Blenda Grusd was born in Leckava (Latzkova), Lithuania as daughter of Seftel and Gitel Marcus. When she was 4 years old, she moved with her family to Lund in Sweden. In 1928 Blenda married Herman Meyer Grusd (born 1900 in Zagare, Lithuania). The couple settled in Oslo where their children, Leif (born 1930) and Solveig (born 1936) grew up.

On October 26, 1942, the day of the assault against, and the arrests of the male Jews in Oslo, Blendas husband, Herman, was in hiding. He had been warned of the upcoming arrests and managed to flee to Sweden two days later. Blenda, who had been required to report to the police daily, understood that she and her children had to get away as quickly as possible. By means of contacts in the resistance movement, Blenda and the children crossed the border to Sweden on November 13, 1942.

After the liberation, in 1945, the family returned to Norway. Their apartment had been used as a Nazi office, and on the porch hung a swastika banner. All of the furniture and household goods were gone, and the family had to build up life from scratch.