Alternate names
Biography
Chiena "Zelda" Porubansky was born Chiena Kačaitė (Katz) on 14 March 1901 in Vilnius, a daughter of Chonon Katz and Judes. She married Berl Porubansky in Kaunas on 28 October 1921 and lived at 4 Lukšio Street; they had four children. Through the 1920s she is documented in Kaunas as a registered refugee. After the German invasion the family was confined in the Kovno ghetto from August 1941; her two youngest children, Judit and Osher, were murdered there in the Kinderaktion of March 1944. When the ghetto was liquidated in July 1944 Zelda was deported to Stutthof, where she was registered as a leather-glove seamstress. She died in May 1945 near Pruszcz (Praust), shortly after liberation.
Occupations1
- Housewife
Life events19
- ResidenceKaunas, Lithuania
Ongoing residency documentation
1. May–July 1921: The expulsion crisis. Kaunas authorities ordered Berel Porubanski's removal from the city (first citing a housing shortage, then reclassifying him for relocation to Vilkaviškis as his supposed "permanent residence," a place he had in fact never lived). Berel petitioned the Kaunas authorities and ultimately the President of Lithuania, arguing that he had fled to Kaunas directly from Vilnius, his true home, and had established a stable, self-sufficient life there as a dental technician. Lithuanian officials investigated, confirmed he had no ties to Vilkaviškis, and on 7 July 1921 the Ministry of Internal Affairs ruled in his favor, permitting him to remain in Lithuania. Berel personally signed for the order on 16 July 1921. 2. 1921–1928: Ongoing residency documentation. As a refugee from the Vilnius region (administered separately from the rest of Lithuania while under Polish control), Berel and later his wife Genė had to repeatedly renew "Temporary Personal Certificates" and residence permits every six months to two years, cross-referencing marriage, birth, and prior certificate records each time. This pattern continues in the file through at least January 1928. One residence permit (Img299270/271) was also stamped by the Riga City Police in Latvia in 1926, suggesting the family traveled there at some point.
- Personal Identity CertificateKaunas, Lithuania
Personal Identity Certificate ("Asmens liūdymas") No. 6447• Date: August 18, 1921
- MarriageKaunas, Lithuania
with Berl Porubansky
Marriage of Berl Porubansky and Chiena "Zelda" Porubansky
- ResidenceKaunas, Lithuania
Residence of Berl Porubansky and Chiena "Zelda" Porubansky - 4, Luksio, Kaunas, Lithuania
- ResidenceKaunas, Lithuania
Residence of Berl Porubansky and Chiena "Zelda" Porubansky - 4, Luksio, Kaunas, Lithuania
- Forced LabourStutthof concentration camp, Poland
Leather glove seamstress
Written in the Stutthof documents
- Concentration campStutthof concentration camp, Poland
Arrived in concentration camp of Chiena "Zelda" Porubansky
Places5
Family
Spouses & Children
- Michla "Mania" Turetz♀BIOLOGICAL
- Tsilia Porubansky♀BIOLOGICAL
- Judit Porubansky♀BIOLOGICAL
- Osher Porubansky♂BIOLOGICAL
Media1
Chiena (Kačaitė) Porubanskienė