Rescuers of Jews
Tamašauskas Kazys
KAZYS TAMAŠAUSKAS
JADVYGA TAMAŠAUSKIENĖ
VYTAUTAS TAMAŠAUSKAS
Benjamin Chait was born in 1941 in the Kaunas Ghetto. His parents, Leiba and Genia Chait, hid the child in various places within the ghetto until the Children's Action in March 1944, after which efforts were made to take two-year-old Benjamin outside the ghetto walls. Leiba Chait, along with other Jews, worked forced labor on construction sites near Kaunas. It was here that he met Kazys Tamašauskas, who led the workers. Leiba approached him to hide his son. With the agreement of Kazys and Jadvyga Tamašauskas, Benjamin, sedated with sleeping pills, was brought to his father's workplace, where Jadvyga Tamašauskienė awaited behind the gates. Through Kazys' successful bribery of a German guard, the boy was handed over to her care.
Benjamin lived with the Tamašauskas family for several months, and as the front approached, he was temporarily moved to Jadvyga's friends in the countryside, further away from danger. Vytautas, the youngest son of the Tamašauskas family, also helped to take care of little Benjamin.
Benjamin's parents, Leiba and Genia Chait, survived concentration camps of Dachau and Stutthof. Upon their return, they found their son. The reunited family continued to maintain a connection with their rescuers, the Tamašauskas family.
In 2000, Kazys and Jadvyga Tamašauskas were recognized as Righteous Among the Nations.
In 2000, Kazys, Jadvyga, and their son Vytautas were awarded the Life Saviour’s Cross.
JADVYGA TAMAŠAUSKIENĖ
VYTAUTAS TAMAŠAUSKAS
Benjamin Chait was born in 1941 in the Kaunas Ghetto. His parents, Leiba and Genia Chait, hid the child in various places within the ghetto until the Children's Action in March 1944, after which efforts were made to take two-year-old Benjamin outside the ghetto walls. Leiba Chait, along with other Jews, worked forced labor on construction sites near Kaunas. It was here that he met Kazys Tamašauskas, who led the workers. Leiba approached him to hide his son. With the agreement of Kazys and Jadvyga Tamašauskas, Benjamin, sedated with sleeping pills, was brought to his father's workplace, where Jadvyga Tamašauskienė awaited behind the gates. Through Kazys' successful bribery of a German guard, the boy was handed over to her care.
Benjamin lived with the Tamašauskas family for several months, and as the front approached, he was temporarily moved to Jadvyga's friends in the countryside, further away from danger. Vytautas, the youngest son of the Tamašauskas family, also helped to take care of little Benjamin.
Benjamin's parents, Leiba and Genia Chait, survived concentration camps of Dachau and Stutthof. Upon their return, they found their son. The reunited family continued to maintain a connection with their rescuers, the Tamašauskas family.
In 2000, Kazys and Jadvyga Tamašauskas were recognized as Righteous Among the Nations.
In 2000, Kazys, Jadvyga, and their son Vytautas were awarded the Life Saviour’s Cross.