PRUDNIKOVA: Many Lithuanians, who lived poorly—they did not have something to live on—served at Jewish homes. They brought water for them because during the Sabbath, they could not bring water themselves, you know, they didn’t work at all then, so Lithuanians had to do the work. People would go, you know, women mostly. Men worked at Jewish bakeries. Well, Jews were compassionate people.INTERVIEWER: Have you ever worked for the Jews?
PRUDNIKOVA: I did serve for a short time. I went to take care of a small child, but then I was told—I was very young, and had a very red and full face and everything, you know. I was told that Jews cut you and take your blood, put you in a basement, in a vat with nails that stab you—so I left everything, because I was afraid that I would be stabbed. [Laughs]
INTERVIEWER: You believed that?
PRUDNIKOVA: Yeah, well, you know. I was young and believed it. I know that they say that that Jews can’t live without Christian blood, that during their holidays they had to have at least a drop of that blood to taste, or something like that. Well, when the Germans arrived, the Jews sensed that something bad would happen to them, you know. So the shops and everything else were looted, you know, the Lithuanians took everything away. The headman, this Vincas Ambrasas, took everything, did this, you know. And the Lithuanians were taking everything home. I did as well, but my brother told me to return it, you know.
INTERVIEWER: What did you take?
PRUDNIKOVA: Some fabric, shoes and the like, you know. The shoes were not of the same pair, so my brother told me to return them. So I went and returned them.
INTERVIEWER: Where did you take them from?
PRUDNIKOVA: From a store.
INTERVIEWER: Whose?
PRUDNIKOVA: From Jewish stores, from a Jewish store. When I arrived, everything was looted. All the stores were. And the Jews had no right to anything anymore.
INTERVIEWER: So the Jews lived at their homes.
PRUDNIKOVA: Yes, and all of those people who had guns, surrounded their homes, took them from their homes, and led them to the square, where they were made to stand in lines. Everyone was taken there.
INTERVIEWER: Well, which of the “white stripers” from Pilviškiai did you see leading the Jews?
PRUDNIKOVA: Well, there were not only “white stripers” there. Some were simply going because they were promised some belongings, you know. They were given houses, apartments, homes—and they lived there. A man named Pijušas Buraga lived in one, also Petras Strimaitis, Norkevičius, Janulaitis, also Besusparis [Besasparis] lived off Jewish property, and so did Baltūsis.
INTERVIEWER: Were many Jewish possessions brought here?
PRUDNIKOVA: Oh, there was an auction, and people were buying—tearing apart, elbowing each other, you know.
INTERVIEWER: Did you see the auction?
PRUDNIKOVA: Yeah, they were throwing things out of the window. People were grabbing whatever they could lay their hands on. Jesus, what was going on here. Lipkė’s restaurant was loaded with those clothes that had been brought with horses. Oh my Jesus, what was going on, it was horrible.
INTERVIEWER: So the auction took place next to Lipkė’s restaurant?
PRUDNIKOVA: Yeah, yes. And in other places they were throwing bedding, pillows, blankets, all kinds of bed linens out of the windows, you see. They were throwing things out of the windows, and people were grabbing them. People had come from surrounding villages. Well, they were all the same people who had participated in the massacre. They were the ones who were throwing, all of them. They kept the more valuable things for themselves, such as furniture, you know, and they went on to live in [Jewish homes].
INTERVIEWER: So when you would come to visit them, you would see the Jewish furniture standing there, right?
PRUDNIKOVA: Well, I came over, and I knew that they had nothing. They were beggars, you see. And then the wife of Kazlovas donned an astrakhan coat! How much did it cost, where could they have gotten it, the coat that Kazlovas’s wife was wearing? Just think about it! I’m telling you, there was a pile of shoes, so I took a pair, but they noticed and came after and took them away from me.
INTERVIEWER: Who came after you?
PRUDNIKOVA: Kazlovas’s mother-in-law. Kazlovas was my cousin.
INTERVIEWER: And where was that pile of shoes located?
PRUDNIKOVA: It was in the hallway, the hallway. There was a big hallway as you entered, the size of half of this room. I went to visit them, and as I was leaving, I took a pair of dark red suede shoes. Well, she looked around and noticed that they were gone after I had left, so she ran after me and took them away.
INTERVIEWER: So what did she say when she took them away?
PRUDNIKOVA: She said, “Give it back! You took ours.” I responded, “They aren’t yours. They belong to the Jews.”
INTERVIEWER: And what did she say?
PRUDNIKOVA: I gave them back. She said nothing.
INTERVIEWER: Well, but the Jews—they must have had all kind of golden rings.
PRUDNIKOVA: Well yeah, they did have. They probably were searched at the spot because they were forced to undress until they were naked there, you see. Some of them, the richer ones, were undressed naked and their teeth were extracted too. Even I bought one tooth, because I needed an implant.
INTERVIEWER: You bought a tooth?
PRUDNIKOVA: Yeah. Yes.
INTERVIEWER: Oh, so one could buy a tooth?
PRUDNIKOVA: Yes, a gold one. I don’t know how much I paid, but not much. When the Russians came, I bought the tooth form a woman named Mrs. Didžiūnas.
INTERVIEWER: And where is that tooth now?
PRUDNIKOVA: Here. [Points to a gold tooth in her mouth
YAHOWAH THE ONLY ONE 