Dr. Roza Shabad-Gawronska — Association of Jews of Vilna and vicinity in Israel

Doctor Roza Shabad-Gawronska, pediatrician, director of the orphanage in the Vilna ghetto, 1892-1943. English translation of the article Written by Muriel Chochois  Tsafon- no 64, December 2012, p. 127.

“When the Jews were expelled from the ghetto, between two rows of SS, 100 orphans from the children’s home, from three to twelve years were led, poor, barefoot, naked, hungry, older caring for smaller. With them disappeared the director of the Jewish orphanage, Dr Shabad-Gawronska.

The orphans of the Vilna Ghetto
On 15 September 1941 was given by the Lithuanian authorities, to a representative of the Jewish Council, a list of names of 28 children. These children were before in  the Orphanage No. 1. Where known, the names of the father and mother of the children are recorded together with the name of the child, for twelve of them, in the reference column,  "TOZ" indicated. The oldest was 3 years and a half. The youngest two months. Goldin Abram, Kruglik Moyshe, Merin Dveyre, Lachovitski Myriam, Fajer Henrik, Maze Misha, Shvarblat Abram, Presman Nokhem, Reskovitsh Jankel, Aronovitsh Rakhmiel, Kryzhovska Elena, Kinkulkin Sarah, Maizel Doba, Tsharny Shloma, Goldberg Ada, Abramovitsh Hirsh, Maze David, Rabshtein Shloma, Katz Mendel Nokhem, Milner Aron, Fishkin Borukh, Finkelman Liba, Merin Sholomon, Malashkevitsh Moyshe, Shneider Feygė, Biber Abrom Meyer, Shneider Etka, Arbeter Abram Vulf. 

For them, for the children whose parents disappeared in Aktionnen for all children of the Vilna Ghetto, were established medical institutions. Among physicians, educators, and all those who devoted themselves to these children was Dr. Roza Shabad-Gawronska.

She was born in Vilna in 1882, to Isidore Shabad, the elder brother of Dr. Tzemakh Shabad and Paulina Paperna. She studied medicine at the University of Freiburg im Breisgau and St. Petersburg. In Freiburg, she was a member of the Socialist Revolutionary Party and close to Avksentiev and Bounakoff. From 1914 to 1916, one of her daughters was ill, so she stayed in Switzerland and worked after as a doctor with the Red Cross, in the Caucasus, from 1917 to 1921. In 1931, she created in Wilno the first "School of mothers" in Zwierzyniec Hospital, where she worked for twelve years with Dr. Herz Kowarski. In 1934, she was responsible for the ambulatory sector TOZ in charge of children with TB, and from 1923 to 1930, also the doctor of the Sophia Gurewitch Gymnasium. This concern for transmission and education was also realized through lectures in the TSBK schools, and her involvement in Folksgezunt.

Institutions headed by Dr. Shabad-Gawronska in the Vilna Ghetto

On 11 September 1941, the doctors  established a public health organization. Dr. Rafael Shadowski was appointed as chief physician of the ghetto, and a medical board composed of Drs Roza Shabad-Gawronska, Epshteyn Lazar, Lazar Finkelshteyn, Alexander Kantorovitsh and Grigory Ran.

Dr Shabad-Lewande (her married name) presented a proposal for organizing of a paediatric service, including distribution of milk and baby food. [...]A motion was also passed calling for enumeration of the children in the ghetto, and plans were drawn up to begin surveying children in their homes .

The “Health Department" was in charge of organizing the activities of the hospital and for creating  more public health institutions, and among them  the outpatient clinic led by Dr. Kalman Shapiro. There, Dr Shabad-Gawronska has in charge of the child consultation center for children up to seven years, the day care center, the “Drop of milk” and the orphanage. This one had been installed in the Elyashberg prayer house, at 1 Hekdesh Street, just beside the hospital and was inaugurated on 8 March 1942.

The children’s home in the Vilna Ghetto

The writings of Dr. Yacov Movshowitsh enabled us to glimpse a view of the orphanage. After recalling the implication of Dr. Shabad-Gawronska in the coordination of institutions created for children, Dr. Movshowitsh describes not only the orphans’ everyday life, but also their great moments of joy. He recalled the role of the adults who were present with the children, adults who ensured that the children maintained their wish to live and fight for life . Among them was Mania Levi, former teacher  in Frug School. Mania Levi wrote monthly reports about the orphanage. So is the report of June 1943:

"[...] As everybody knows, there are many "candidates" for our house. We must change the place where the children are sleeping. [...] When the weather is nice, the younger children play outside. We wonder what they will become this summer. To our great regret, we only see the trees through the window. This is already more than the small flowers from our courtyard. The older children go to school. They spend the afternoon to prepare their homework or help us. This month, we organized a walk with a group of children to Zagret. Among our older children, there is one who has successfully finished technical school, in locksmith. We try to find work in his profession. Soon the school holidays begin. If the weather is good, we’ll try  to go once again enjoy the forest.

The fate of Dr. Shabad-Gawronska and the children during the liquidation of the ghetto

The place of the murder of Dr. Shabad-Gawronska is not known at this time. Three "pages of testimony" have been drawn up, one by Dr. Libo mentioning her assassination in Majdanek, the other by Dr. Feigenberg mentioning her assassination in Treblinka. The third testimony, that of Mrs. Dagon, relates her assassination in Ponar.

Was her fate  the same of Mania Levi’s "[...] Mania helped  all the children to climb on in the truck and walked with them to the selection in Subocz street. Sounds ran that when Mania saw on the place of selection that children were  leading to death, she interposed and was killed by German bullets. According to other reports she was sent to Estonia, where she died».

Regarding the orphans…The testimony of Asia Turgel reported a group of several dozen children crying, alone, separated from the other prisoners in the courtyard of the convent.

Sophie Libo, the granddaughter of Dr. Roza Shabad-Gawronska in memory of orphans with whom she had played in the ghetto, in memory of her grandmother, realized with dolls some life scenes of the orphanage, into a composition she donated to Yad Vashem. The aim of the author of this article is to gather the names of the children of the orphanage, in order to honor their memory.