First Martyrs in Our Village of Telsiai 1914-1918, The

The following is a first-hand account of the German invasion of Telsiai in 1914, as narrated by Velvel (Zev) Noy (1908 - 1993) who was born in Telsiai, Lithuania.

His first-hand account of the German invasion of Lithuania in 1914, originally published in Yiddish and Hebrew in 1987, was subsequently translated by his daughter, Rachel Noy Merzel, of Los Angeles, and his son, Shabtai Noy, of Jerusalem, in January 1994. This translation was included in the Noyek family history written by Davida Noyek Handler in 1994.

At the time of the German invasion, after the outbreak of World War I, Telsiai (Telzhe) was surrounded by foreign troops. By July 1915, everyone in the town was starving, including Zev, who was then seven years old.

"As the First World War was in progress, the Germans entered Lithuania. I was a young boy when the bitter picture of the Telsiai (Telzhe) martyrs was etched in my mind, to accompany me for the rest of my entire life.

According to the testimony later given by some Lithuanians, these soldiers accused the two Jews of spying for the Germans, consequently killing them with live fire. My mother sent a messenger to look for them ~ or any trace of them... A week later their bodies were found strewn in the forest.

On July 24, 1915, when the bodies were brought back, Telsiai’s entire community went forward to receive our city’s first victims. The day was black, bleak, and gloomy as the bodies arrived at the Beit Hamidrash, the Bible and Talmud study room adjacent to the synagogue. I will always remember the first "Kaddish" that I said for my father, may his name rest in peace, which will linger in my memory FOREVER.

During the winter of 1918, our little shtetl was again shaken to the core by additional fallen victims as civil war erupted in Lithuania. The Kolchaks, who came from the Baltic aristocracy, accompanied and strengthened by various groups from Lithuania, fought the Bolsheviks who had arrived from Russia. The Bolsheviks controlled Telsiai for three consecutive weeks even as they were conducting battles with the Kolchaks between the cities of Plunge and Telsiai.

During the last battle the Bolsheviks were forced to retreat. While withdrawing, they captured nine Jews from the area. Amongst them were five people from Telsiai. One by one, near Navernai, these nine captives were executed - shot by bullets. The last one to be shot was Velva Shaul, who absorbed the bullets in his left arm. He fell into the white snow, making his tormentors think that he had died. While the murderers went looking for local peasants to bury the dead, Velva, somehow regained consciousness, and in an extremely weakened state, began running while his blood was oozing out. He found shelter with a Lithuanian farmer.

When the killers came back, they discovered that one of the nine victims was missing. They followed the bloody footsteps that Velva had made in the snow, leading up to the farmer’s home. The good farmer who had in the meantime dressed Velva’s wounds and sent him toward Telsiai, now directed the perpetrators in the opposite direction. When the murderers then returned, they mutilated the corpses. However, Velva, our neighbor, succeeded in returning to Telsiai.

A doctor from the main command, who was posted in our house, saved Velva’s life by immediately treating his wounds. Although Velva was in shock for a long period of time, he himself related his story regarding the events just described, to me, and what had happened to the rest of the group. Upon his arrival, the Rabbi from Navernai, may his name rest in peace, blessed Velva with Tchiat HaMetim, the blessing of resurrection."