In God We Trusted: An Unforgettable Escape from Lithuania to Western Europe during World War II

In God We Trusted: An Unforgettable Escape from Lithuania to Western Europe during World War II

Escape from Lithuania In 1933, Lili Hriskevicius Tremblay was born into a near dreamlike existence. She came from one of the wealthiest families in Lithuania and lived in a mansion on her family’s thousand-acre estate. She lacked few luxuries; however, with the onset of World War II, Lili’s home was taken over first by the Soviets and later by the Germans. These tensions put the family on the run. Leaving one child and several older relatives behind, Lili’s parents made a harrowing trip west, through Lithuania, Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Germany. Traveling largely in a horse-drawn cart, the family lived day-to-day facing famine, disease, thievery, and the vast horrors and depression of war. But they survived and through her father’s faith in God, and his ceaseless efforts to deliver his family to safety, they survived the war and ultimately immigrated to the United States in 1949. Lili eventually became a teacher, married her husband in 1961, and proceeded to travel the world with their family. This is her amazing story. Author Lili Hriskevicius Tremblay completed her undergraduate education at UCLA, and received her masters degree from Victoria University in Wellington New Zealand. She went on to become an American citizen, was a high school teacher and later married a U.S. Foreign Service Officer, Donald Tremblay. Together they had four children and lived all over the world on assignments. The family retired to Santa Monica, California in 1985.