Rimšienė Ona
* 1906–1972
* Recognized in 2012
Paežeriai village cemetery, Vilkaviškis district
Rimšienė Ona
54.666257 23.181724
About the rescuer and the rescue story
The brothers Jurgis and Juozas lived together all their lives in the same farmhouse. Juozas's wife Justina and Jurgis's wife Ona lived together with their children Aidas (born 1929) and Ona (born 1944).
Juozas Rimša was a book bearer - he was caught and imprisoned in Kalvarija prison, later he was exiled to Odessa for a couple of years. During the First World War Juozas was captured and sent to Germany to work on a farm, where he spent a couple of years. He returned home having learnt new things.
Jurgis had studied ceramics in Mirgorod, Ukraine. He returned home to his and his brother's homestead in the village of Naudžiai in the Vilkaviškis district, where he had a well-paid job as an insurance agent for a state insurance company.
Combining the experience of Juozas and the creative drive and income of Jurgis, the brothers set up a very modern homestead, which even excursions would come to see. The most impressive feature was the barn, built in 1930, and the method of tying cows that had never been seen before. The homestead also included the damming of the Rausve stream, a hydroelectric power station to provide the homestead with its own electricity and a water mill.
In October 1942, Juozas brought Olga Gurvičiūtė to the homestead from the small home in Kaunas of his sculptor brother Petras Rimša, where it had become unsafe, and gave her shelter. The newcomer was welcomed into the family as an equal member of the family, and Olga was introduced to all the hired workers at the farmhouse as Steputė, the orphan girl whom the sculptor Petras Rimša had sent to his brothers in the village. Under the care of all the members of the Rimša family, Olga was liberated in this homestead.
The brothers and their wives got along very well throughout their lives, Jurgis and Ona raised their children with great care, and daughter Ona says that the greatest lesson she has learned is the love of her country.
Rescued persons (Yad Vashem web page):
Olga Horwitz
Information collected using:
The story of Jurgis and Ona's daughter Ona
54.666257 23.181724
Ona and Jurgis Rimša
Almost unchanged Rimsas family homestead
Olga Horwitz