About the rescuer and the rescue story

Jurgis was born in Kostroma, Russia, where his father, Stanislovas, had been sent during the First World War and worked as a clerk in a prison. There, Stanislovas met his future wife, Antanina, and their first son, Jurgis, was born. Around 1923–1925, the family returned to Lithuania and settled in the village of Kalnėnai.

Jurgis was an educated, curious, and multilingual young man. He spoke Lithuanian, Russian, German, English, French, Estonian, and Latin. He graduated from Telšiai Gymnasium in 1939 and later enrolled in medical school, but after his first year he discontinued his studies. Beyond his academic pursuits, Jurgis had a deep interest in literature and the arts — he wrote poetry, was friends with the poet Vytautas Mačernis, and maintained ties with theatre director Juozas Miltinis. He enjoyed spending time in cultured, intellectual circles, yet in everyday life he found joy in simple activities such as fishing, mushroom picking, and reading from his large book collection.

During the German occupation, Jurgis became the main rescuer of Dora Kaganaitė. With the help of his friend, Dr. Stasys Šereika, he assisted Dora in escaping from the Telšiai ghetto and brought her to his family’s home in Kalnėnai. Whenever danger arose, Jurgis would take her to relatives or trusted acquaintances to keep her safe from arrest. The Tallat-Kelpša home also sheltered Hona Mulman, a Jewish Red Army soldier from Odesa. This shows that the family’s willingness to help extended beyond a single act of rescue. Sadly, in 1944, Hona Mulman was killed, likely by retreating German forces.

That same summer, policemen broke into the Tallat-Kelpša house demanding that the “hidden Jew” be handed over. Jurgis’s grandmother, Agota Tallat-Kelpšienė, swore in the name of Christ that no one was hiding in the home, and the officers left. Dora survived.

After the war, Dora and Jurgis married. Both worked as teachers in Telšiai, where they spent most of their lives, and later lived for some time in Varniai. Toward the end of his life, Jurgis underwent treatment at an oncology hospital in Moscow, where he died in 1976.

The Tallat-Kelpša surname is associated with Lithuania’s historic Tatar families. Over the centuries, the lineage spread widely, and today many people bearing the Tallat-Kelpša name in Lithuania no longer know the exact family ties that connect them. On August 4, 1997, Jurgis, together with Agota, Stanislovas, and Antanina, was recognized as Righteous Among the Nations.