Binkis family — Association of Jews of Vilna and vicinity in Israel

Binkiene, Sofija (1902–1984)

Lithuanian rescuer of Jews during World War II, honored as one of the Righteous by Yad Vashem, Jerusalem. Born in 1902; died in 1984; married Kazys Binkis (a writer); children: four, including Lilianne.

Married to Kazys Binkiene, a well-known writer, Sofija Binkiene was the mother of four children. She had little contact with Jews prior to the Nazi occupation of Lithuania, which began in the early summer of 1941. Yet, almost from the first days of Nazi rule, she determined to do as much as possible to assist Jews fleeing from the Kovno ghetto. Scores of Jews of all ages spent varying periods of time in the Binkiene home, despite the danger this presented Binkiene's entire family. Even after her husband died of a heart ailment in 1942, Binkiene continued to assist Jews, though little food was available and the danger of discovery by the German security forces was great. In 1944, when the remnants of the Kovno ghetto were liquidated by the Nazis, Binkiene roved the streets nearby in the hope of bringing a few more Jewish stragglers to the relative safety of her home.

In testimony deposited after the war at the Yad Vashem Archives in Jerusalem, Gita Yudelevitz , one of the Jews rescued by Sofija Binkiene, recounted her life as a 12-year-old in 1941 when she was first rescued from certain death by Jadwiga Muzaliene , a friendly Lithuanian woman who in turn brought her to Binkiene's home, which quickly became known as a place of refuge. Here, the frightened Gita was comforted and warmly welcomed. Introduced to the family, Gita soon was in possession of an "Aryan" identification card that made it possible for her to go out on errands. During the summer, Gita accompanied the Binkiene family to their home on the Dangiene river. After the war, Gita Yudelevitz was reunited with her parents, who were among the few Lithuanian Jews who had been able to flee to the forest and survive the Holocaust.

After 1945, Sofija Binkiene worked for the children's service of the Lithuanian Radio. She also wrote a book about Lithuanians who had saved Jewish lives during the three years of Nazi occupation. Highly respected in what remained of the Jewish community of Lithuania, she was ostracized as the "Queen of the Jews" by some of her fellow Lithuanians who had—despite everything the Holocaust had revealed about the insanity of hatred—retained their anti-Semitic prejudices.

From: Binkiene, Sofija. Ir be ginklo kariai. Vilnius: Mintis, 1967.

On January 28, 2019, an event organized by Association of Jews from Vilna, Association of Lithuanian Jews in Israel and by the Lithuanian embassy in Israel was held to mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day and this time in honor of the Righteous Among the Nations and the families of the survivors. The son of the Japanese consul Sugihara, who lived in Kaunas during the war and saved many hundreds of Jews from death, and Sofia Mekuteniene, the granddaughter of Sofia Binkania from Kaunas who hid entire families of Jews at home, risking her life and family life,

were invited to the event. Survivors and their families who were excited to meet the rescuers' families and told the audience the story of their rescue were also invited to the event.

Iga

Iga and survivors