Born into a World of Fire

Charles Segal’s father, Morris, also referred to be the family as “Mash,” met his mother Riva in a play called “Tevia Der Milchaker.”   This was the original play inspiring the musical we know today as “The Fiddler on the Roof.”  Around 1924 they married and moved to Joniškis Lithuania.  Louis, Charles’s older brother was born in 1925.  Charles Segal was born in Joniškis Lithuania in June 15^th 1929.  Three months latter, the soviets had invaded Lithuania.  

The atmosphere was very depressing.  To the east they had the Soviets, and to the southwest there was Germany, where Hitler was biding his time for supremacy.  Being held by the soviets was enough already, but in all honesty there was more fear of Hitler than anything else.  Being Jewish in Lithuania was even worse, Jews were hated by Lithuanians and the Bolsheviks alike because of their perceived wealth.  

Bolsheviks would commonly go on progroms (riots) targeting the destruction of Jewish stores, and individual Jews were selected and murdered by the Bolsheviks.  Since most Lithuanians were poor, they were quicker to steal from their “wealthy” Jewish neighbors than their own kin.  Morris sought to find a way to get his family out of Lithuania. It didn’t matter where it was they were going, they just needed to get out.  But the soviets were not letting anyone out unless they had family on the outside.  So for the time being, the family had to wait it out.