Shep Zitler was born in Vilna (Vilnius). The city and region was annexed by Poland after World War I. Shep lived with his parents, his brother, and his four sisters. His brother and a sister immigrated to Palestine before the Second World War. In 1939, Shep was drafted into the Polish Army. He was captured by the Germans in September 1939.
The Germans ceded Vilna to Lithuania, and Lithuania was promptly annexed by the Soviet Union, which was then a German ally. As a result, Shep fell into a unique category: he was "a Jewish soldier of Lithuanian origin." As a result, his life was spared. He was sent to several POW camps, where he was subjected to brutal treatment. During the first year of captivity, Shep received letters from his mother. The letters stopped coming in 1941. Shep's family was murdered by the Nazis and their Lithuanian collaborators in Ponary Forest, a killing ground near Vilna.
In 1948, Shep moved to New Orleans. He married and had a son.
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