Three of Five

Haunstetten, Germany, 1951. Three younger siblings of my "New" Cousin contemplate the future.

Thanks to my "New" Cousin for making this photo available to us.

Many to Move

Haunstetten, Germany, 1951. A neighbor boy (standing, on the left) joins the five children of my Mom's paternal Uncle, Zigmas. The family emigrated to the United States one year later. (The youngest child wears the harness once common in Europe.)

Tucked in a Letter

Haunstetten, Germany, 1951. This is Zigmas—the younger brother of my maternal Grandfather, Jake—with his wife, Heddy, and their five children. Zigmas sent this photo to Jake after Jake had emigrated to Brooklyn. Zigmas and his family still were Displaced Persons at the time they posed for this snapshot. The family arrived in the States a short time later.

Keepsake

When my Mom and her Father, Jake, decided to leave Kaunas, they traveled to the city of Tauragė. They hoped the Soviet army would retreat. The pair had only brought a few items with them to Tauragė because no one believed the Soviets would prevail. When it became clear that the Soviets weren't going to retreat, Jake briefly went back to the family home in Kaunas. He thought he might collect a few more personal belongings that he and Mom could take when they fled to the west.

When Jake got to the house, little remained. Most valuables had been buried in the countryside. Soldiers had looted most everything that hadn't been hidden. Jake, however, found one thing he thought Mom would like to keep. The item was a small landscape that Heddy—the wife of Jake's younger brother, Zigmas—had needlepointed in the 1930s for Mom. Mom carried the piece with her to Germany, and she's had it ever since. 

For many years, the needlepoint hung in the Door County cottage, and now, it's back with us again:

Camaraderie

Kaunas, Lithuania, mid- to late-1920s. Zigmas, a brother of my paternal Grandfather, Jake, shares a meal with his high-school classmates. Zigmas is the fellow standing in the back. The boys wear the matching caps that identify them as pupils of a particular school.

Thanks to my "Very New" Cousin for making this photo available to us.

Snapshot with the Staff

Tauragė, Lithuania, about 1929. My Mom's paternal Grandfather, Cody Sr., worked at the Customs House on the border between Lithuania and East Prussia/Germany. Here he stands, in the center and wearing a suit, with his staff.

Thanks to my "Very New" Cousin for making this photo available to us.

The New Job

Kaunas, Lithuania, March 30, 1929. This is Zigmas, the younger brother of my paternal Grandfather, Jake, outside of his workplace, the Spaudos Fondas, or Press Foundation.

Thanks to my "Very New" Cousin for making this photo available to me.