rescuers of jews
Vladas Žemaitis was born in a farmers’ family in Mielagėnai (Ignalina district) on 25 February 1900. He took courses for teachers in Vilnius and later in the teachers’ seminary “Saulė” in Kaunas; studied physics in the university for several years. From 1940, gave lectures in the higher commercial school for adults in Kaunas. On the first days of the war he was arrested by Nazis, but survived with the help of his wife Gražina Žemaitienė. She approached Mr. J. Stakauskas, who had been born in the same town as Žemaitis, and he managed to transfer Žemaitis from Lukiškės prison to a concentration camp. Later Žemaitis worked in the archive under J. Stakauskas.
After the war, V. Žemaitis worked as a teacher in a number of schools in Vilnius. He spent the last ten years of his career in S. Nėris Secondary School, i.e. near the former hideout.
He died on 23 April 1980.
Slėptuvės aristokratai. Prisiminimai. Pasaulio Tautų Teisuoliai. Ed. Rimantas Stankevičius, Seimas publishing house “Valstybės žinios”, Vilnius, 2003.
After the war, V. Žemaitis worked as a teacher in a number of schools in Vilnius. He spent the last ten years of his career in S. Nėris Secondary School, i.e. near the former hideout.
He died on 23 April 1980.
Slėptuvės aristokratai. Prisiminimai. Pasaulio Tautų Teisuoliai. Ed. Rimantas Stankevičius, Seimas publishing house “Valstybės žinios”, Vilnius, 2003.