ABOUT THE PROJECT
Preserving a Family History. Expanding the Historical Record.
The Gens Family Project began with the history of one Lithuanian family whose lives intersected with some of the defining events of the twentieth century: independence, occupation, the Holocaust, displacement and the eventual restoration of Lithuanian sovereignty.
What began as an effort to preserve family history has grown into a broader historical project devoted to recovering the lives and experiences of Lithuanian Jews affected by the Holocaust. Through archival research, survivor testimony, fieldwork, documentary film and education, we work to bring individual people, places and voices back into the historical record.
Our research often begins with a name, a photograph, a document or a remembered story. From there, it can lead across archives, countries, former ghettos, mass-grave sites and families separated by war. By connecting these fragments, the project seeks to preserve histories that might otherwise remain scattered, obscured or forgotten.
Our purpose is not simply to record what happened, but to restore human lives to the history from which they were nearly erased.
HOW IT BEGAN
From Family Memory to Historical Research.
The Gens Family Project grew from an effort to understand and preserve the history of Ada Gens-Ustjanauskas and her family, whose lives were shaped by independent Lithuania, Soviet and German occupation, the Holocaust, displacement and, decades later, the restoration of Lithuanian independence.
As the research expanded, it became clear that their story could not be understood in isolation. Every document led to other names. Every testimony opened another question. Families separated by war reappeared across archives and countries, while places once central to Jewish life in Lithuania had been altered, neglected or erased altogether.
What began as family research therefore became something larger: an effort to recover connected histories, preserve evidence and return individual voices to events too often remembered only through numbers.
OUR APPROACH
How We Approach the Work.
The Gens Family Project approaches history with a commitment to evidence, context and the individuality of the people whose lives we preserve.
HISTORICAL RIGOR
Evidence Before Assumption
Our work draws on archival records, testimony, photographs, scholarship and research in the places where events occurred. Sources are compared and contextualized so that uncertainty and conflicting evidence remain visible rather than being simplified away.
HUMAN LIVES
People Before Statistics
Behind every document, photograph and historical event was an individual life. The project seeks to restore names, relationships, choices and experiences to histories too often reduced to numbers.
PRESERVATION
Safeguarding What Survives
Testimony, documents, photographs, film and physical sites are fragile forms of evidence. Preserving and interpreting them responsibly helps ensure that these histories remain available to future generations.
THE PEOPLE BEHIND THE PROJECT
Three Generations. One Continuing Work.
The Gens Family Project is rooted in family memory, lived experience and the responsibility to preserve what survives. Across three generations, that history has been carried, researched and brought forward for others to understand.
ALEXANDER PHIBBS
Founder & President
Alexander Phibbs founded the Gens Family Project and directs its historical research, documentary films, fieldwork and educational initiatives. His work brings together family history, archival evidence and on-the-ground research to recover and preserve the stories of Lithuanian Jews affected by the Holocaust.
HENRIETTA USTJANAUSKAS
Vice President
As Vice President of the Gens Family Project, Henrietta Ustjanauskas helps guide the project’s preservation, research and educational work while carrying forward the family history at its center. She also plays an important role in bringing that history forward through the project’s public and educational efforts.
ADA GENS-USTJANAUSKAS
Survivor & Primary Witness
Her testimony and memories form one of the central foundations of the project, connecting family history with the wider history of Lithuania, the Holocaust, displacement and restored independence. Her strength, memory and willingness to share what she lived through continue to inspire the work we do.
CONTINUE THE WORK
Help Preserve What Survives.
The histories preserved by the Gens Family Project depend on continued research, documentation and public engagement. Explore our work, follow the stories we are recovering, or help support their preservation for future generations.