The partisans in the Rudninkai Forest included ~40 fighters & included Poles, escaped Soviet POWs, Lithuanian paratroopers, & 11 Jews from the ghettos. Over time, the detachment grew to number 300 fighters with the majority Jews. (4/9)
Sara Ginaite & others helped Jews escape from the ghettos. Once, in order to smuggle weapons into the ghetto, she pretended to be a German nurse claiming she was there to escort 4 sick Jews who needed to be detained. Flirting with the Nazi guard she was able to distract the Germans & managed to get the armed partisans through the gate. (5/9)
The partisans attacked Nazi garrisons & cut communication lines. In one raid, the partisans attacked a farmer who was selling grain to the German military; the partisans would confiscate the grain for Lithuanians. “Entering the farmer’s house, I could see (the farmer’s) wife get out of her bed... The wife looked over carefully at me & told me that ‘war was not for woman (sic) to fight.’ So I asked her, ‘The killing of women & children is proper work for men?’” (6/9)
In 1944, the Russian Red Army advanced on Vilna & Kovno. As the Allies approached, the Nazis liquidated the ghettos of Lithuania. The partisans joined forces with the Russians & Sara & Misha took part in the liberation of Vilna & Kovno. The iconic photo of Sara with her rifle was taken by a Jewish Soviet major who was surprised to see a female, Jewish partisan standing guard in Vilna. (7/9)
