Rescuers of Jews

        Yecheskel Fliesher (Chackelis Fleišeris) was born in Kuršėnai and lived there with his first wife before the war. When the war began, Fliesher and his wife tried to escape to Russia by bicycle, but they were both captured: his wife was killed in Pakruojis, and Yecheskel Fliesher, together with 800 other Jews, was imprisoned in the Šiauliai hard labor prison. When the Jewish ghetto was established in Šiauliai, Yecheskel Fliesher was transferred there. As a tanner, he worked at the Frenkel Leather Factory together with other Šiauliai ghetto prisoners. At the same factory worked Fliesher’ old acquaintance, Aleksandras Bielskis, who had lived in Kuršėnai before the war.
       In the Šiauliai ghetto, Yecheskel Fliesher married Lea Kopel, who came from Telšiai. While they were in the ghetto, the family of Aleksandras and Zosė Bielskis helped them, providing food for Fliesher and his sister Batia’s family. Since Fliesher‘ sister ate only kosher food, the Bielski family, at great risk of being caught, sometimes brought them chickens. After work, Fliesher often went to the Bielskis’ home, sometimes even spending the night there, but most importantly, he was always fed. The Bielskis also gave him food for all five members of his family: his wife Lea, his sister Batia, her husband, and their daughter. Often Aleksandras Bielskis would bring food to the ghetto and throw it over the fence.
       On November 5, 1943, during the Children’s Aktion in the Šiauliai ghetto, Yecheskel Fliesher‘ niece was murdered. After this action, Yecheskel Fliesher and his wife Lea escaped from the ghetto to Telšiai, Lea’s hometown, where she hoped for help from her old acquaintances in Telšiai. Upon reaching Telšiai, Lea and Yecheskel Fliesher went to Stasys and Stasė Liškus. Stanislovas Liškus had already helped Lea in 1941, when she was still in the Telšiai ghetto with her family. At that time, S. Liškus hid her and later helped her escape to Šiauliai, where in the Šiauliai ghetto she met Yecheskel Fliesher. This time too, the Liškus family helped Lea and her husband Yecheskel Fliesher. At first, they hid them briefly in their own home, but since the Liškus house was in an unsafe, busy place, they found several different hiding places. The longest period – five months – Lea and Yecheskel Fliesher stayed with the family of Kazimieras and Petronėlė Gailiūnai in Buoženai village, about 7 km from Telšiai. Although the Gailiūnai family was very poor, had four children of their own, and survived only on potatoes and porridge, they shared everything with the Fliesher family. All the rescuers of the Fliesher family took care of them without asking for anything in return.
       When rumors spread that the Gailiūnai family was hiding Jews, the Fliesher couple left them and returned to the Liškus family, who then found another hiding place for them. To these three families – the Bielskis, the Gailiūnai, and the Liškus – Lea and Yecheskel Fliesher were deeply grateful for their rescue. After the war, the Fliesher family left for Israel. They maintained contact with their rescuers and their children.

       The help of Stasys Liškus to Jews is also testified by former Telšiai resident Jakovas Gurvičius:
       In the middle of September, a man unknown to me (as it later turned out, it was Stanislovas Liškus, who had helped Jews a great deal throughout the war) came to the village where I was staying and began asking where I was. It turned out that he had been sent by my mother, who had asked him to bring me back to the ghetto. But that time, I did not return to the ghetto with him, because I was terribly afraid. Some time later, he came a second time and brought a letter from my mother, who wrote in German: “Yasha, come back – you are not in danger.” This time I made up my mind and returned. He sat me on his bicycle and brought me back. That is how I ended up in the Telšiai ghetto (Jakovas Gurvičius, Pasmerktųjų gelbėjimosi kelias, Gyvybę ir duoną nešančios rankos, Book IV, Vilnius, VGŽIM, 2009).

       In 2002, the rescuers of Yecheskel and Lea Fliesher – Aleksandras and Zosė Bielskis, Kazimieras and Petronėlė Gailiūnai – were awarded the Life Saviour's Cross award, and in 2004 the Bielskis, Gailiūnai, and Liškus families were recognized as Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem. During the 2025 ceremony, Stasė and Stasys Liškus were also awarded the Life Saviour's Cross, in recognition of their especially significant contribution to saving Yecheskel and Lea Fliesher and other Jews of Telšiai.