Ink stamp impression of Dr. Samuel Gringauz's signature from an administrative department of the Kovno ghetto

Dr. Samuel Gringauz (1900-1975) was born in Kėdainiai, Russia (now Lithuania), to Max and Cilija (Ziporah) Schur Gringauz (d.1939). Samuel (Shmuel) studied in Germany and Switzerland, where he earned degrees in law, economics, and philosophy. He settled in Klaipėda, also known by the German name of Memel, where he worked as a lawyer, jurist, and judge. He married Masha Tanur (1907-1945), the daughter of Iosif and Yohanna Tanur of Skuodas, Russia (now Lithuania). In May 1934, they had a son, Alexander (Alex, b.1934). The family celebrated the high holidays and spoke German and Lithuanian. In March 1939, Germany annexed the German-speaking region around Memel, so the Gringauz family moved to the nation’s capital, Kovno (now Kaunas). The Soviet Union annexed Lithuania in August 1940, and held the territory until Germany invaded the Soviet Union and its territories in June and July 1941. In August 1941, Samuel, Mascha, Alex, and Mascha’s mother, Yohanna, were ordered to report to the area of Kovno that became the Jewish ghetto. Samuel served as a member of the Judenrat in the ghetto, and helped make necessary decisions for the community being held there. His mother-in-law,Yohanna, died while living in the ghetto. Following the liquidation of a smaller, nearby ghetto Samuel feared that the Kovno ghetto would be next, and began making plans to keep Alex safe. A friend told Samuel that a Ukrainian woman, the widow of a Lithuanian official, on the outskirts of the city was hiding his young daughter, Sarah Shelingovsky (Capelowitz). Samuel thought this might be a good approach to take and began to make the arrangements. The woman, Konstancija Bražėnienė (Konstance), agreed to hide a second Jewish child and asked for no money. Her only stipulations were that Alex be baptized Catholic, to ensure there were baptismal papers as possible proof he wasn’t Jewish, and that if neither parent survived, he would remain Christian. Samuel knew that not asking for money was a good sign, because she wasn’t likely to turn Alex over to the authorities after getting paid, and felt the stipulations were worth following if it kept Alex safe. In October 1943, Alex was snuck out of the ghetto in the middle of a large forced labor brigade and then told to wait in a doorway until this woman’s adult son, a German soldier on leave, came to get him and walk Alex to Konstance’s house. Alex left the house once, to be baptized, during his ten months of hiding before being liberated by Soviet soldiers. In the ghetto, Samuel and Mascha identified a hiding place and remained hidden as long as possible. In early 1944, Mascha snuck out of the ghetto in a disguise to visit Alex, and this was the last time he saw her. Samuel and Mascha’s hiding place was eventually discovered during the liquidation of the ghetto and they were deported. Samuel was deported to Dachau concentration camp in Germany, where he arrived on July 15, 1944, and was issued prisoner number 82245 or 82345. He was transferred to one of the Kaufering subcamps of Dachau for a brief period. Samuel was liberated from Dachau in May 1945. Mascha had been deported to Stutthof concentration camp in German-occupied Poland, where she was shot by a sentry on January 27, 1945. That summer, Samuel arrived at the Landsberg displaced persons camp outside of Munich Germany. This was the largest DP camp in Bavaria and had a hospital, theater, radio station, newspaper community center, religious school, and kibbutz. While at the camp, Samuel was able to reunite with Alex, who had remained in Konstance’s care until they learned of Samuel’s survival. Samuel was elected President of the Landsberg DP camp, and also became a leader of the central Committee for Liberated Jews. He also served as a spokesman of Jewish Displaced Persons in the United States zone in Germany. Samuel married Sara Dimant (b.1903), a widowed Polish survivor living in the camp with her older son, Mark (b.1928). Samuel, Alex, Sara, and Mark immigrated to the United States on September 22, 1947, aboard the SS Marine Flasher. The family stayed in New York City where Sara worked as a seamstress, and beginning in the mid-1950’s, Samuel began working for the United Restitution Organization handling German restitution efforts in North and South America. On July 21, 1970, Yad Vashem recognized Konstancija Bražėnienė as Righteous Among the Nations for her aid to Alex and Sarah.

The stamp impression was acquired by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1995.

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection