Volks kinder, Vilko vaikai, the children of the wolf
I had previously read an article about wolf children, German orphans from East Prussia who ended up in the Baltic States after WWII. I had no idea that our family had wolf child story. Recently I have been going over my family history notes, rereading everything. I found a letter addressed to my grandmother. I must of read it ten years ago without realizing its meaning until I read it again last week.
A letter arrived addressed to Ieva in Australia in 1992. It was written by Edith Hansen who had waited until Lithuania was free to write to her. Ieva did not know her, but the letter details how Dita knew the family. It seems that Dita was a German orphan in Kalingrad who made her way to Lithuania in 1946 with other Germans. In April 1946, she found herself at Kaunas railway station, she was ten years old. She was begging in the street during the day and would find a place to sleep at night. After several weeks she ended up an Žaliakalnis. Hungry, she knocked on no.11 Rokiškis and Eugenija (Ieva's mother) answered the door. She invited her in and although they didn’t have much gave her a boiled potato and a small piece of bacon. That night she slept on the kitchen floor. The other rooms in the house were filled with students.
The days she spent begging in the streets and would return in the evening to sleep. She dusted and did other small jobs. Eugenija sewed to sell clothes, she was a very industrial woman from whom Dita learn how to sew and cook. In the summer they took Dita to Raguva to Aleksandras (Eugenija's husband) father in Statiskai. Dita worked digging up potato from which she earnt 10 kg, she also begged 15 eggs, some bread and cheese.
Eugenija found her work looking after a child to a wealthy family. The food was good, as the husband worked for the state. After a week they threw her out as she did not want to undress to bath. Dita returned to Rokiskis street. By this stage, Dita had learned Lithuanian and was able to attend grade three at school. Dita wanted to start Saules school in grade 5 but did not have any documents. No one believed she was a German, so Eugenija made up the name Jadvyga Vidunaite and said she was from Klaipeda. The government then wanted to send her to a children's home. She began to cry and Eugenija took her home again.
Dita in 1954, enrolled in the Kaunas Horticultural and Gardening technical school. Dita moved into shared student accommodation for the next four years. On the weekends she would return to visit the family. She would study, cook and clean the house.
In 1959, Dita began to search for her relatives in Germany through the Red Cross. She was able to do this and fulfilled Eugenija's desire to see photos of her parents.
When Eugnija became sick and was taken to the hospital, Dita went and begged to be allowed in to see her. She opened the door and saw a sign to say, died at 2:00pm. This was about 3:00 pm and the nurse allowed her to stay in the room. Dita stood by the bed for 15 to 20 minutes before being ushered out.
In 1970, Dita left Lithuania and ended up residing in Denmark.
One letter said all this, one letter that my grandmother kept and then I kept. Sometimes it takes time to understand the meaning of things and the foresight to hang onto things. If it wasn't for this letter, I would never have known about the wolf child.
You can read more here
https://www.vilkovaikai.lt/ivadiniai-tekstai/vilko-vaikai/
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