Simaite, Ona (1899–1970)

views updated

Simaite, Ona (1899–1970)

Lithuanian hero. Name variations: Ona Simajte. Born 1899 in Lithuania; died 1970 in France.

During World War II, was a librarian at Vilnius University; used her position to aid Jews in Vilna Ghetto (1941–44); entered the ghetto under the pretext of recovering library books; smuggled food and other provisions in, and literary and historical documents out; was arrested and tortured (1944); deported to Dachau, then a concentration camp in southern France; lived in France after the war. Named "Righteous Among the Nations" by Yad Vashem.

More From encyclopedia.com