In July 1941 three-year old Jonina Klein and her parents Mordechai Klein and Sheina Feigelmanaite-Klein were imprisoned in Kaunas Ghetto.
The family’s acquaintance – Baronaite together with her friend Antanina Anevičiene, who lived outside the ghetto, decided that small Jonina had to be rescued. Antanina, her husband Jeronimas and two children Vytukas and Jadvyga lived in Kaunas in Miško St. 15. In early spring of 1944 Antanina brought small Jonina home in a big basket and told her own children that the girl would be their sister. The situation was quite perilous, as the girl did not speak Lithuanian and there were few policemen who lived in the same building. Therefore, Antanina and Jeronimas decided to send Vytukas together with Jonina to Jeronimas’ sisters. Three sisters Anevičiūtė – Juzė, Katarina and Ona lived in Maldenai village in Alvitas region. Jeronimas Anevičius arranged it so with the engine-driver that he would take the children by his train to Alvitas and take them off in the middle of the field. The children had to make a long distance in order to get to the aunts’ house. The aunts understood everything without explanations, accepted the girl and took care of her as of Jeronimas daughter, although all the neighbours were surprised how Jeronimas could have such a dark-haired girl. Young Jonina’s rescuer Vytukas stayed with her until the Russians broke the front line.
Having lost hope to see Jonina’s parents (they both perished) Jeronimas and Antanina placed the girl into a Jewish orphanage in Kaunas. Jonina’s aunt, Gita Feigelman took her from there in 1946 to Minsk.