health and he died in 1975. His elder daughter Channa is living in America and son Shloime is living in Kaunas with Sarah. We meet with them on Jewish holidays at my place. My son with his family also come to me on holidays to communicate with me. I try to cook delicious Jewish food the was it was done by my grandmother.