My Dad's Life Timeline
1929 Born in Memel/Klaipėda, Lithuania on June 8, 1929.
1929-31 Lived in Klaipėda/Memel. My Dad's father, Hirsch-Meir Rachowitz, had owned a crate factory (kistenfabrik) in Alexanderstrasse, Haus Nr.11. My Dad's mother was named Riva-Rachel Orelowitz Rachowitz. She was a white-collar worker.
1931-41 Lived in Kaunas (Kovno) -- The temporary capital of Lithuania from 1920 until 1939 (1931-40 -- Independent Lithuania; June 1940-June 1941 -- Under the Soviet rule)
Until 1936 Attended the Hebrew kindergarten next to the Hebrew Real Gymnasium
1936-40 Attended the Hebrew Real Gymnasium (Kauno žydų realinė gimnazija) in Kovno/Kaunas for 4 years
1936-40 Attended the Hebrew Real Gymnasium (Kauno žydų realinė gimnazija) in Kovno/Kaunas for 4 years
1940-41 Attended Yiddish school
1941 On June 23, 1941, i.e. one day after Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union, four members of our family (Hirsch-Meir, Riva-Rachel, Nathan and my father Aaron Rachowitz) managed to escape (they boarded a freight train in Kovno, designated to evacuate the families of the Soviet army) into the Soviet interior amidst heavy bombardments (by Messerschmitt aircraft) and attacks by the Germany (only 6-8% of the Lithuanian Jews managed to escape into the Soviet interior)
Jul-Aug 1941 Arzamas (Арзамас), which is some 100 km from Gorky/today Nizhny Novgorod. During the first weeks, the Rachowitz family was accommodated in one room with the Stoupel family. Lived as refugees in Arzamas.
1941 Arrival in Andijan (Андижан), Uzbekistan, USSR.
1941-1945 Until September 1945 lived in Andijan (Андижан), Uzbekistan, USSR. In 1942 my grandfather, Hirsch-Meir Rachowitz, enlisted in the 16th Lithuanian Rifle Division. He was sent to Balakhna (Балахна́) which is near Gorky (today Nizhny Novgorod). My father attended a school, worked hard for a living, and during 1943-45, inter alia, was employed in a canning food factory.
1945-1973 Lived in Vilnius, the capital of the Soviet Republic of Lithuania
My Dad, Aaron-Israel Rachowitz, completed dental school in Vilnius summa cum laude, and worked as a dental specialist in Stomatology polyclinic (Mokama stomatologinė poliklinika, in Lithuanian) in Liudo Giros street 29, up until the end of 1972.
1941-1945 Until September 1945 lived in Andijan (Андижан), Uzbekistan, USSR. In 1942 my grandfather, Hirsch-Meir Rachowitz, enlisted in the 16th Lithuanian Rifle Division. He was sent to Balakhna (Балахна́) which is near Gorky (today Nizhny Novgorod). My father attended a school, worked hard for a living, and during 1943-45, inter alia, was employed in a canning food factory.
1945-1973 Lived in Vilnius, the capital of the Soviet Republic of Lithuania
My Dad, Aaron-Israel Rachowitz, completed dental school in Vilnius summa cum laude, and worked as a dental specialist in Stomatology polyclinic (Mokama stomatologinė poliklinika, in Lithuanian) in Liudo Giros street 29, up until the end of 1972.