Šneideris, Juozas
Šneiderienė, Antanina
Žemaitaitis, Petras
Žemaitaitienė, Natalija
The elderly couple Juozas and Antanina Šneideris were farmers and lived with their daughter Natalija and her husband Petras Žemaitaitis in the suburbs of Vilkaviškis. In 1942 the Šneiderises accepted to their home at Sheina Weber (later Arkin), her two younger sisters and their friend Bela Zuker (later Sisna), who escaped the Vilkaviškis ghetto on the eve of it's liquidation on September 24, 1941. The four of them were hiding in forests for quite a long period of time, stealing food from the local peasants by nights. When the youngest of girls, who was only 14 years old then, got ill, the sisters were forced to apply to someone of the locals for help. They were lucky to find it in the Šneiderises house. Juozas Šneideris and his entire family were known for their liberal views. They gladly accepted the Jews thus showing their opposition to Nazism and nationalism. Šneideris and Žemaitaitis prepared a shelter in the barn's attic - not a very warm but a safe place to stay at, where the three Weber sisters and Bela Zuker were regularly provided with food, clean clothes and, once in a while, with hot water to wash themselves. More than two years, till the liberation day in August 2, 1944, the Jewish refugees stayed at the Šneiderises feeling like family members and trusting their hosts in every aspect. Only after the liberation they found out thet the Šneiderises also helped with food to their elder daughter, Adelė Jurevičienė*, who together with her husband also hid two Jewish women in their home. At the end of the 40-es all of the rescued immigrated to Israel.
On January 9, 1979, Yad Vashem recognized Juozas Šneideris, Antanina Šneiderienė, Petras Žemaitaitis and Natalija Žemaitaitienė as Righteous Among the Nations.
File 1327, 1327a
