Modelis-Berlin: The South American Connection

During World War I, Boris Model-Berlin was serving in the Russian forces. He had to desert to avoid a famous holocaust where hundreds of thousand of Russian soldiers were sent to a swamp by the prussian generals of the czarina. He escaped and was captured again, and was sent to be shot. He jumped from the train and went to Lithuania where he 'lithuanized' his name which became Modelis ('son of Model'). In Pilviskyu, Lithuania, he met a Lithuanian girl by the name of Mary (aka Malka) Mauberaite ('daughter of Mauber'), and they married raised their 6 children: Ana, Emmanuel, Sara, Shaia (probably Isaiah or Joshua), David, and Maucius.

In 1926, following a series of pogroms in Lithuania, they emigrated with the intention of reuniting with his brother Leon, who lived in the USA, but there was no connection to USA ports , so they went to Uruguay. The name Shaia was changed by the Uruguayan authorities to "Santos" and Maucius to "Mario".

Santos was my cousin's father.
Mario is the only one who is alive in 1998.