Wolf Children - Wolfskinder - remembering a silent tragedy

Inaccuracy in the film: The society "Edelweiss" (name of the flower) was founded not in Vilnius, but in Klaipeda in 1991.
The children of the Wolf are a very specific group of children who have experienced extremely difficult circumstances and conditions, hunger, violence and other difficulties. These children from the German part of East Prussia, the Königsberg region in 1944-48 were separated from their families or remained orphans. There were about 7,000 of them. Some came to Lithuania while starving, others were brought to Lithuania by Karaliaučius kr. (since 1946 in Kaliningrad region) Lithuanian farmers trading in markets (children were left to them by mothers or relatives), sometimes women used to beg them. Most of these children worked on peasant farms. These children lived in Lithuania illegally: Germans in the Kaliningrad region were considered foreigners by the USSR, and did not have the right to live in Lithuania until the end of the 1990s. Many wolf children born in 1940 and later and found themselves in Lithuania were adopted; For unaccompanied older children, in order to find employment, counterfeit documents with different names, place of birth and Lithuanian nationality were often received. Without knowing the language, they starved, many became ill and weak and suffered an extremely difficult part. Needless to say, official statistics, documents on how many such children were not available. It was dangerous to hug such a child - a "fascist child", repression was possible. Throughout the Soviet era, this was an untouchable topic, and no one made it public. The fate of each "Wolf Child" is unique, as are the people who took refuge, fed and often raised them as members of their families.
Only after 1990. After Lithuania regained its independence, children of German descent living in Lithuania formed the Edelweiss community, later renamed the Edelweiss-Wolfskinder. 1991 58 East Prussian children who had experienced part of the wolf child were registered in the community. 1997 the community had 219 members, in 2000 - 260, 2009 - 114, 2015 - 63, 2019 - 39. Tauragė branch is currently the largest. He owns 17 elderly Wolf children who, at a very young age, saw their parents, older brothers and sisters die in East Prussia.
During the project "Children of the Wolf: Perpetuating a Silent Tragedy", the memories of 14 people were immortalized. Thank you to everyone who dared to remember and tell this shocking story. We thank the German community "EdelWeiss - Wolfskinder" and the chairman Stefania Mačiulskiene for their cooperation in the implementation of the project.
The project was funded by the Lithuanian Culture Council and Tauragė District Municipality.
Translation by Mindaugas Piečia.
Valerija Čepienė - Waltraut Minnt (g. Prūsų Ylava - Preussisch Eylau)
Jadvyga Kaminskaitė - Renate Kösling (g. Ludwigsburg)
Trautė Lileikienė - Gertrud Schulz (g. Tepliava - Tapiau)
Morta Mačiulienė - Käthe Rehberg (g. Labguva - Labiau)
Ella Matimaitienė - Ella Karin Macik (g. Gastos - Heinrichswalde)
Elena Mikavičienė - Hannelore Schulz (g. Karaliaučius - Königsberg)
Irena Petraitienė - Renate Kakschies (g. Tilžė - Tilsit)
Elena Rimkienė - Gislinde Lutkus (g. Klein Marienwal)
Horst Radtke (g. Vėluvos apskr. - Kr. Wehlau)
Anicetas Mačiulskis - Hans Gladstein (g. Gross Holstein, Karaliaučius - Königsberg)
Pranas Miliauskas - Arthur Willuweit (g. Piktupėnai - Piktupönen)
Irena Bružienė - Gisela Launer (g. Labguvos apskr. - Kr. Labiau)
Erika Survilienė - Erika Auktun (g. Vėluvos apskr. - Kr. Wehlau)
Vanda Šmitienė - Winfriede Waltraut Müller (g. Karaliaučiaus apskr. - Kr. Königsberg)