Freda Karpul memoir

Copyright Holder: Ms. Freda Karpul The collection consists of a four-page memoir of Freda Karpul (née Fridmanaite), originally of Skaudvilė, Lithuania, who was a survivor of the Kovno ghetto (Kaunas) and Batakiai concentration camp. In the memoir, Freda describes her internment in the Kaunas ghetto, deportation to Batakiai, her escape and involvement with partisans, the fate of her family, her liberation by the Soviet Red Army, and later immigration to the United States. Freda Karpul (1924-2020) was born Freda Fridmanaite on December 5, 1924 in Skaudvilė, Lithuania to Abraham Fridman and Chaie Sara Segal. She had four siblings: Loupa, Tsipporah, Joseph, and Morris. In June 1940 Russia occupied Lithuania, and Freda remained in Skaudvilė until July 1941 when it was occupied by Germany. Her father was rounded up with the other men and murdered in a nearby forest. Freda, her mother, and two sisters were deported to Batakiai concentration camp. After two months, they fled and hid in the forest for over a year. They were discovered while in hiding and her mother was killed by Lithuanian police. Freda and her sister survived in hiding on a farm. After becoming ill, she and her sister were taken to the Kovno ghetto (Kaunas) where she recovered. After recovering, she escaped the ghetto and survived in the countryside. She later joined up with a group of partisans hiding in a forest. Freda was liberated by the Soviet Red Army in October 1944. She married Abraham Karpoulis in Kaunas in 1946. In 1980 they immigrated to the United States and settled in Chicago, IL. She had one daughter, Sophie.