The granddaughter of Helmut Rauca, the notorious war criminal from the Kaunas ghetto who hid in Canada for years before being deported to West Germany to stand trial in 1983, has paid a visit to the Kaunas Jewish Community. Rauca, the top SS official in occupied Kaunas, was personally responsible for selecting those doomed to be murdered at the Ninth Fort on Democrat Square in the Kaunas ghetto on the day over 10,000 Jews were killed, the Grosse Aktion or Great Action. Reglindis Rauca only learned of her grandfather’s crimes against humanity relatively late in life. The shock led her to write a book about it. The author and actress wanted to meet eye-witnesses and Holocaust survivors in Kaunas. Although initially she appeared nervous about the meeting, her warmth, simplicity and sincerity were obvious and overcame any potential barriers to communication and mutual understanding.

You can find out more about Reglindis Rauca and her novels here and here.

More about Helmut Rauca in Canada here.