Miklaševičius Petras ( ? - 1957 )  
Miklaševičienė Marija, WIFE 

Rescue Story

Miklaševičius, Petras
Miklaševičienė, Marija

In the 1930s, during his service in the Lithuanian army, the watchmaker Tuvia Belostotsky from Vilkaviškis, became friendly with some Lithuanian soldiers from his town and the area, and sometimes repaired their watches without charge. When the Germans occupied Lithuania and began murdering the Jews, Belostotsky was helped by one of his friends from the time of his army service, Petras Maladauskas*, who hid Belostotsky, his sister Judith, and their elderly mother, Chaya, in the granary not far from his home. After some time, Maladauskas transferred the Jews to the home of his sister, Marija Miklaševičienė, who lived with her husband, Petras Miklaševičius, and their four young children in the village of Sodėnai, Vilkaviškis County. The three Jews remained with the Miklaševičius family almost till the day of liberation, on August 2, 1944. Not only did the Miklaševičiuses have to struggle to manage on their meager income, but they also had to face the many dangers involved in giving shelter to Jews. One day, after someone informed the authorities, the Germans broke into the Miklaševičius home, searching for Jews in hiding. Thanks to the vigilance of the Miklaševičiuses, who had prepared a clever hiding place in the hayloft, the Germans did not find any Jews and left. After the war, the Soviets arrested Petras Miklaševičius, and he died in a Siberian labor camp in 1957. The Belostotskys immigrated to Israel.

On December 2, 1996, Yad Vashem recognized Petras Miklaševičius and Marija Miklaševičienė as Righteous Among the Nations.

VILKAVISKIS
A small town in Southern Lithuania
Where the Jewish Community is no more
Righteous Gentiles of Vilkaviskis

Miklaševičius FAMILY