(train wheels clacking)
♪ (music) ♪
So, my dad was sent to engineer
a nuclear power plant in Lithuania
by the USSR government back in the old days.
(Sergio's father) The first block took about five years to build.
(Sergio) It has been 26 years
since I left my hometown in the USSR.
This is where I grew up, right here.
My grandma, whom I have not seen for 13 years,
still lives here.
How can I not rejoice? Look!
(Sergio) So, in this in-between-seasons episodes,
we will explore what's left of this town
and hear an extraordinary story of a Holocaust survivor.
So, my dad said there is a very high level of radiation here
and that I'm okay because I was born here,
so I have immunity.
Why do I have the feeling
that this is your own translation
of something Papa never said?
Mm.
Confession time?
You come back here!
♪ (music) ♪
(Sergio) Rhoda found very cheap tickets to Lithuania
on very short notice.
So, we packed our bags,
took a train to Ben Gurion Airport.
And after a four-hour flight,
landed in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania.
It is a beautiful city.
It has a European feel to it.
Beautiful churches on every corner...
even though one of them had three dead corpses
right in the middle.
We only stayed half a day in the city
because our main purpose of the trip
was a two-hour drive away.
So, we rented the cheapest car--
we seemed to have a never-ending gas tank--
and took off to Visaginas.
♪ (Giants & Pilgrims, “Settled Down”) ♪
So, this is the place where I grew up, right here.
My parents remember much more.
They were there, and they just told me.
So, my parents are saying this is the very playground
that I would play in when I was five years old.
I don't remember it, but there is a picture.
So, you see, before the days of dryers,
that's what they used to have.
In the middle of multi-complex buildings,
they would have these to hang the clothes.
Maybe they still use them. It looks like they still use them.
My parents moved here because the USSR employed my dad
to build a nuclear power plant.
And, along with the plant,
this city was built for the workers and their families.
Why did they close the plant?
One of the reasons is
the block is similar to the one at Chernobyl.
And, today, it's been decommissioned,
and it's being slowly disassembled.
It takes many, many years to take it down
and stop the process of the atom...
What? Yeah.
I found a key!
(Rhoda) Look what I found!
I have the key.
It has radiation!
- Oh. - It has radiation!
It's not allowed to touch anything here.
I'm just joking.
I think I have radiation on me.
(Sergio) They used USSR construction style.
It could be seen everywhere.
Raw concrete buildings and cheap brick
that started crumbling after 30 years.
(laughter)
What was that that each employee
had a device on their suits
that calculates how much radiation they got.
If they got too much, then they get days off.
So, it depends on how much radiation you get...
that's your vacation.
(laughing) [Inaudible]
But, no. In all seriousness,
they did have that in order, at the end of the month,
the supervisors would check if somebody got over radiation
or normal.
(Sergio) Back at that time,
the average age of the residents here was 25.
About 10,000 young Russian engineers and their families.
But, today, this city has quite a different feel to it.
There's nothing but forest all around the city.
Miles upon miles of never-ending trees.
This was Rhoda's second-favorite thing
about this trip:
The delicious wild strawberries that grew everywhere.
Is Grandma able to walk down the stairs?
Yes. Slowly, slowly.
Why is the light not working?
(knocking)
(Sergio's father) Mama?
(Grandma) It's open.
(Sergio) It's open.
(Sergio's mother) Mama?
(Rhoda) Do you want to go?
(Sergio) Go, go. I'm filming.
(Sergio's father) We have arrived!
Where are my children?
Rhoduska.
My beautiful.
My daughter.
(non-English conversation)
In my life,
so many--
how to say this--
situations when I was about to die.
(Sergio) My grandma was born to a Jewish family of five children.
They were living in a small village in Belarus.
When the Nazis came to take them to the concentration camp,
she was only 10 years old.
The soldiers took them out of the house
and started walking them towards the train.
Her mom, realizing their destiny,
lifted her up and threw her over the neighbor's fence.
One of the Nazi soldiers saw it,
but then, he turned around pretending like it never happened.
Despite the freezing cold,
she survived that night by hiding in her neighbor's barn.
But her family...
was burned.
The remainder of her life was not any easier.
From hiding to orphanage,
she faced many difficulties.
(Grandma) Everyone was surprised how I stayed alive,
but I live.
The situations I got out of
it's hard to tell.
I got out only thanks to the Lord.
Only He brought me out.
Only His protection and His help.
He is my doctor.
He is my healer.
He is my God.
He is all in all
here in my heart, in my soul.
(Sergio) One of the most remarkable things about her
is the joy she found
when she accepted Jesus as her Messiah.
I am so thankful to you, Lord,
that You saved my life in this night,
that You prolonged my life,
that I am still alive and I can still glorify You.
Praise Your holy and great name
because you are worthy
of eternal glory and praise!
You are great. You are wonderful.
You were, are, and will be for eternity.
And I believe firmly that I am saved.
I am confident that the Lord will not forsake me.
(Sergio) A few years ago, when her husband passed away,
we called her from America and asked:
How are you doing, Grandma?
Are you lonely?
She replied: Lonely?
What are you talking about?
Jesus fills every corner of this apartment.
(Grandma) I am not alone.
Jesus is always with me.
Oh, what a joy!
What a joy!
I cannot even describe it.
(Sergio) Through her, my mom found Jesus.
And, as a result, I did too.
The Lord said: Rejoice!
Rejoice!
Why should we rejoice?
Because we are with the Lord.
Because our life
will be eternal.
Eternal life.
We hope that our Grandma's story was encouraging for you.
And if it was, please share it with others
so it can be encouraging for them as well,
especially in their time of need.
Yeah. And we made it much easier for you to share it.
Instead of sharing the entire episode
with our trip to Lithuania, which is irrelevant,
you can just share her story
as we cut it out and put it as a separate video.
It's called "A Holocaust Survivor Saved by Jesus."
You can find it on our channel.
Just look for "A Holocaust Survivor Saved by Jesus."
It's a 4 1/2-minute video,
so you can share just that.
And, until next time...
Yep. See you next time.
Say bye, Fifi.
(Fifi meows)
Cats.