top of page

Gobis Antanas

* 1906 - 1995
* Recognized in 1979

Rokiškis churchyard,
Rokiškis, Lithuania

Gobis Antanas

55.964300
25.582951

About the rescuer and the rescue story

The war caught Judita Zakšteinaitė in the Palanga pioneer camp. Hearing the bomb explosions, the children ran to the Liepoja side of the beach, but the German soldiers returned them to Palanga. Jewish children were separated from other children.

Judita, a blue-eyed, blond-haired twelve-year-old who does not look like a Jew, went to the Panevėžys children's shelter with other Christian children. The teacher of the shelter took the girl to the Panevėžys church one morning, the priest who met her said: "Don't be afraid, child, don't cry. I will stand up for you both father and mother, because you no longer have a home."

Priest Antanas Gobis protected and cared for Judita throughout the war: in Panevėžys, he found a reliable teachers, Anastazija Vėbrienė and Ona Šapalaitė, who agreed to hide the girl, and when suspicions arose, they took her to Pušalota to other trustworthy people. Both the vicar and those who hid the Jewish woman were threatened with the death penalty.

After the end of the war and later, priest A. Gobis took care of Judith, named Terese Mašyte. Noticing that she had musical talents, he taught her music and educated her comprehensively. When she reached the age of youth, she was advised to marry only a young man of Jewish nationality, because during the war the Holocaust almost destroyed the Jewish nation. Judith called the priest father, and her children called him grandfather. Relations with the family of Judita Zakšteinaitė-Vainbergienė did not end until the priest's death. In the summers and on the days of major holidays, the Vainbergs were regular guests of priest A. Gobis in Kamajai and Rokiškis.

Rescued persons (Yad Vashem website):

Judita Zakšteinaitė – Vainbergienė

Information collected using:

Pictures and short story from Golda Tatz

Katalogas "Išgelbėjęs vieną gyvybę, išgelbėja visą pasaulį"

55.964300
25.582951

Antanas Gobis and Judita (second from the left)

Judita Zakšteinaitė

bottom of page