Travel to Lithuania: Nancy Wright Beasley

A Lithuanian honor guard carrying wreaths to commemorate the victims of the Holocaust buried at Paneriu, near Vilnius the capital of Lithuania, where Vilna Ghetto was established.

In September 2011 I visited Lithuania for the second time in less than a year. My guides from the 2010 trip gave a copy of Izzy’s Fire (which is set in Lithuania and centers around Kovo Ghetto) to Anne Derse, the U.S. Ambassador to Lithuania. When the ambassador learned that I would be in the country again, she asked me to give presentations to several groups. My last trip coincided with the week set aside each year in Lithuania to commemorate losses and to honor Holocaust survivors.

Nancy Wright Beasley, author of Izzy’s Fire, Anne Derse, U.S. Ambassador to Lithuania, and Sam Bak, an internationally known artist and author who survived Vilna Ghetto.

Many of my days were arranged by the ambassador’s staff and included speaking engagements at the Embassy library and at several schools and universities. One of the events was a dinner given in my honor at the ambassador’s residence. It was attended by about 20 individuals, including Holocaust survivors and members of Parliament. I was humbled to read from my book at that time and also sign copies for those attending. Sam Bak, an internationally known Jewish artist and survivor of Vilna Ghetto, brought me a gift — his book, Return to Vilna. Also in attendance was Irena Veisaite, who gave me a coat to wear home the next day, as it snowed and turned bitterly cold. Irena was one of the few Jews to survive Kovno Ghetto.

— Nancy Beasley

Beasley and Irena Veisaite one of few Jews to survive Kovno Ghetto