Julia (Filipovsky) Kellen was born on October 28, 1914 in Kybartai, Lithuania. After the invasion of Lithuania by the German Army in 1941, Julia and her family were forced into the Kovno Ghetto. Julia married Henry Kellen in the ghetto on December 7, 1942. After witnessing the roundup of hundreds of children from the ghetto, who were then murdered at the Ninth Fort, Henry and Julia decided to save their eight-year-old nephew by escaping. In 1944, Julia, Henry and their nephew Jerry escaped the Kovno Ghetto and were taken in by a Christian Lithuanian farmer and his wife, Andrius and Marija Urbonas. Along with five other Jews, the Kellens were hidden in an earthen hole beneath the barn until liberation by the Soviet Army three months later. In 1946, the Kellens immigrated to the United States. They settled in El Paso, Texas because Julia had relatives here. Henry and Julia adopted Jerry as their son. Julia became very active in El Paso in many organizations. Because of her language abilities, she was also able to help many German immigrants who were new arrivals to El Paso. Julia died in 1983.
Connecting Stories: Henry Kellen, Jerry Kellen