Rescuers of Jews
Miriam and Mausha Blat
Miriam Todesaitė was born in Panevėžys, graduated from a gymnasium and studied medicine in in Prague and Italy. Mausha Blat was born in Ukmergė, graduated from the Kaunas Institute of Medicine and worked as a therapist in Telšiai hospital. There he met a young doctor Miriam and they got married in Telšiai. In 1940, their daughter Liba was born. Before the war, Miriam’s mother Chaya Todesienė moved from Panevėžys to Telšiai. When the war broke out, Chaya’s husband Aharonas, who had remained in Panevėžys, was taken to Šiauliai and killed there.
In autumn 1941, Mausha and Miriam Blat, their daughter Liba aged a year and a half and Miriam’s mother Chaya Todesene were found in the Telšiai Ghetto by Juozas Straupis whom they did not know. He was contacted via the Faktor family already hidden by Juozas Straupis. Just before the liquidation of the Telšiai Ghetto, Juozas Straupis hid the Blat family in his carried pulled by horses under blankets and hay at night and took them to his farmstead in Šarnelė village near Žemaičių Kalvarija.
From the memoirs of Jadvyga Blažienė (Stulpinaitė):
In the end of the summer 1942, doctor Miriam Blat gave birth to a child in a hideout. My mother Ona Stulpinienė was about to give birth to her own child but agreed to take in the girl and raise her as her own child. It was easier to take the baby than to officially adopt it. She had to tell to the administrator of the district about a found baby: my father, Boleslovas Stulpinas, said he was a pious man and could not leave the baby to die. Moreover, his wife was expecting a child so he said the refusal to take in this baby sent by God might have brought disaster upon his home and so on. They listened to him and most probably believed him, because they just said: “Do as you please.” /.../ In December my mother gave birth to me. Thus, me and Juzė (Juzefa was the name given to Israela) grew together like sisters until the end of the war.
From the memoirs of Miriam Blat:
My daughter Liba hidden by Stanislava Dausinienė in Telšiai, got into trouble. Someone informed the authorities that she was a Jewish child. Dausinienė’s home was searched and the three years old child was ‘arrested’. However, Stanislava Dausinienė did not abandon her little foster-child and went to prison with her. Juozas Straupis found out about this disaster. He immediately went to Telšiai. He and Stanislava Dausinienė managed to save the child from shooting and save his life until the “identification” of her personality (Stanislava Dausinienė had told that the child had been left to her).
When the Red Army liberated Šiauliai, Telšiai panicked, prison wardens opened the cells and left. Stanislava Dausinienė took the child and fled to Juozas Straupis in Šarnelė village. Juozas and Bronislova Straupis sheltered them until a place was found at their relative Prof. Mačernis on the outskirts of Telšiai town. That was the place where we found her.
When we were liberated by the Red Army, we all reunited in the home of the Straupis family. They gave us food and transportation for the journey to Telšiai.
We still call the Straupis father and mother – because they gave us life for the second time.
Those people feared nothing, risked their lives, toiled with their entire family and had lots of expenses without demanding anything in return for their good deeds. We will be grateful to them for eternity.
The Blat family stayed in Telšiai. Miriam and Mausha became famous and honoured doctors: Miriam was a surgeon, and Mausha was the head of the department of contagious diseases. Their daughters Liba and a graduated from a school in Telšiai, studied in Kaunas Polytechnic and later worked as engineers. Israela and her daughter Noemi left for Israel in 1971, followed by Liba in 1972. Mausha’s and Miriam’s third daughter Aharonit left for Israel in 1987.
Miriam Todesaitė was born in Panevėžys, graduated from a gymnasium and studied medicine in in Prague and Italy. Mausha Blat was born in Ukmergė, graduated from the Kaunas Institute of Medicine and worked as a therapist in Telšiai hospital. There he met a young doctor Miriam and they got married in Telšiai. In 1940, their daughter Liba was born. Before the war, Miriam’s mother Chaya Todesienė moved from Panevėžys to Telšiai. When the war broke out, Chaya’s husband Aharonas, who had remained in Panevėžys, was taken to Šiauliai and killed there.
In autumn 1941, Mausha and Miriam Blat, their daughter Liba aged a year and a half and Miriam’s mother Chaya Todesene were found in the Telšiai Ghetto by Juozas Straupis whom they did not know. He was contacted via the Faktor family already hidden by Juozas Straupis. Just before the liquidation of the Telšiai Ghetto, Juozas Straupis hid the Blat family in his carried pulled by horses under blankets and hay at night and took them to his farmstead in Šarnelė village near Žemaičių Kalvarija.
From the memoirs of Jadvyga Blažienė (Stulpinaitė):
In the end of the summer 1942, doctor Miriam Blat gave birth to a child in a hideout. My mother Ona Stulpinienė was about to give birth to her own child but agreed to take in the girl and raise her as her own child. It was easier to take the baby than to officially adopt it. She had to tell to the administrator of the district about a found baby: my father, Boleslovas Stulpinas, said he was a pious man and could not leave the baby to die. Moreover, his wife was expecting a child so he said the refusal to take in this baby sent by God might have brought disaster upon his home and so on. They listened to him and most probably believed him, because they just said: “Do as you please.” /.../ In December my mother gave birth to me. Thus, me and Juzė (Juzefa was the name given to Israela) grew together like sisters until the end of the war.
From the memoirs of Miriam Blat:
My daughter Liba hidden by Stanislava Dausinienė in Telšiai, got into trouble. Someone informed the authorities that she was a Jewish child. Dausinienė’s home was searched and the three years old child was ‘arrested’. However, Stanislava Dausinienė did not abandon her little foster-child and went to prison with her. Juozas Straupis found out about this disaster. He immediately went to Telšiai. He and Stanislava Dausinienė managed to save the child from shooting and save his life until the “identification” of her personality (Stanislava Dausinienė had told that the child had been left to her).
When the Red Army liberated Šiauliai, Telšiai panicked, prison wardens opened the cells and left. Stanislava Dausinienė took the child and fled to Juozas Straupis in Šarnelė village. Juozas and Bronislova Straupis sheltered them until a place was found at their relative Prof. Mačernis on the outskirts of Telšiai town. That was the place where we found her.
When we were liberated by the Red Army, we all reunited in the home of the Straupis family. They gave us food and transportation for the journey to Telšiai.
We still call the Straupis father and mother – because they gave us life for the second time.
Those people feared nothing, risked their lives, toiled with their entire family and had lots of expenses without demanding anything in return for their good deeds. We will be grateful to them for eternity.
The Blat family stayed in Telšiai. Miriam and Mausha became famous and honoured doctors: Miriam was a surgeon, and Mausha was the head of the department of contagious diseases. Their daughters Liba and a graduated from a school in Telšiai, studied in Kaunas Polytechnic and later worked as engineers. Israela and her daughter Noemi left for Israel in 1971, followed by Liba in 1972. Mausha’s and Miriam’s third daughter Aharonit left for Israel in 1987.