Tverjonaitė - Švalkūnienė Rozalija
*1903 - 1982
*Recognized in 1998
Skaudvilė Cemetery,
Tauragė district, Lithuania
Tverjonaitė - Švalkūnienė Rozalija
55.409422
22.579962
About the rescuer and the rescue story
Rozalija Tverjonaitė (later Švalkūnienė) lived on the outskirts of Skaudvilė with her brother Motiejus and niece Bronė Tverjonaitė (later Jurgilienė). Before the war, Rozalija worked for about 12 years at the Jewish Beker house in Skaudvilė - she did household chores and helped the owners in the shop. Sometimes her niece Bronė helped her. A few months after the extermination of Skaudvilė's Jews, Rozalija Tverjonaitė found out that Nachum Levy, a relative of her well-known Beker, was imprisoned in Skaudvilė prison. Rosalija was well known by everyone in Skaudvilė as having worked for Jews for a long time before the war, so she herself was afraid of going to prison and sent Bronė there. Bronė managed to see Nachum, he said that the Germans shot his whole family, but he managed to escape, he hid in a nearby village until someone betrayed him. Nachum asked if he should run or not, who would shelter him? When Bronė returned, she told this to Rosalija, who said: tell him to run and come to us. Nachum managed to escape from the prison, he reached Rosalija's house, and stayed with them for about three years under the protection of both women until he was released. Rozalija and Bronė hid Nachum from Rozalija’s brother Motiejus as well.
From Bronė Jurgilienė's memories:
Aunt used to work with farmers, and I, Bronė, stayed with Nochi during the day. He was hidden behind the furnace. And he staid there all the time without leaving. I taught him to knit scarves, sweaters. Over time, we started to call him by his Lithuanian name "Antanėlis". And now, when he writes a letter, he always signs "Antanėlis".
Rozalija Tverjonaitė and her niece Bronė sincerely cared for Nachum Levy. For security reasons, Nachum sometimes had to leave Rosalija's house and hide elsewhere, but after a while he would return again. In the house of Rozalija Tverjonaitė, he lived till October 1944, when this region was liberated from the Germans.
Rescued persons:
Nachum Levy
Information collected using:
55.409422
22.579962
Rozalija is the first one on the left
Bronė on the left, Rozalija on the right