The person I admire most is my Great-Grandpa John. He was born in 1913,
in Lithuania, in the village of Meiliskiai, which is near the city of
Vilnius, the capitol of Lithuania. His real name was Jonas Olechna, but
it was changed to John Alekna when he left Lithuania.
He lived on a farm. He hated it, and ran away to go to the university
in the city. He knew 5 languages – Lithuanian, Russian, German, Polish
and English.
He was kidnapped by some Nazi soldiers, because they wanted him to work
as a translator. He escaped by pretending to be dead in a ditch. He was
gone for a year, and no one knew where he was. While he was gone, the
Nazis burned down his village. His wife, Zofija (Sophia in English)
didn’t know if he was dead or alive. When the village was burned she
took her son, Alvidus (Alvin in English), to Vilnius, to stay with some
friends. Alvin was my grandfather.
When he found his wife and son, he took them and escaped from Lithuania.
They lived in a displaced persons camp in Hanau, Germany until 1946.
They took a ship to the United States, and arrived in New York City. He
became a US citizen on April 15th, 1955.
He was very brave. He saved his family, and brought them to a safe
place, where they could live in freedom and peace. He was a man of great
faith. He trusted God and knew that no matter how hard it was to get to
somewhere safe, that God would help him.
He prayed with me when I was a little boy, and we went with him to Mass.