Zegota - Part 1

From Wikipedia with citations from Yad Vashem

PART 1: Arczyński - Kwiatowska - SEE BELOW

PART 2: Legiec - Ziebowa

Żegota Council to Aid Jews

Predecessor

Provisional Committee to Aid Jews

Formation

27 September 1942; 78 years ago

Founder

Henryk Woliński,

Type

Underground organization

Purpose

Help and distribution of relief funds to Polish Jews in World War II

Headquarters

Warsaw

Location

Kraków, Wilno, Lwów

Region

German occupied Poland

Key people

Henryk Woliński, Julian Grobelny, Ferdynand Arczyński, Zofia Kossak-Szczucka, Wanda Krahelska-Filipowicz, Adolf Berman, Leon Feiner, Władysław Bartoszewski

“Żegota full codename: the "Konrad Żegota Committee"[1][2]) was the Polish Council to Aid Jews with the Government Delegation for Poland (Polish: Rada Pomocy Żydom przy Delegaturze Rządu RP na Kraj), an underground Polish resistance organization, and part of the Polish Underground State, active 1942–45 in German-occupied Poland.[3] Żegota was the successor institution to the Provisional Committee to Aid Jews and was established specifically to save Jews.[4][5] Poland was the only country in German-occupied Europe where such a government-established and -supported underground organization existed.[6][7][8][9]

Estimates of the number of Jews that Żegota provided aid to, and eventually saved, range from several thousands to tens of thousands.[8][10]

Operatives of Żegota worked in extreme circumstances – under threat of death by the Nazi forces.[8]

Background and organization

“The Council to Aid Jews, or Żegota, was the continuation of an earlier aid organization, the Provisional Committee to Aid Jews (Tymczasowy Komitet Pomocy Żydom), that was founded on 27 September 1942 by Polish Catholic activists Zofia Kossak-Szczucka and Wanda Krahelska-Filipowicz ("Alinka").[8] The Provisional Committee cared for as many as 180 people, but due to political and financial reasons it was dissolved and replaced by Żegota on 4 December 1942.[2] One of the co-founders of Żegota was Henryk Woliński of the Home Army (AK) who helped integrate it with the Polish Underground State.[11] Woliński is also credited with developing the idea for this organization.[8]

“Kossak-Szczucka initially wanted Żegota to become an example of a "pure Christian charity", arguing that Jews had their own international charity organizations. Nevertheless, Żegota was run by both Jews and non-Jews from a wide range of political movements.[8] Julian Grobelny, an activist in the prewar Polish Socialist Party, was elected as General Secretary, and Ferdynand Arczyński – a member of the Polish Democratic Party – as treasurer. Adolf Berman and Leon Feiner represented the Jewish National Committee (an umbrella group representing the Zionist parties) and the Marxist General Jewish Labour Bund. Both parties operated independently, channeling funds donated by Jewish organizations abroad to Żegota and other underground operations. Other members included the Polish Socialist Party, the Democratic Party (Stronnictwo Demokratyczne) and the Catholic Front for the Rebirth of Poland (Front Odrodzenia Polski) led by Kossak-Szczucka and Witold Bieńkowski, editors of its underground publications.[12] The right-wing National Party (Stronnictwo Narodowe) refused to take part in the organization

Operations

“Żegota had specialized departments for issues such as clothing, children welfare, medical care, housing and other relevant issues.[8] It had around one hundred cells that provided food, medical care, money, and false identification documents to thousands of Polish Jews hiding in the "Aryan" side of the German occupation zone.[8] Creation and distribution of false documents has been described as one of the organization's major tasks, and it is estimated to have produced up to a hundred sets of false identities for Jewish refugees.[8] Another estimate credits Żegota with forging about 50,000 documents such as marriage certificates, baptismal records, death certificates and employment cards to help Jews pass off as Christians.[13] In forging documents, Żegota cooperated with the Home Army, which often provided facilities for forging German identification papers.[14][15]

“The organization headquarters was located in Warsaw at 24 Żurawia Street [pl].[8] Żegota was active chiefly in Warsaw, but it also provided money, food, and medicines for prisoners in several forced-labor camps, as well as to refugees in Kraków, Wilno (Vilnius), and Lwów (L'viv).[8] Żegota's activities overlapped to a considerable extent with those of the other major organizations dedicated to helping Jews in Poland – namely the Jewish National Committee, which cared for some 5,600 Jews; and the Bund, which cared for an additional 1,500. Together, the three organizations were able to reach some 8,500 of the 28,000 Jews hiding in Warsaw, and perhaps another 1,000 hiding elsewhere in Poland.

“Żegota's children's section in Warsaw, headed by a Polish social worker Irena Sendler, cared for 2,500 Jewish children. Many were placed with foster families, in public orphanages, church orphanages, and convents.[8]

“Żegota repeatedly asked the Polish Government-in-Exile and the Government Delegation for Poland to appeal to the Polish people to help the persecuted Jews.[2] The Government in Exile gradually increased its funding for Żegota throughout the war.[16][17]

Richard C. Lukas estimated that 60,000, or about half of the Jews who survived the Holocaust in occupied Poland (such estimates vary), were aided in some shape or form by Żegota.[10] Czesław Łuczak estimates the number of aid recipients at about 30,000.[10] Paul R. Bartrop estimated that Żegota helped to save about 4,000 Jews and provided assistance to about 25,000 in total.[8]

“Under the German occupation, hiding or assisting Jewish refugees was punishable by death.[8][18][19] However, it was no less dangerous due to the risk posed by fellow Poles, some of whom did not see kindly lending help for Jews.[20] Irena Sendler is quoted as saying "during [the war] it was simpler to hide a tank under the carpet than shelter a Jewish child."[21]

“According to Richard C. Lukas, "The number of Poles who perished at the hands of the Germans for aiding Jews" is difficult to establish, with estimates ranging from several thousand to as high as fifty thousand.[22] Paul R. Bartrop estimated that about 20,000 Żegota operatives were killed by the Nazis, and thousands of others were arrested and imprisoned.[8]

“The Polish Government-in-Exile, based in London, faced immense difficulties funding its institutions in German-occupied Poland; this affected funding for Żegota as well. Part of the funds had to be sent in via highly inefficient airdrops (only some 17% of which succeeded) and some could only be delivered late in the war.[23]

“Despite these difficulties, throughout the war, the Polish Government-in-Exile continually increased its funding for Żegota: the Polish Government's monthly support was increased from 30,000 złoty to 338,000 złoty in May 1944, and to 1,000,000 złoty by war's end. The Polish Government's overall financial contribution to Żegota and Jewish organizations came to 37,400,000 złoty, 1,000,000 dollars, and 200,000 Swiss francs (see financial details below).[24][25][26] According to Marcin Urynowicz, the percentage of the funds allocated by the Polish Government-in-Exile to help Jews, including through Żegota, was based on their percentage in Poland's prewar general population.[27]

“Antony Polonsky writes that "Zegota's successes—it was able to forge false documents for some 50,000 persons—suggest that, had it been given a higher priority by the Delegatura and the government in London, it could have done much more." Polonsky quotes Władysław Bartoszewski as saying that the organization was considered a "stepchild" of the underground; and Emanuel Ringelblum, who wrote that "a Council for Aid to the Jews was formed, consisting of people of good will, but its activity was limited by lack of funds and lack of help from the government."[28] A similar description is given by historian Martin Winstone, who writes that Żegota fought an uphill battle for funding and received more support from Jewish organizations than from the Polish Government-in-Exile. He also notes that the Polish right-wing parties completely refused to support it.[20] Shmuel Krakowski described the funding as "modest", and writes that the Polish government could have allocated more to funding the organization. He writes that "[the funding] was indeed very little considering not only the needs of the council and the immensity of the Jewish tragedy but also the resources at the Polish underground's disposal... they could have been much more generous in allocating resources needed to save human lives."[29]

“Joseph Kermish describes the relationship between Żegota and the Government Delegation for Poland as strained, with frequent disagreements about funding and the extent of the humanitarian crisis Żegota was trying to address.[30]

“It has been estimated that the cost of saving one Jewish life was around 6,000–15,000 Polish zloties.[8]

Funds allocated by the Government Delegation for Poland[25][26][29][31][32]

Funds allocated to Żegota

Date Sum Type Notes

May 1943 – Feb. 1944 6,250,000 zł total [31]
Jan. 1943 – May 1944 11,250,000 zł total According to Witold Bieńkowski[31]
Before May 1944 30,000 zł monthly
After May 1944 338,000 zł monthly
Nov. 1944 – Dec. 1944 14,000,00 zł total Allotted to help 1,500–1,800 Jews hiding on
Warsaw's left bank[31]
Nov. 1944 – Dec. 1944 $32,000 n/a [31]
March 1945 – April 1945 $65,000 n/a [31]
By Sept. 1945 1,000,000 zł monthly
1939–1945 $250,000 total Sum of all funds allocated to Żegota expressed
in USD[29]

Funds allocated to all Jewish organizations

1939–1945 37,400,000 zł total Combined total, including the funds allocated
$1,000,000 to Żegota
200,000 CHF

Funds allocated to all organizations

1939–1945 $35,000,000 total Based on partial data – actual figure probably
DM 20,000,000 higher[29]

Prominent Activists

In a letter from February 1977 Adolf Berman mentions the following activists as especially meritorious:[33][34]

“Ferdynand Marek Arczyński (December 8, 1900, in Kraków – 1979 in Warsaw), cryptonym "Marek" or "Lukowski", was one of the founding members of an underground organization Żegota (Council for Aid to Jews) in German-occupied Poland, from 1942 to 1945. Żegota's express purpose was to help the country's Jews survive the Holocaust; find places of safety for them and provide relief payments to thousands of families. Poland was the only country in occupied Europe with such an organization during World War II.

“Born in 1900, Arczyński participated in the Silesian Uprisings (1919–21) during the formation of the sovereign Second Polish Republic. He was a member of the Polish Democratic Party and an editor of the Polish Daily (Dziennik Polski, pl) in Kraków. Following the Nazi-Soviet invasion of Poland, Arczyński worked tirelessly for Żegota, serving not only as treasurer but also as head of its "legalization" department, which produced forged documents distributed to Jews in the care of Żegota. He also acted as a liaison with branches of Żegota in Kraków, Lwów and Lublin. He was an unofficial, but successful recruiting officer.

“As Żegota treasurer and head of the Legalization Bureau, Ferdynand Arczyński produced daily hundreds of false IDs, work cards, Roman Catholic birth and marriage certificates which were given out free of charge to some 4,000 Jews hiding on the "Aryan" side of the ghettos. He arranged for places to live, medical help, and monthly cash disbursements. He helped with providing aid to Jews in concentration camps. Arczyński, "Marek", was also a founding member of Kraków and Lwów branches of Żegota.

“After the war, Marek Ferdynand Arczyński served as Member of Parliament (Sejm) from 1947 until 1952, in the Department of Communication, and worked as a journalist.[5]

“In 1965, Ferdynand Arczynski visited Israel, where on May 18, 1965, Yad Vashem recognized him as Righteous Among the Nations. Wikipedia.

Stanislaw Wronski, Maria Zwolakowa: "Polacy Zydzi, 1939-1945". Warszawa, Książka i Wiedza Publishers, 1971. (illustrated, 462 pages) including copies of many original documents.

Irene Tomaszewski and Tecia Werbowski, Zegota: The Council for Aid to Jews in Occupied Poland 1942-1945. Price-Patterson Ltd. Montreal, Canada. Reprinted with authors' permission at Project In Posterum, Preserving the Past for the Future.

Teresa Prekerowa, Konspiracyjna Rada Pomocy Żydom w Warszawie, 1942-1945, Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy, Warsaw, 1982.

Arczynski, Ferdynand Marek

“In December 1942, Ferdynand Marek Arczynski, known to the underground as “Marek,” became a member of the board of Zegota (The Council for Aid to Jews). Ferdynand acted as the organization’s treasurer, and from 1943 was one of a select group of Poles who distinguished themselves in their attempts to rescue the surviving Jews on Polish soil. A representative of the underground Democratic Party (SD - Stronnictwo Demokratyczne), Arczynski dedicated himself courageously to the rescue of his Jewish countrymen. He headed the “Legalization Department” (Referat legalizacyjny), which produced forged documents – work permits, identity cards (Kennkarten), passes, marriage certificates, etc. – which were distributed to Jews in the care of Zegota. As an inhabitant of Krakow, Arczynski acted as liaison and coordinator between the organization’s local branches and the headquarters in Warsaw. The testimonies of Jewish underground activists who were in direct contact with Marek show that the latter scorned the risks to which he was exposed and that many Jews owe their lives to him. In 1965, Ferdynand Arczynski visited Israel.

On May 18, 1965, Yad Vashem recognized Ferdynand Marek Arczynski as Righteous Among the Nations. File 131.

Gutman, Israel (Editor-in-Chief), and Sara Bender (Associate Editor). The Encyclopedia of the Righteous Among the Nations, Vol. 1. Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, 2004, .

Jozef Barski

Janina Buchholtz-Bukolska

“Janina Buchholtz-Bukolska lived in Warsaw. She worked as an interpreter in a notary's office on Miodowa Street. During the years of occupation, she worked with the Polish Council to Aid Jews (Żegota), as well as with representatives of the National Jewish Council (ŻKN), with her office serving as one of the ŻKN's contact points.

“Dr. Adolf Berman, Żegota Secretary, an in the ghetto resistance movement, wrote the following about her activities, "Janina Buchholtz-Bukolska was a psychologist and wife of a professor at a Łódż polytechnic. During the time of the Nazi occupation, she lived for science and for aiding Jews. The notary's office on Miodowa Street, in which she worked as an interpreter, served as one of the central conspiratorial 'offices' of the ŻKN. Barabara Berman, with her staff of liaison officers, often "worked" there. Masses of 'Aryan' papers were also stored and distributed from there, aid was given to hundreds of people from there and various illegal deals were settled there. There was not a day or an hour that 'Miss Janina' did not make herself available. Always smiling and 'philosophically' beaming, always offering words of comfort and support, she risked her own life to save persecuted Jews, until liberation". "The Book of the Righteous", editor Michał Grynberg, Warsaw, 1993.

“Władysław Bartoszewski 19 February 1922 – 24 April 2015) was a Polish politician, social activist, journalist, writer, and historian. A former Auschwitz concentration camp prisoner,[1] he was a World War II resistance fighter as part of the Polish underground and participated in the Warsaw Uprising. After the war he was persecuted and imprisoned by the communist Polish People's Republic due to his membership in the Home Army (Armia Krajowa, AK) and opposition activity.[2]

“After the collapse of the communist regime, Bartoszewski served twice as the Minister of Foreign Affairs from March through December 1995 and again from 2000 to 2001.[3] He was also an ambassador and a member of the Polish Senate. Bartoszewski was a close ally and friend of Polish anti-Communist activist and later president Lech Wałęsa.[4]

“Bartoszewski was a chevalier of the Order of the White Eagle, an honorary citizen of Israel, and a member of the International Honorary Council of the European Academy of Diplomacy.[1]

“In September 1939, Bartoszewski took part in the civil defense of Warsaw as a stretcher-bearer.[4] From May 1940, he worked in the first social clinic of the Polish Red Cross in Warsaw.[4] On 19 September 1940, Bartoszewski was detained in the Warsaw district of Żoliborz during a surprise round-up of members of the public (łapanka), along with some 2,000 civilians (among them, Witold Pilecki).[4][6] From 22 September 1940, he was detained in Auschwitz concentration camp (his inmate number was 4427). Due to actions undertaken by the Polish Red Cross, he was released from Auschwitz on 8 April 1941.[4]

“After his release from Auschwitz, Bartoszewski contacted the Association of Armed Struggle (Związek Walki Zbrojnej). In the summer of 1941, he reported on his concentration camp imprisonment to the Information Department of the Information and Propaganda Bureau of the Home Army (Armia Krajowa, or AK, a reformed version of the Association of Armed Struggle and the largest resistance movement in Poland).[7] In 1942, he joined the Front for the Rebirth of Poland (Front Odrodzenia Polski), which was a secret, Catholic, social-educational and charity organization founded by Zofia Kossak-Szczucka.[7] From October 1941 until 1944, Bartoszewski studied Polish studies in the secret Humanist Department of Warsaw University. At this time, higher education of Poles was outlawed by the German occupational authorities.[7]

“In August 1942, Bartoszewski became a soldier of the Home Army, working as a reporter in the "P" Subdivision of the Information Department of its Information and Propaganda Bureau.[2] His pseudonym "Teofil" was inspired by Teofil Grodzicki, a fictional character from Jan Parandowski's novel entitled The Sky in Flames. He cooperated with Kazimierz Moczarski in the two-man P-1 report of the "P" subdivision.[7]

“From September 1942, Bartoszewski was active on behalf of the Front for the Rebirth of Poland in the Provisional Committee for Aid to Jews and its successor organization, the Council for Aid to Jews (codenamed Żegota). Żegota, a Polish World War II resistance organization whose objective was to help Jews during the Holocaust, operated under the auspices of the Polish Government in Exile through the Delegatura, its presence in Warsaw.[5] He remained a member of Żegota until the Warsaw Uprising. In 1943, he replaced Witold Bieńkowski in the Jewish Department of the Delegatura.[8]

“From November 1942 to September 1943, Bartoszewski was an editorial team secretary of the Catholic magazine Prawda (The Truth), the press organ of the Front for the Rebirth of Poland.[5] From fall of 1942 until spring of 1944, Bartoszewski was the editor-in-chief of the Catholic magazine Prawda Młodych (The Youth's Truth), which was also connected with the Front for the Rebirth of Poland and aimed at university and high-school students. In November 1942, Bartoszewski became a vice-manager of a division created in the Department of Internal Affairs of the Delegatura, whose remit was to help prisoners of Pawiak prison.[7] In February 1943, Bartoszewski became a reporter and vice-manager of the Department's Jewish Report. As a part of his activities for Żegota and the Jewish Report, he organized assistance for the participants of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising in April 1943.[5]

“On 1 August 1944, Bartoszewski began his participation in the Warsaw Uprising.[7] He was an aide to the commander of radio post "Asma" and editor-in-chief of the magazine The News from the City and The Radio News.[7] On 20 September, by orders from the commandant of the Warsaw District of the AK, General Antoni "Monter" Chruściel, Bartoszewski was decorated with the Silver Cross of Merit.[5] This was the result of a proposal put forward by the chief of the Information and Propaganda Bureau in General Headquarters of the Home Army, Colonel Jan Rzepecki). On 1 October, he was appointed Second Lieutenant by the AK commander general Tadeusz "Bór" Komorowski (also due to a proposal by Rzepecki). He received the Cross of Valor order on 4 October.[7]

Bartoszewski, Władysław

“From September 1942, even before the establishment of Zegota (the Council for Aid to Jews), Władysław Bartoszewski was a loyal and devoted member of the Provisional Committee for Aid to Jews. When Zegota was established in December 1942, Bartoszewski (whose undercover name was “Ludwik”) threw himself wholeheartedly into working for the organization, as well as helping many Jewish refugees on a personal basis. In Zegota, Bartoszewski represented "The Polish Revival Front,” a clandestine Catholic organization, and served as deputy-director of the Jewish Section of the Department of Internal Affairs of the Polish government-in-exile in London. Bartoszewski saved the lives of many Jews who fled from the Warsaw ghetto and hid on the Aryan side of the city or elsewhere. Throughout his underground activities, Bartoszewski maintained close ties with Jewish representatives of Zegota, including Leon Feiner, the Bund representative and Adolf Berman, representative of the Jewish National Council. As part of his underground activity, Bartoszewski sent information to England and the United States on the situation of the Jews in Poland under the German occupation. The author, Rachel Auerbach, and Dr. A. Berman subsequently testified that, after the war, Bartoszewski, who was, by then, a reputed journalist and publicist, tried hard to bring the heroism of Polish Jewry to the notice of the Polish public. He published many articles and essays noted for their objectivity and sympathy toward the Jewish people and helped promote harmony between Poles and Jews.

“On December 14, 1965, Yad Vashem recognized Władysław Bartoszewski as Righteous Among the Nations.

Gutman, Israel (Editor-in-Chief), and Sara Bender (Associate Editor). The Encyclopedia of the Righteous Among the Nations, Vol. 1. Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, 2004.

Blicharz, Marian
Blicharz, Weronika
Batko-Molenda, Zofia

“In 1941, Danuta Beer was born in the Kraków ghetto. In order to save their daughter, Felicja and Lazar Beer, with the help of Żegota, handed Danuta over to Marian and Weronika Blicharz, a childless couple, who adopted her. Danuta, whose name was changed to Anna, was a sickly baby who suffered from chronic gastritis and digestive problems, and therefore required special care. Sometimes Zofia Molenda (later Batko), a young relative of the Blicharzes, who lived in a nearby village, came to the house and helped care for baby Anna. Although Danuta's father returned to Kraków after the war (his wife and eldest daughter had perished in the camps), the Blicharzes refused to give up Danuta. After a legal hearing, the courts ruled that Danuta-Anna was, to all intents and purposes, the Blicharzes' daughter and could not be taken from them. After this ruling, Lazar Beer immigrated to Israel. In 1975, Danuta immigrated to the United States, from where she corresponded with her father until his death.

“On June 24, 1993, Yad Vashem recognized Weronika Blicharz, Marian Blicharz, and Zofia Batko-Molenda, as Righteous Among the Nations. File 5189

Gutman, Israel (Editor-in-Chief), and Sara Bender (Associate Editor). The Encyclopedia of the Righteous Among the Nations, Vol. 1. Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, 2004, .

“Adolf Avraham Berman 17 October 1906 – 3 February 1978) was a Polish-Israeli activist and communist politician. (Wikipedia)

Born in Warsaw in the Russian Empire (today in Poland), the younger brother of Jakub Berman. Berman attended the University of Warsaw, where he earned a PhD in psychology.[1] Whilst a student, he joined Poale Zion Left and edited its two newspapers (one in Polish and one in Yiddish).

“During World War II he was one of the leaders of the Jewish underground in the Warsaw Ghetto, and a member of the presidium of the Underground National Committee. He also served as general secretary of Żegota, the Polish underground Council for Jewish Aid whose aim was to rescue Jews from the Holocaust, and CENTOS, a children's aid society in the Warsaw ghetto.[2]

“After the war ended, he became a representative of the communist-dominated Sejm, and in 1947 became chairman of the Central Committee of Polish Jews. Berman was removed from this position in April 1949 because he was a Zionist.[3]

“In 1950, he immigrated to Israel, where he joined Mapam (United Workers Party). Berman was elected to the Second Knesset on the party's list in the 1951 elections, but on 20 February 1952 left the party and formed the Left Faction together with Rostam Bastuni and Moshe Sneh.[4] On 1 November 1954 Berman joined the Communist Party of Israel (Maki), and became a member of its Central Committee.[3] He lost his Knesset seat in the 1955 elections.

“In 1961, Berman testified at Adolf Eichmann's trial in Israel. He served as chairman of the Israel's Organization of Anti-Nazi Fighters, and a member of the presidium of the World Organization of Jewish Partisans and former Nazi Prisoners. Berman died in 1978 at the age of 71. His older brother, Jakub Berman – was a leading Stalinist politician in post-war Poland.[5]

1. Israel Gutman, Adolf Berman, Encyclopedia of the Holocaust v.1, p.202

2. Avraham Berman: Public Activities Knesset website

3. Aleksiun, Natalia (2010), Berman, Adolf Abraham, New York: YIVO,

4. Mergers and Splits Among Parliamentary Groups Knesset website

5. Jakub Berman's Papers Received at the Hoover Institution Archives, Board of Trustees of Leland Stanford Junior University Library and Archives Recent Acquisitions: Stanford University Hoover Institution, August 11, 2008,

Batya Berman

“Witold Bieńkowski, code-name Wencki (1906–1965), was a Polish politician, publicist and leader of the Catholic underground organization called Front for a Reborn Poland (Front Odrodzenia Polski, F.O.P.) during World War II, as well as member of the Provisional Committee to Aid Jews, Żegota, and a permanent representative of the Delegation for Poland of the Polish Government-in-Exile. (Wikipedia)

“Bieńkowski was a Deputy to the Polish parliament (Sejm) from 1947 to 1952. He served as editor-in-chief of the Catholic weekly Dziś i Jutro (pl) (Today and Tomorrow) between 1945 and 1947.

Joseph Kermish. "The Activities of the Council for Aid to Jews ("Żegota") in Occupied Poland" (PDF). YadVashem.org. Shoah Resource Center. page 2 of 34 in PDF. Ryszard Bosakowski Ostatnie słowo — powojenne listy Witolda Bieńkowskiego do jego dawnych współpracowników z Rady Pomocy Żydom „Żegota” Karta nr 52

Janusz Marszalec, "Morderstwo na Makowieckich i Widerszalu. Stara sprawa, nowe pytania, nowe wątpliwości." Zagłada Żydów r. II (2006), vol. 2. "Witold Bieńkowski i Władysław Jamontt byli to zasłużeni i dzielni konspiratorzy, a jednocześnie ludzie o dużych ambicjach politycznych."

Bilewicz, Tadeusz

“During the occupation, Bilewicz Tadeusz served in the underground movements as a member of the Polish Socialist Party (PPS- Kraków: Polska Partia Socjalistyczna) in Kraków and in Radom (PPS- Radom: Polska Partia Socjalistyczna); as well as, was an activist in the underground movement named “Żegota”. As an activist of the Kraków branch of Żegota, Bilewicz delivered money to Jews hiding on the Aryan side of the city. Bilewicz helped Jews, to find a shelter, this by his own initiative, and with great personal risk, smuggled Jewish refugees across the Slovakian border (those operations were coordinated and with * Rysińska Józefa). Soon, Bilewicz became known as an expert border runner. In February 1944, Bilewicz succeeded in smuggling three groups of Jewish refugees into Slovakia. Bilewicz was most famous for helping Dr. Michał Maksymilian Borwicz (a camp inmate who escaped from the Janowska camp in Lwów; and had a Jewish appearance) who was illegally transferred by Bilewicz to Kraków and afterwards to Warsaw. Moreover, Bilewicz offered helped to other Jewish fugitives, this by providing them with forged identity documents, food and shelter (he hid them in his home, which was located in the village of Podlęże (near Kraków?)). The Morgenbesser couple with their daughter were transferred to the village of Skawina; while later on, the mother together with the daughter were hiding at Bilewicz’s house, which was located in the village of Podlęże.

“After the war, Mrs. Morgenbesser (known later as- Mirska Helena) together with her daughter settled down in Kraków. Bilewicz saw his actions as part of his struggle against a common enemy. He received no payment for what he did, guided only by humanitarian considerations.

On the 24th of December 1979, Yad Vashem recognized Bilewicz Tadeusz, as a Righteous Among the Nations. File 1680

Gutman, Israel (Editor-in-Chief), and Sara Bender (Associate Editor). The Encyclopedia of the Righteous Among the Nations, Vol. 1. Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, 2004, .

Bilewicz, Tadeusz

On the 24th of December 1979, Yad Vashem recognized Bilewicz Tadeusz, as a Righteous Among the Nations. [* File no. 1680]. File 1738

Gutman, Israel (Editor-in-Chief), and Sara Bender (Associate Editor). The Encyclopedia of the Righteous Among the Nations, Vol. 1. Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, 2004, .

Blicharz, Marian
Blicharz, Weronika
Batko-Molenda, Zofia

“On June 24, 1993, Yad Vashem recognized Weronika Blicharz, Marian Blicharz, and Zofia Batko-Molenda, as Righteous Among the Nations. File 5189

Gutman, Israel (Editor-in-Chief), and Sara Bender (Associate Editor). The Encyclopedia of the Righteous Among the Nations, Vol. 1. Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, 2004, .

Jedynak, Józef
Dymek-Jedynak, Wanda
Panuszko-Jedynak, Józefa
Bobrowski, Mieczysław
Bobrowska, Maria

“Józef Jedynak, who lived in the town of Wieliczka near Krakow, was a PPS (Polish Socialist Party) activist. Jedynak, and his daughters, Wanda, and Józefa, were well-known “addresses” for local Jews seeking help or shelter after fleeing from the Germans. As activists for Zegota (the Council for Aid to Jews), Jedynak and his daughters found accommodations for Jews, provided them with forged documents, and distributed financial support among the needy. His commanding appearance and influence with the local Polish inhabitants kept informers and blackmailers at bay, although many knew of his pro-Jewish activities. Among the many Jews who were saved by the Jedynaks was Fryda Katz, who after escaping from the Plaszow concentration camp, stayed with the Jedynaks, until she found a permanent hiding place where she stayed until the liberation. The Jedynaks also offered temporary shelter to Israel Alster and Dr. Julian Aleksandrowicz and his wife and son. Aleksandrowicz later joined the partisans where he distinguished himself as a fighter, and after the war, became a world-famous scientist. Another “address” for Jewish refugees seeking help in Krakow and the environs, was the apartment of Mieczysław and Maria Bobrowski, who were also known as sympathizers of the Jews. Like the Jedynaks, the Bobrowskis were also Zegota activists, and their apartment served as a meeting place for their fellow activists.

“Irena Leinkram, who came to Krakow after escaping from the Warsaw ghetto, stayed with the Bobrowskis until the area was liberated by the Red Army, after which she immigrated to Israel.

“On December 24, 1979, Yad Vashem recognized Józef Jedynak, his daughters, Wanda Dymek-Jedynak and Józefa Panuszko-Jedynak, and Maria and Mieczysław Bobrowski as Righteous Among the Nations. File 1737/1

Gutman, Israel (Editor-in-Chief), and Sara Bender (Associate Editor). The Encyclopedia of the Righteous Among the Nations, Vol. 1. Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, 2004, .

Ewa Bruska, “Babcia” (Granny), aided Zegota in her fruit and vegetable stall.

Brust, Henryk
Brust, Aniela
Brust, Marian
Brust, Lucyna

“In June 1943, Tzvi Wiernik and Zyskind Szmulewicz were sent to the Hasag camp at the Rakow foundry in Czestochowa. After a while, they made contact with a friend, Ita Dimant, who was active in the Jewish underground and lived on the Aryan side of the city. Through Ita, Tzvi and Zyskind became acquainted with Marian Brust, a veteran worker at the foundry. Marian, who was a member of the PPS, organized assistance for the Jews in the camp and acted as liaison between the Jewish underground and the Zegota organization, which provided financial aid via him to the prisoners. With the active assistance of Marian’s wife, Lucyna, the Brusts’ home became a center for the relief of persecuted Jews. It served as an address for the transmission of directives to the underground and funds to the needy, as well as a temporary refuge for Jewish fugitives. One day in December 1944, Marian was stopped when entering the camp and searched by the Werkschutz. As he had on him documents and medicines, which he was intending to smuggle in to the inmates, he tried to escape. The Germans shot him, however, and he died in the hospital without revealing anything of his activities. Ita, who was helped by Marian's brother and sister-in-law, Henryk and Aniela Brust, took refuge in their apartment together with Yitzchak Berman. She remained in hiding until her arrest by the Gestapo and subsequent deportation as a Polish worker to Germany.

“The Brusts' sister, Henryka Mielczarek*, followed in their footsteps and sheltered a young Jewish woman who had fled from the Czestochowa ghetto in 1942. The woman remained with her until the area was liberated by the Red Army in January 1945. The Brust family regarded their rescue operations as part of the war against a common enemy. They were motivated by purely humanitarian principles and received no payment for their actions. On September 4, 1979, Yad Vashem recognized Henryk and Aniela Brust as Righteous Among the Nations.

“On December 22, 1983, Yad Vashem recognized Marian and Lucyna Brust as Righteous Among the Nations. Files 1676, 1676a

Gutman, Israel (Editor-in-Chief), and Sara Bender (Associate Editor). The Encyclopedia of the Righteous Among the Nations, Vol. 1. Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, 2004, .

Janina Bucholtz-Bukolska, Zegota activist worked with Batya Berman, Adolph Bermans wife. Hid documents and distributed Zegota funds.

Bussold, Stanisława

“In 1942, Stanisława Bussold, a midwife by profession, and director of a Municipal Health Center in one of the Warsaw neighborhoods, decided to join Zegota (the Council for Aid to Jews). Pregnant Jewish women hiding on the Aryan side of the city knew that they could rely on Bussold to help deliver their babies. Bussold saved the lives of the newborn babies by sending them to Christian orphanages, without disclosing their identity. One day in 1942, a woman called Henryka Kopel arrived with a babe-in-arms on Bussold’s doorstep. Kopel told Bussold how she and her husband had escaped from the ghetto, and begged Bussold to save her daughter. Bussold took the baby in and, a few months later, after discovering that the baby’s parents had perished, decided to adopt her. The Kopels’ baby, who was registered as Elżbieta Bussold, was lovingly cared for by Stanisława Bussold. When her neighbors became suspicious, Stanisława left Warsaw, and moved to the village of Michałin. Even after the area was liberated, Elżbieta stayed with her adoptive mother, and later married Jerzy Ficowski, a famous Polish poet and friend of Israel.

“On April 28, 1970, Yad Vashem recognized Stanisława Bussold as Righteous Among the Nations. File 571.”

Gutman, Israel (Editor-in-Chief), and Sara Bender (Associate Editor). The Encyclopedia of the Righteous Among the Nations, Vol. 1. Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, 2004, .

Cebulakowa, Stanisława
Kociel-Kowalczyk, Anna

“Stanisława Cebulakowa and her friend, Anna Kociel Kowalczyk, worked as liaison officers for the Zegota organization in Krakow. Both women endangered their lives and carried out missions of extreme danger in order to assist Jewish fugitives. The latter included those who had not yet found refuge on the Aryan side of the city, and those who had succeeded in escaping from the ghetto or labor camps in the surrounding area and were in need of aid and protection. Between July 1943 and January 1945, Stanisława and Anna worked unflaggingly to save Jews. Their activities and sacrifices on behalf of the Polish underground were regarded by the women as their contribution to the war against the Germans, and were carried out as a sacred duty, without expectation of recompense. Stanisława and Anna visited Jews hiding in apartments and elsewhere, provided them with financial assistance, and inspired them with courage and self-confidence. They distributed “Aryan” documents to the fugitives, dealt with their various needs, and arranged medical care for them. In addition, they brought them clothes, books, and learning material for the children. When it became imperative to evacuate one hideout or another, Stanisława and Anna sheltered the fugitives in their own homes until a more secure refuge was found.

“On March 24, 1980, Yad Vashem recognized Stanisława Cebulakowa and Anna Kociel-Kowalczyk as Righteous Among the Nations. File 1773

Gutman, Israel (Editor-in-Chief), and Sara Bender (Associate Editor). The Encyclopedia of the Righteous Among the Nations, Vol. 1. Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, 2004, .

Władysława Laryssa Chomsowa, (1891-1966). A social and political activist, Chairperson of the Lwów Council to Aid Jews "Żegota".

Choms, Władysława

“Władysława Choms, the wife of a major in the Polish army, was known in her town, Drohobycz, as an active democrat who fought against the Numerus Clausus introduced against Jewish students in Polish universities in the late 30s. In 1938, Choms moved to Lwów and, after the German occupation, began smuggling food, money and medicines into the ghetto. Choms, who was elected chairwoman of the Lwów branch of Żegota (the Council for Aid to Jews) in the spring of 1943, organized the escape of a number of Jewish families from the ghetto, provided them with “Aryan” documents, and arranged accommodation for them in Lwów and the vicinity. She placed many Jewish orphans in Christian orphanages and local convents and wrote a report on the situation of the Jews in Lwów, which the Polish underground delivered to the Polish government-in-exile in London. In late 1943, when the Germans got wind of her activities, Choms fled to Warsaw, where she continued with her underground work. Until her death, Choms kept up contact with many of her survivors in Israel and other countries. The book The Angel of Lwow, which describes her activities, was written by people she saved.

“On March 15, 1966, Yad Vashem recognized Władysława Choms as Righteous Among the Nations. File 2/6

Gutman, Israel (Editor-in-Chief), and Sara Bender (Associate Editor). The Encyclopedia of the Righteous Among the Nations, Vol. 1. Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, 2004, .

Cieszkowska, Aniela

“Aniela Cieszkowska first met Teofila Wicha (née Lewin) in December 1942, when the latter escaped the Warsaw ghetto in search of shelter on the “Aryan” side of the city. Aniela received the indigent woman warmly as a sub-tenant and introduced her to others as a relative who was a refugee from the territories that were annexed by the Third Reich. Aniela, a member of the Polish underground Home Army (AK), worked at odd jobs; Teofila earned money by giving private lessons to high-school students and received support from the ŻEGOTA organization, albeit not on a regular basis. Together they managed a joint household. In the meantime, Teofila’s son, Jerzy, who was seven, was smuggled out of the ghetto to the “Aryan” side by a friend of his father. The boy was placed in the custody of several Polish families, but no permanent satisfactory shelter could be found for him. Aniela rose to the occasion and took him out of Warsaw to a distant village near Rzeszów (Kraków District), where she left him in the faithful hands of a friend who looked after him until the end of the war. Aniela and Teofila joined the Warsaw Uprising of August 1944 and were both taken prisoner after it was quelled. Aniela protected her Jewish friend in the prison camp in Germany, too. Both of them lived to see the liberation, Teofila was reunited with her son, and the relations between the two families, which were forged by chance and steeled in the war, continued for decades.

“On January 23, 2002, Yad Vashem recognized Aniela Cieszkowska as Righteous Among the Nations. File 9609.”

Gutman, Israel (Editor-in-Chief), and Sara Bender (Associate Editor). The Encyclopedia of the Righteous Among the Nations, Vol. 1. Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, 2004, .

Files 1399; 1399a; 1399b

Cygan, Franciszek
Marciniakówna-Cyganowa, Janina
Cygan-Cyganiewicz, Edward (Jerzy)
Cyganówna-Kuśmierzowa, Helena
Marciniakówna, Klementyna
Ziębowa, Kazimiera [(née: Bachawska)]

“Before the war, Cygan Franciszek, was a secretary of the council of village Abramów (today, the village is situated within the Lubartów county; Lublin voivodeship), during the occupation times, he also served as a deputy of the regions commander of the “BCh” organization (pl. “Bataliony Chłopskie”; en. “Polish Peasant’s Battalions.”) In addition, he had contacts with the AK- Armia Krajowa organization (en. Home Army); and with Żegota (Konrad Żegota Committee). Cygan, knew very well Rajs Józef (Josef), who lived in Łęczna town situated in the Lublin district; and owned large fish-breeding ponds in the nearby village of Dratów. During the occupation, the Jews of Łęczna were incarcerated in the local ghetto (the Łęczna ghetto). A few days before the liquidation of the ghetto, in autumn 1942 (the ghetto was liquidated on the 23rd of October 1942); Cygan Franciszek, sent his sister-in-law, Marciniakówna Klementyna, to the ghetto, in order to warn the Rajs family of the ghetto’s imminent liquidation; and to offer them a shelter in his home. Rajsówna Sara (Sura), (later known as- Zylbersztejnowa) managed to escape with her sister Rajsówna-Rozengartenowa, Rachel (Ruchla) from the ghetto.

“Sara, came to the Cygan family who gave her a warm reception; while Rachel, escaped and was hiding at Marciniakówna’s house (afterwards, she was hiding near the village of Milejów, today the village is situated at the administrative district of Milejów*, in Łęczna County, Lublin voivodeship; she was hiding in Polish peasants house. She was also saved by Cygan Franciszek, who made for her “Kenkarte.”) Unfortunately, Marciniakówna Klementyna was murdered on the 20th of February 1942; together with other Jewish fugitives who were hiding at her house. Among the hiding fugitives, was a family relative of Rajsówna Sara (her uncle’s son) from Warsaw; named- Rajs Julek, who managed to survive the execution, while he was hiding in a bunker; which was situated near stable. Throughout her stay, Franciszek and Janina Cygan watched over Sara, and saw to all her needs. Although their children, Edward (who was 13-year-old (and Helena (who was at age of 9), kept Sara’s presence in secret; a year after her arrival, neighbors reported on her, to the head of the local Polish auxiliary force, the so-called: “Blue Police”; (pl. Granatowa Policja; gr. Blaue Polizei). The head of the Blue Police advised Cygan to kill Sara and dispose of her body (to burry her body); but the Cygan family would not hear of it. Instead of it, Sara was equipped by Franciszek with a false identity card- “Kennkarte” (on the name of Grodnik Sabina), and was taken by him to Warsaw; where she made her way to the Warsaw’s suburbs of Praga; where she found a shelter at Dr. Ziębowa Kazimiera (a gynecologist) house. Unfortunately, she had to move to other destination, after the neighbors became suspicious (she was hiding there from October 1943 till January 1944). Ziębowa, found for Sara another hiding place (she gave her an address of her friend), in friend’s house, at Stalowa Street; where she stayed until the area was liberated (that friend, didn’t know anything about Sara’s real identity; that she was a Jew) in the autumn of 1944. In risking their lives in order to save Sara, and by making twenty-two forged identity documents (Kenkarte); the Cygan family was guided by humanitarian motives and a loyalty towards their friends, which overrode the considerations of personal safety, or economic hardship during the war times.

On the 22nd of June 1978, Yad Vashem recognized Cygan Franciszek, and his wife Marciniakówna-Cyganowa, their children: Cygan-Cyganiewicz Edward andCyganówna-Kuśmierzowa Helena; Marciniakówna Klementyna and Ziębowa Kazimiera (née: Bachawska), as a Righteous Among the Nations. [* This information was partly taken from the official site of the Museum of the History of the Polish Jews- The Polish Righteous, for additional information please see: http://www.sprawiedliwi.org.pl/pl/family/82,rodzina-cyganow/article=1019,relacja-edwarda-cyganiewicza (The Audio Collection- “Helena Kuśmierz- Odszukanie Racheli, Siostry Sary 1m26s)].”

Gutman, Israel (Editor-in-Chief), and Sara Bender (Associate Editor). The Encyclopedia of the Righteous Among the Nations, Vol. 1. Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, 2004, .

Czajkowski, Jerzy
Czajkowska, Helena

“Nine Jews owe their lives to Jerzy and Helena Czajkowski, inhabitants of the holiday resort town of Miedzylesie, near Warsaw. They include Henoch and Felicia Glicksman; their son Stanisław; Emilia Wertans and her nine-year-old son Stefan; her elderly father, Paul Singer and his wife Regina; Emilia’s cousin, Mala Fern. After escaping from the ghetto, all nine refugees obtained forged documents, and found shelter. However, due to the cramped conditions in their hiding place, Stefan Wertans was sent to his mother’s former hairdresser, who in turn sent him to her brother and sister-in-law, the Czajkowskis, in Miedzylesie. Stefan did not stay long with the Czajkowskis, but was sent back to his mother after the neighbors became suspicious. However, when the Czajkowskis discovered the appalling conditions under which Stefan’s mother and the other refugees were hiding, they arranged for them to be transferred, one by one, to their home in Miedzylesie. From time to time, when the danger of discovery intensified, the Czajkowskis arranged alternative hiding places for the nine refugees. The refugees helped pay for their upkeep by selling the few valuables in their possession, and later, through financial support from Zegota (the Council for Aid to Jews) operating in Warsaw. All nine refugees remained with the Czajkowskis until they were liberated. In risking their lives for their friends, the Czajkowskis, for whom saving Jews was an integral part of the struggle against the German enemy, were inspired by altruistic and humanitarian considerations only.

“On June 14, 1985, Yad Vashem recognized Jerzy Czajkowski and Helena Czajkowska as Righteous Among the Nations. File 3182.

Gutman, Israel (Editor-in-Chief), and Sara Bender (Associate Editor). The Encyclopedia of the Righteous Among the Nations, Vol. 1. Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, 2004, .

“Maria Dorota Leopoldyna Czapska (6 February 1894 – 11 June 1981) was a Polish author, essayist, and historian. She was born in Prague to Count Jerzy Hutten-Czapski (1861-1930), and Jozefina Thun-Hohenstein (1867-1903), and grew up in Przyłuki, the family estate near Minsk. Her younger brother was Józef Czapski, and her relatives included Counts Emeryk Hutten-Czapski, Emeryk August Hutten-Czapski, and Karol Hutten-Czapski. Wikipedia

“Czapska studied in Krakow from 1921 to 1925, and moved to Paris afterwards, spending the next five years there writing a biography of Adam Mickiewicz. The biography, La vie de Mickiewicz, published in 1931, was used for a time as a source in establishing Mickiewicz's ethnicity and origin, which remains under speculation. In 1938 she published her second work, Ludwik Śniadecka, and received the literary prize "Wiadomości Literackich" for her efforts the following year.

“During World War II, Czapska lived in Poland, and was a member of the Żegota during this time; this led to her crossing the green border and moving to France in 1945, where she lived the rest of her life. For a short time, Czapska helped with the startup of Tygodnik Powszechny, and after moving to France she worked on Kultura, a Polish exile magazine. She was also a member of Polish Society of Arts and Sciences Abroad. During her time in exile, her works were subject to censorship, which was discovered after Tomasz Strzyżewski defected to Sweden, publishing the information which noted her name among many others. Later in life, she focused on literary works, namely Dwugłos wspomnień, Europa w rodzinie, and Czas odmieniony. In 2014 two of her books, A Family of Central Europe and Through the Storm were published in one book for the first time in English.

Dębicka, Zofia
Dębicka, Halina

“From 1942, Zofia Dębicka, who lived with her two daughters in Warsaw, worked for Żegota, finding shelter for Jews on the Aryan side of the city. At her own initiative, she turned her apartment into a provisional shelter for Jewish refugees until a more permanent hiding place was found for them. Her eldest daughter, Halina, helped her look after the many Jewish refugees who passed through her home, including Anna Margolis, a Jewish doctor, and Aniela Steinsberg, who lived with her from 1942 until the city was liberated in 1945. Despite the danger to herself and her daughters, Dębicka also let her apartment be used as a base for the underground Jewish Fighting Organization (ŻOB), and as a communications center and a distribution point for underground journals. Dębicka also initiated acts of sabotage, such as instructing her friends, who worked in the post office, to destroy letters denouncing Jews to the Gestapo. Halina, whose young age placed her above suspicion, acted as a courier, delivering secret letters and documents. In risking her life to save Jews, Dębicka was guided by her conviction that what she was doing was an integral part of the struggle against the enemy.

“On July 28, 1988, Yad Vashem recognized Zofia Dębicka as Righteous Among the Nations. On March 29, 1991, Yad Vashem recognized Halina Dębicka as Righteous Among the Nations. File 3870.

Gutman, Israel (Editor-in-Chief), and Sara Bender (Associate Editor). The Encyclopedia of the Righteous Among the Nations, Vol. 1. Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, 2004, .

Doboszyński, Jerzy
Doboszyńska, Zofia

Jerzy and Zofia Doboszyński were journalists who worked for the AK (Home Army) in Warsaw during the occupation. Doboszyńska was also active in Żegota, the Council for Aid to Jews. In early 1942, Doboszyńska was instructed to rescue Bronisława Gomolińska, the wife of a Jewish officer in the AK who had been incarcerated in Pawiak prison, her six-year old daughter, Jadwiga, and her aunt, Zofia Koerner, from the Warsaw ghetto. Despite the danger, Doboszyńska carried out her assignment, and took the three Jewish women to her home in the Praga suburb of Warsaw, where they were provided with “Aryan” papers. Koerner, who looked Jewish, stayed with the Doboszyńskis, posing as a Christian maid, while Bronisława and her daughter moved into a rented apartment. The Doboszynskis looked after the three refugees devotedly, and saw to all their needs, until the area was liberated by the Red Army. Zofia and Jerzy Doboszyński helped many other Jews by providing them with “Aryan” documents, finding them hiding places, and keeping potential blackmailers at bay. Jerzy Doboszyński fell in 1944 during the Warsaw Uprising, while Zofia, who was wounded during the clashes, was exiled to Germany.

On October 27, 1983, Yad Vashem recognized Zofia Doboszyńska and Jerzy Doboszyński as Righteous Among the Nations. File 2689.

Gutman, Israel (Editor-in-Chief), and Sara Bender (Associate Editor). The Encyclopedia of the Righteous Among the Nations, Vol. 1. Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, 2004, .

“Jan Dobraczyński (Warsaw, 20 April 1910 – 5 March 1994, Warsaw) was a Polish writer, novelist, politician and Catholic publicist.[1] In the Second Polish Republic between the two world wars, he was a supporter of the National Party and Catholic movements. During the 1939 Nazi–Soviet invasion of Poland, he was a soldier of the Polish Army and member of Armia Krajowa until the end of World War II. Dobraczyński participated in the Warsaw Uprising of 1944. After the war he supported the Polish communists. He was a member of parliament Sejms, as activist of the PAX Association and of the Patriotic Movement for National Rebirth from 1982 to 1985. He held the rank of general in the Polish military. Wikipedia

“During World War II, as the head of the Division for Abandoned Children at the Warsaw municipal welfare department, Jan Dobraczynski helped Żegota activists with procuring forged documents and placed several hundred Jewish children in Catholic convents.[2] He was imprisoned in Bergen-Belsen following the Warsaw Uprising.[3]

“In 1985 Dobraczyński was awarded the Cross of Virtuti Militari. In 1986 he published his memoir titled Tylko w jednym życiu (Of One Life Only). In 1993 he was bestowed the title of the Polish Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem in Jerusalem.[3]

1. Encyklopedia PWN (2017), Dobraczyński, Jan.Internetowa encyklopedia PWN

2. Nahum Bogner, The Convent Children: The Rescue of Jewish Children in Polish Convents During the Holocaust, page 11.

3. Jan Dobraczyński at The Righteous Among The Nations

Dobraczyński, Jan

“During the occupation, Jan Dobraczyński, director of the Warsaw Municipality’s Social Welfare Division, helped Żegota (the Council for Aid to Jews), by supplying forged documents for Jewish children testifying that they were orphaned, destitute, or learning-disabled, to qualify for admission to various Christian institutions. At Dobraczyński’s instructions, his employees made up fictitious reports for the Jewish children, to which he lent his official stamp. Although, in most cases, the staff and directors of the institutions (usually convents) knew that the children were Jewish, they agreed to take them in. Dobraczyński, who considered his work as part of the struggle against the enemy, placed several hundrets Jewish children in various Christian institutions, without ever expecting anything in return. Thanks to the strict precautions he took, none of the children were discovered.

“On September 12, 1993, Yad Vashem recognized Jan Dobraczyński as Righteous Among the Nations. File 5618.

Gutman, Israel (Editor-in-Chief), and Sara Bender (Associate Editor). The Encyclopedia of the Righteous Among the Nations, Vol. 1. Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, 2004, .

“Anna Dobrowolska, codename: "Michalska" (1889-1951). A teacher, a social activist. She belonged to the Alliance of Democrats which she represented on the Kraków Council to Aid Jews "Żegota". In her apartment in ul. Wielopole 6 in Kraków, as the organisation's treasurer, she maintained the Council's ledgers, collected the receipts and looked after the archives and the money. Dobrowolska also belonged to the legalisation cell which concerned itself with the production of false documents.

Dobrowolski, Kazimierz
Dobrowolski, Stefania

“During the occupation, Kazimierz and Stefania Dobrowolski, who lived with their two young daughters in Kraków, were active in the Polish underground. Within the framework of their underground activities, they turned their spacious apartment into a shelter for Jewish fugitives from the Podgórze ghetto, sent to them by Żegota (the Council for Aid to Jews). From December 1942, Jewish refugees, most of who were related to each other, began turning up on the Dobrowolski’s doorstep. Among the Jews who found shelter in their home were Maria Hoffman and her two daughters, Helena and Irena, Michał and Berta Zellner, Celina Tadaner (nee Lax), and Lotta and Piroska Sternbach. The experience Dobrowolska had gained before the war running a boarding house in the holiday resort town of Zakopane, now stood her in good stead. Although some of the tenants in their building realized what was going on, they kept the secret, knowing the Dobrowolskis were working for the underground. All the refugees stayed with the Dobrowolskis until January 1945, when the area was liberated by the Red Army. After the war, most of the survivors immigrated to Israel and the United States. All remembered their rescuers as extraordinarily humane people who had been prepared to risk their lives to save Jews.

“On January 1, 1998, Yad Vashem recognized Stefania Dobrowolska and Kazimierz Dobrowolski as Righteous Among the Nations. File 7901.

Gutman, Israel (Editor-in-Chief), and Sara Bender (Associate Editor). The Encyclopedia of the Righteous Among the Nations, Vol. 1. Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, 2004, .

Dobrowolski, Mieczysław

“Before the war, Mieczysław Dobrowolski, an inhabitant of Warsaw, worked as a correspondent for Robotnik, the Polish Socialist Party (PPS) organ. During the German occupation, Dobrowolski helped save the lives of many Jews interned in the Warsaw ghetto. In 1942, Dobrowolski helped Janina Sztern, a former fellow student of his, escape from the ghetto and put her up in his home until August 1944. Then she was sent to a labor camp, under an assumed identity, where she survived the war. Dobrowolski also sheltered Miriam Caspari, Teofila Wichowa, among many others, in his apartment, looked after them, and provided them with the necessary forged documents. Dobrowolski had contacts with activists of the Jewish Socialist Party (the Bund), who lived on the Aryan side of the city, and with Zegota (the Council for Aid to Jews), through which he funneled money to the Jewish fugitives. The Jews whom Dobrowolski saved later testified that he was a person of extraordinary humanitarian values, who was guided only by altruistic considerations.

“On March 5, 1989, Yad Vashem recognized Dobrowolski, Mieczysław as Righteous Among the Nations.

Gutman, Israel (Editor-in-Chief), and Sara Bender (Associate Editor). The Encyclopedia of the Righteous Among the Nations, Vol. 1. Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, 2004, .

Stanisław Wincenty Dobrowolski, codename: "Stanisław" and "Staniewski" (1915-1993). A lawyer, diplomat, politician, and community activist connected to the Polish Socialist Party - Freedom, Equality, Independence. He was Chairman of the Kraków branch of the Council to Aid Jews "Żegota".

Dobrowolski, Stanisław Wincenty

“In 1943, Dr. Stanisław Wincenty Dobrowolski, an attorney and activist of the Polish Socialist Party underground, was appointed president of the newly opened Krakow branch of Zegota (the Council for Aid to Jews). Right from the start, Dobrowolski directed all Zegota’s underground activities, and turned his office into a meeting place for local activists. At his initiative and planning, contact was established with the concentration camp of Plaszow and with the official Polish welfare organization, Rada Glowna Opiekuncza (RGO) that, inter alia, helped prisoners. Dobrowolski’s main activity, however, was finding hiding places for Jewish refugees. He saw to their safety and physical well-being, and provided them with “Aryan” papers. One of the Jews saved by Dobrowolski was Michał Maksymilian Borwicz. Dobrowolski found Borwicz a hiding place thereby saving his life. After the war Borwicz immigrated to France.

On September 4, 1979, Yad Vashem recognized Dr. Stanislaw Dobowolski as Rightoeus Among the Nations. File 1681.

Gutman, Israel (Editor-in-Chief), and Sara Bender (Associate Editor). The Encyclopedia of the Righteous Among the Nations, Vol. 1. Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, 2004, .

Downarowicz, Jerzy
Downarowicz, Danuta

“In September 1942, 14-year-old Sabina Kleinlerer (later, Wylot) was caught outside the walls of the Warsaw ghetto trying to smuggle in groceries that she had purchased on the "Aryan" side. After she managed to slip away from the German police she did not return to the ghetto. From this stage onwards her struggle for survival commenced on the "Aryan" side and continued for over two years. The first to come to her aid were the couple, Jerzy and Danuta Downarowicz, who took her into their home, even though they did not know her; they fed her and let her stay there for two months. In November 1942, she had to leave them because her Jewish identity became known in the locality. For two years, Sabina found refuge with various other Polish families. During this period, the Downarowicz couple became active in the underground organization ŻEGOTA that helped Jews hiding on the “Aryan” side. In October 1944, after suppression of the Warsaw Uprising, Sabina was again aided by Danuta when they happened to meet in the Pruszków transit camp when they were both on their way to forced labor in Germany. This time, Danuta took her under her protection, presented her to the German authorities as her sister, and gave Sabina her maiden name of Zendlewicz. Under this non-Jewish identity, Sabina received a work certificate, and they were thus both able to pass the rest of the war together relatively safely in Germany.

“On April 29, 2001, Yad Vashem recognized Jerzy and Danuta Downarowicz as Righteous Among the Nations. File 9213

Gutman, Israel (Editor-in-Chief), and Sara Bender (Associate Editor). The Encyclopedia of the Righteous Among the Nations, Vol. 1. Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, 2004, .

Dutkiewicz, Wacław
Dutkiewicz, Helena

“Wacław and Helena Dutkiewicz lived in a large apartment building in Warsaw, which belonged to the “Warta” insurance company where Wacław Dutkiewicz worked. Dutkiewicz exploited his position as manager of the building to save Jews, particular acquaintances, by hiding them in the offices of the insurance company, in the building’s basement, in empty apartments, and sometimes even in his own apartment. Wacław’s wife, who before the war had worked in a registry office, exploited her connections to obtain forged documents for the Jews they were hiding. Dutkiewicz also exploited his contacts with the Polish underground to save Jewish children, whom he transferred to the famous orphanage run by the priest Boduen. Among their other activities, the Dutkiewiczes distributed money to needy Jews through their contacts with Zegota (Council for Aid to Jews). As members of the Polish underground, the Dutkiewiczes considered saving Jews as part of the fight against the common enemy. Among the many Jews who were helped by the Dutkiewiczes were Dr. Marian Zbarski, who fell in the Warsaw Uprising in 1944, and his large family; an attorney named Kowalski and his family; Dr. Sołowiejczyk and his wife and cousin; Mr. Oldak, an attorney; and Dr. Pellier-Zagórski. Those who survived testified that the Dutkiewiczes were guided by sincere humanitarian considerations. In due course, most of the survivors moved to Britain, Sweden, and Israel.

“On October 2, 1984, Yad Vashem recognized Wacłaaw Dutkiewicz, and his wife, Helena, as Righteous Among the Nations. File 2992.

Gutman, Israel (Editor-in-Chief), and Sara Bender (Associate Editor). The Encyclopedia of the Righteous Among the Nations, Vol. 1. Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, 2004, .

Kubiczek, Edward
Hrabyk-Dziurzyńska, Maria

“From mid-1943 until Krakow’s liberation, Edward Kubiczek and Maria Dziurzyńska, who were active in the Krakow branch of Zegota (the Council for Aid to Jews), provided Jews with forged documents which Kubiczek, a forger, printed in his apartment. In time, Kubiczek became adept at providing each refugee with the appropriate documents depending on his address, profession and job. Kubiczek himself lived under an assumed identity, in order to escape detection, and refused to take on a job in order to devote himself single-mindedly to his rescue work. Kubiczek’s work was made easier by Maria Dziurzyńska, a clerk at the local Labor Exchange (Arbeitsamt), who fearlessly supplied Zegota with blank documents and work permits bearing an official stamp, thereby obviating the need for Jews to appear before the authorities. In her subsequent testimony, Dziurzyńska stated: “If my boss had ever thought to check the contents of my drawer, I would have been sent to a place from which there was no return…”

“On January 22, 1981, Yad Vashem recognized Edward Kubiczek and Maria Hrabyk (née Dziurzyńska) as Righteous Among the Nations. File 1983.

Gutman, Israel (Editor-in-Chief), and Sara Bender (Associate Editor). The Encyclopedia of the Righteous Among the Nations, Vol. 1. Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, 2004, .

“Leon Feiner (nom-de-guerre "Mikołaj" (Michael), "Berezowski") (1885 in Krakow – February 22, 1945, in Lublin [1]) was a Polish-Jewish lawyer, an activist of the General Jewish Labour Bund in Poland and between November 1944 and January 1945 the director (prezes) and vice-chairman of the Council to Aid Jews "Żegota".

“After the outbreak of World War II with the German invasion of Poland, the Soviet Union also invaded on September 17, as part of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact between Nazi Germany and Soviet Union. Feiner was caught in the Soviet part of occupied Poland, was arrested by the NKVD and spent several months in a Soviet prison in Lida, near Wilno.[2] Despite the fact that before the war on several occasions he had defended Polish Communists in court as an attorney, and that he had belonged to a socialist organization (the General Jewish Labour Bund in Poland), the Soviets authorities charged him with being a "fascist" and a "counter revolutionary"[2] After the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union Feiner managed to escape after the Soviets fled Lida in 1941, and made his way to Nazi-occupied Warsaw.

“During the Nazi occupation of Poland Feiner, even though he lived in the "Aryan" side of Warsaw under the assumed name "Berezowski", was one of the central personalities of the Jewish underground in the city. He was the author of most of the communiques of the Bund from Poland to the Western allies, in which he described Nazi terror and brutality.[1]

“Feiner also served as a guide for the Polish courier Jan Karski inside the Warsaw Ghetto (they both crossed into the ghetto through the Warsaw sewers).[3] Karski asked Feiner what prominent American and British Jews should do. "Tell the Jewish leaders," Feiner said, "that ... they must find the strength and courage to make sacrifices no other statesmen have ever had to make, sacrifices as painful as the fate of my dying people, and as unique."[4] Karski also took Feiner's report to the Polish-Jewish political leaders Szmul Zygielbojm and Ignacy Schwarzbart, who were serving on the Polish National Council of the Polish Government-in-Exile in London. The report described the deportation and murder of Jews in Poland, including a detailed report on Chełmno extermination camp, and gave the estimated number dead, as of May 1942, at 700,000 (the actual number was already much higher).[5] Feiner's instructions to Zygielbojm were to cease mere protests and organize retaliatory bombing, leafleting and execution of Germans captured by the Allies, in response to the Nazi Holocaust.[6] The description of the condition of Jews in German-occupied Poland and Feiner's instructions threw Zygielbojm into depression since he knew that the Allies would be unwilling to help [6] (Zygielbojm eventually committed suicide as a protest against the indifference of the Allied governments in the face of the Holocaust).[7]

“After the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising and the liquidation of the Ghetto by the Germans, Feiner tried desperately to help those who were sent to slave labor camps.[8]

“Leon Feiner survived the Nazi occupation, the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising and the Warsaw Uprising, and was rescued in Lublin in January 1945. However, due to terminal illness (throat cancer) [8] he died soon afterward, on February 22. Even while in the hospital he maintained relationships with his friends and fellow political activists and participated in discussions of the future of the Bund in Poland.[1]

“He is buried in the main row of the Okopowa Street Jewish Cemetery in Warsaw Emmanuel Ringelblum, Joseph Kermish, Shmuel Krakowski, "Polish-Jewish Relations During the Second World War", Northwestern University Press, 1992, pg. 115.

Notes

1. Bernard Goldstein, "Five years in the Warsaw Ghetto: (The stars bear witness)", AK Press, 2005, pg. 84,

2. "Refugees Who Have Made a Difference", UNHCR

3. Jan Karski, Story of a Secret State, pp. 42-50.

4. "BBC: 700,000 Jews killed in Poland". www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org. Retrieved 16 July 2018.

5. Samantha Power, "A problem from hell: America and the age of genocide", HarperCollins, 2003, pg. 33.

6. Melvyn Conroy, Szmul Mordekhai "Artur" Zygielbojm, The Terrible Choice: Some Contemporary Jewish Responses to the Holocaust.

7. "Survivors and Others Mentioned in This Documentary: Where Are They now?", Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies, [4]

Korniecka, Józefa
Filipowicz-Krahelska, Zofia

“Zofia Filipowicz was one of the founders of Żegota (the Council for Aid to Jews). As part of her work for Żegota, Filipowicz found hiding places and arranged financial aid for Jews who escaped from the Warsaw ghetto. In time, she became a household name for refugees who needed help or “Aryan” documents. Filipowicz was extremely courageous in carrying out her assignments, which she saw as an integral part of the war against a common enemy. In September 1942, after the large-scale Aktion in the ghetto, Filipowicz arranged a hiding place for Dorota Bogucka who had escaped to the Aryan side of the city, and provided her with a forged identity card (Kennkarte) and regular means of subsistence. Under her assumed identity, Bogucka stayed with Józefa Korniecka, an underground activist who lived with her family in Anin, near Warsaw. Korniecka never told Bogucka that she knew she was Jewish, did her best to make her feel safe, and saw to all her needs. Bogucka stayed with Korniecka until the area was liberated in September 1944. In risking her life for Bogucka, Korniecka was guided by humanitarian motives and a sense of duty as a member of the fighting underground.

“On May 23, 1967, Yad Vashem recognized Józefa Korniecka and Zofia Filipowicz-Krahelska as Righteous Among the Nations File 332.

Gutman, Israel (Editor-in-Chief), and Sara Bender (Associate Editor). The Encyclopedia of the Righteous Among the Nations, Vol. 1. Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, 2004, .

“Regina Fleszarowa (28 March 1888 – 1 July 1969) was a Polish geographer and geologist, who participated in women's rights and served as a Senator in the Second Polish Republic between 1935 and 1938. Studying at the Sorbonne, in 1913, she received the first PhD in natural sciences awarded to a Polish woman. Considered a pioneer in establishing earth sciences in Poland, she published over 100 works concerning the geography and geology of the country. Her 5-volume bibliography on the history of earth sciences in Poland is considered her greatest achievement. She was awarded the 1st Class Banner of the Order of Labor in 1960.

“Fleszarowa was appointed in 1935 to serve as a Senator by the President of the Polish Republic. During her tenure, she focused on formal organization of scientific pursuits and expanding the rights of citizens. In 1937 was one of the organizers of the Democratic Club of Warsaw, serving as its vice-president and Democratic Alliance Party. Her Senate term ended in 1938 and during the Occupation of Poland, she joined the underground movement, participating in the Home Army. Working in developing information and propaganda for the Home Army, she distributed maps and published literature, setting up an editorial office for underground writings.

“She worked to hide Jews, and led secret meeting of librarians, leading the effort to hide the archive of the Association of Polish Librarians.

“Fleeing the city before the Warsaw Uprising in 1944, Fleszarowa went to Lublin and worked as a contact to the Polish Committee of National Liberation. In October 1944, she was appointed head of the Library Department of the Ministry of Education.

“In 1945, she served as co-founder in reorganizing the Women's League and was appointed to serve in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Democratic Party government. Participating in peace conferences held in Moscow, Paris, Potsdam and Prague, she was one of the cartographers who delineated the western Polish border. From 1945 to 1948, she served on the City Council of Warsaw.

Flukowska Maria
Ladzińska Julia
Leszczyńska Halina

“Maria Flukowska was an exceptional woman, well-educated and with artistic tendencies. She was also a woman who displayed initiative and resourcefulness. As the war was raging on, she found herself alone in Warsaw with her two children – her husband was in German captivity – and compelled to work as a waitress and at an assortment of odd jobs to provide for the family. She joined the Polish underground Home Army (AK), where she was active in the underground press and then worked as a nurse. In April 1942, Maria was forced to vacate her home by order of the Germans. She rented an apartment in a half-destroyed building at 49 Szustra Street, where the underground had established a hospital for wounded fighters. Maria became the institution’s de facto director. In short order the building became a haven not only for the wounded, but also for various other people seeking to hide from the occupation authorities. These included Jews who had fled to the “Aryan” side of the city from the ghetto and who now were required to move out of formerly safe houses that had been discovered or were hounded by blackmailers. About 20 Jews, including six children, were given asylum under Maria’s auspices at 49 Szustra Street in different periods – some stayed a few days, others for weeks or months, and some became almost permanent tenants. Similarly, some bore all their own expenses, some were supported by the underground (probably by ŻEGOTA), and others stayed for free.

“Among the adults who hid there were Anna Mitzner, Arnold Szyfman, Ludwika Libin, and Helena Fridman. Six children were hidden in this shelter at one time or another, most apparently with the support of ŻEGOTA: Janek Lipski, Marysia Fridman, Irka Bojanowska, Jedrus Czerski, Hela, and Ewa Ciprys, at the time only a toddler. While the fugitives stayed at with 49 Szustra Street, Maria tried to find them more permanent places of hiding. She also arranged “Aryan” papers for them. To help her with this she recruited the help of some friends and relatives, starting with her daughter, Halina, then about 17 or 18, who was serving as a paramedic with the underground army – she later became an oncologist – and who was living with her. She had a particularly difficult time finding a suitable hiding place in Warsaw for Janek, because of his Jewish features. He stayed in the building for nearly two years, until Maria moved him to the home of her mother, Julia Ladzińska, who lived near Zakopane, deep in the hinterland. Testimony to Maria’s daring and humane activity during that dark time is contained in the many letters of gratitude and esteem that she continued to receive until her last day from her former child wards.

“On January 25, 2004, Yad Vashem recognized Maria Flukowska, her mother, Julia Ladzińska, and her daughter, Halina Leszczyńska, as Righteous Among the Nations. File 9769

Gutman, Israel (Editor-in-Chief), and Sara Bender (Associate Editor). The Encyclopedia of the Righteous Among the Nations, Vol. 1. Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, 2004, .

Muzolf, Władysława
Muzolf, Stanisław
Franio, Zofia

“Before the war, Anna Aschkenasy taught in a sewing school at Vilnius; which was administered by Władysława Muzolf. In 1941, after the Germans occupied the city and established a ghetto for the local Jews, Aschkenasy appealed to her former employer, for help. Władysława Muzolf, opened her door to the Jewish fugitive without setting any conditions, and with the full agreement of her husband Stanisław. When one of the neighbors (“…a polish widow of a policeman, Mrs. Nowakowska…”) discovered Aschkenasy’s presence and threatened to inform on them to the Gestapo, the Muzolfs were forced to move Aschkenasy from their house. Despite the danger to their lives, the Muzolfs moved together with Aschkenasy to a farm which they leased not far from town. After providing Aschkenasy with “Aryan” papers, they introduced her as a relative and cared for her with kindness and endless devotion. It soon became clear that, the farm was not very safe because the owners apparently knew Aschkenasy from the past. Consequently, in the autumn of 1941 (the 18th of September), Aschkenasy decided to move to Warsaw. Using her assumed identity and a letter of recommendation written by the Muzolfs, (afer a journey of 7th days) Aschkenasy arrived at the apartment of Dr. Zofia Franio, an activist in the AK (Armia Krajowa– Home Army) who worked with the children’s department in the Council for Aid to Jews, the Żegota.

“Franio found shelter for Aschkenasy, but fearing that she would be informed on, Aschkenasy was forced to keep finding new places to hide; until Dr. Franio found her a job in a hospital. Aschkenasy was able to stay there until the Warsaw Uprising in August 1944, afterwards she was forged to move with other civilian population to Pruszków (a town near Warsaw); eventually she was hiding in Zakopane, until the area was liberated by the Red Army in January 1945. Furtheremore, Dr. Franio also helped Mrs.Aschkenasy’s ant’s son, named- Edward Cudnowski. Edward was hiding in Lwów until he was taken to Auschwitz. He jumped from the train and managed to escape; afterwards, he arrived at Warsaw and went straight to Dr. Franio’s apartment (at the 6th Falata street). Dr. Franio, provided Edward with a forge document of a young man who died, and located him at Saint Stanislaus Hospital for Infection Diseases (Szpital Zakaźny Miejski św. Stanisława) at Wolska street (he was ill, and suffered from typhoid and typhus) in Warsaw, where she had reliable friends among the staff. Due to the new order, that was instructed by the German authorities, all the infectious patiens were deported to the Infection Hospital at Chocimska street. Unfortunately, while the nurses were washing Edward, they have noticed that he was circumcised. Therefore, they have deported to the head of the hospital- Prof. Dr Görtner; that their patient is Jewish. After an inquiry that was done by Prof. Dr Görtner; Dr. Franio said: “And assuming that you yourself had come across such a case what would you have done as a doctor and human being?” Prof. Dr Görtner, was speechless; eventually he answered: “OK, do not worry about your patient, you will have him all right”. After Edward has recovered from his illness; Dr. Franio asked Mrs. Anna Aschkenasy-Wirska to collect a suitcase for her cousin, from Mrs. Irena Wyrębowska, at Wilcza street. Anna collected the suitcase and found in it “an overcoat, a hat, a good quality suit, 2 sets of shirts and underwear, shoes, socks, a leather belt, a tie, cuff links, handkerchiefs and cash zł 1.000 – (one thousand złoty)”. Unfortunately, despite the help that was provided to Edward; he didn’t manage to survive the war. Moreover, Edward’s and Anna’s names, are mentioned in the book of Prof. Władysław Bartoszewski and Zofia Lewinówa- “Ten jest z ojczyzny mojej”; on page 147. All what have Władysława, Stanisław Muzolf and Dr. Zofia Franio did, in order tosave them, was motivated by pure altruism and a sense of patriotic duty, to help those persecuted. After the war, the Muzolfs moved to Poznań; while Anna Aschkenasy-Wirska, has immigrated to England.

“On the 26th of December 1971, Yad Vashem recognized Stanisław Muzolf, his wife Władysława Muzolf and Dr. Zofia Franio, as a Righteous Among the Nations. Files 720, 720a.

Gutman, Israel (Editor-in-Chief), and Sara Bender (Associate Editor). The Encyclopedia of the Righteous Among the Nations, Vol. 1. Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, 2004, .

Piotr Gajewski, a representative of the left wing of the Polish socialists, known as the R.P.P.S. – Polish Workers’ Socialist Party, joined the Council toward the end of 1944.

Woldzimierz Garlinski, Zegota activist with quarantine department on the

Górska, Maria

“During the German occupation, Sister Maria Górska, a member of the Ursuline Sisters convent, was an active participant in the convent’s effort to save Jewish children. Officially, Górska ran a soup kitchen for orphaned or abandoned children in central Warsaw. Unofficially, her job was to help Jewish children, by arranging for them to be smuggled out of the ghetto, and transferred to institutions belonging to the Ursuline Sisters, which had branches throughout occupied Poland. In performing these and other dangerous operations, Górska was inspired by Christian love and a sense of obligation to save human life. One of Górska’s tasks was to obtain “Aryan” documents for the Jewish children, protect those who looked Jewish, and hide them during German raids. Górska was in touch with Zegota (the Council for Aid to Jews), which supplied her with documents as necessary. Górska saved the lives of many Jewish children, who left Poland after the war. Górska’s activities form the theme of Dr. Rozenblum-Szymanska’s book Bylam tylko lekarzem (“I was only a doctor”).

“On October 27, 1997, Yad Vashem recognized Sister Maria Górska as Righteous Among the Nations. File 7668.

Gutman, Israel (Editor-in-Chief), and Sara Bender (Associate Editor). The Encyclopedia of the Righteous Among the Nations, Vol. 1. Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, 2004, .

Gorzkowska, Henryka

“Henryka Gorzkowska (code name Różycka), was known by Jews escaping from the Warsaw ghetto as a humane person who was always prepared to help Jews. As an activist in Zegota (the Council for Aid to Jews), Gorzkowska let her apartment in Piastow near Warsaw be used by fugitives until she found them permanent accommodation. Gorzkowska also obtained “Aryan” documents for refugees, supported them financially, visited them in their hiding places, and gave them moral and material support. Among the many Jews helped by Gorzkowska were Henry Rosen; Jerzy and Balbina Perski; and Józef Maciejewicz. In January 1944, the Gestapo arrested Gorzkowska for helping Jews. After being subjected to a brutal interrogation in Pawiak prison, she was sent to Ravensbrueck concentration camp, where she survived until the liberation. In risking her life to save Jews, Gorzkowska was guided by compassion and a sense of obligation to the persecuted, and never expected anything in return. After the war, Rosen and the Perskis stayed on in Poland. Maciejewicz later emigrated to Sweden.

“On December 27, 1976, Yad Vashem recognized Henryka Gorzkowska as Righteous Among the Nations. File 1099.

Gutman, Israel (Editor-in-Chief), and Sara Bender (Associate Editor). The Encyclopedia of the Righteous Among the Nations, Vol. 1. Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, 2004, .

“Szymon Gottesman, codename: "Józef Bogucki" (1886-?). A doctor of laws, a lawyer, a community and political activist and a Zionist. During World War II. he fled from Kraków to Warsaw, where he served on the Executive of the Jewish National Committee. During the final months of the War, he was Secretary of the Council to Aid Jews "Żegota". Afer the War, he emigrated to Brazil (Rio de Janerio).

“Julian Grobelny (16 February 1893 – 5 December 1944[1]) and wife Halina, was an activist in the Polish Socialist Party (PPS) from 1915, in the lead-up to Poland's return to independence. During the interwar period he was a social activist. After the German-Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939, and the ensuing Holocaust, he became President of Żegota (Council for Aid to Jews) active in the General Government territory of occupied Poland. The clandestine organization was named after a fictional character Konrad Żegota born on the exact day of its inception in 1942. Grobelny served as president of Żegota until the end of hostilities.[2]

“Born in Brzeziny, about 20 kilometres (12 mi) east of Łódź, Grobelny took part in the Silesian Uprisings and worked as an activist among the workers of Łódź in the Second Polish Republic before the war broke out. As soon as the Nazis entered the city however, the Grobelnys found themselves listed as enemies of the Third Reich; went into hiding, and relocated to Warsaw.[3]

“Despite suffering from tuberculosis, Grobelny – together with his wife Halina (born 1900) – was personally involved in the rescue of a large number of Polish Jews during the German occupation of Poland. The couple was famous for their preoccupation with saving particularly Jewish children from the Holocaust by entering the Warsaw Ghetto and walking out with them as their own.[3][4] They harbored over a dozen Jewish PPS activists in their home, and worked in close co-operation with Irena Sendler, head of the children’s section of Zegota. Julian (pseudonym "Trojan") and Halina turned their modest house in Cegłów near Mińsk Mazowiecki into a temporary shelter for Jews until they could be moved into a more permanent place. They offered protection to whoever needed it most, especially those who fled from the Ghetto in Warsaw. The Grobelnys devoted most of their time and energy to rescue work, but also helped Jewish adults by supplying them with “Aryan” papers, money and medicines.[4]

“In March 1944 the Gestapo arrested Grobelny without knowing about his clandestine work. He survived, thanks to help from physician friends, Dr. Z. Franio, Dr. M. Ropek, Dr. J. Majkowski and Dr. J. Rutkiewicz who were aiding him in prison.[4] Soon before the war's end, while the Soviet Army had already liberated the eastern part of Poland, Grobelny became mayor of Mińsk Mazowiecki, the location of the Mińsk Mazowiecki Ghetto in German-occupied Poland (not far from Warsaw), but died there of tuberculosis on 5 December 1944.[5] He is buried at a cemetery in Mińsk Mazowiecki. The names of Julian and Halina Grobelny figure prominently in books about humanitarian aid to the Jews of Warsaw and elsewhere during the occupation.

“On 8 March 1987 Yad Vashem recognized Halina and Julian Grobelny as Righteous Among the Nations.[6]

Notes

"Grobelny Julian - Encyklopedia PWN - źródło wiarygodnej i rzetelnej wiedzy".

1. Władysław Bartoszewski (2002), "Help people, don't be afraid!" (Part One), (Part Two) [Nie bój się, pomagaj ludziom (I & II).] Interview with Władysław Bartoszewski by Marian Turski. Polityka Nr 47/2002, Warsaw.

2. The RelatioNet Project, Life of Julian Grobelny (Życie Juliana Grobelnego). International reunion of the younger generation with World War II Survivors, October 3, 2007 (in Polish).

3. Irena Sendlerowa (2007), "Julian Grobelny i jego żona Helena." FKCh "ZNAK" - 1999-2008. Internet Archive.

4. "Grobelny Julian - Encyklopedia PWN - źródło wiarygodnej i rzetelnej wiedzy".

5. Julian Grobelny – his activity to save Jews' lives during the Holocaust, at Yad Vashem website.

Grobelny, Julian
Grobelna, Halina

“Julian Grobelny (whose code name was Trojan) was an activist in the Polish Socialist Party (PPS) and president of Zegota (Council for Aid to Jews) since its establishment in 1942. Despite suffering from tuberculosis, Grobelny, together with his wife, Halina, was personally involved in the rescue of a large number of Jewish children. Both Julian and Halina devoted most of their time and energy to their rescue work, turning their small house in Ceglow, near Minsk Mazowiecki, into a temporary shelter for Jewish children until they could move into more permanent accommodations. The Grobelnys were in close contact with Irena Sendler*, head of the children’s section of Zegota. The Grobelnys also helped Jewish adults who fled from the ghetto, by supplying them with “Aryan” documents, money and medicines. In March 1944, the Gestapo arrested Grobelny, but during a furlough to receive medical care, he escaped. Grobelny died of tuberculosis on December 4, 1944. The names of Julian and Halina Grobelny figure prominently in books about humanitarian aid to the Jews of Warsaw and elsewhere during the occupation.

“On March 8, 1987, Yad Vashem recognized Halina and Julian Grobelny as Righteous Among the Nations. File 879.

Gutman, Israel (Editor-in-Chief), and Sara Bender (Associate Editor). The Encyclopedia of the Righteous Among the Nations, Vol. 1. Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, 2004, .

“Maria Grzegorzewska (18 April 1888 – 7 May 1967) was a Polish educator who brought the special education movement to Poland. Born to a family from the Żmudź region, she was strongly influenced by her parents' beliefs in humanitarianism. During World War II, Grzegorzewska worked as a nurse, was active in the Polish resistance movement, and taught in Warsaw. She joined Żegota and aided Jews. During World War II, Grzegorzewska worked as a nurse, was active in the Polish resistance movement, and taught in Warsaw. She joined Żegota and provided vital life saving assistance to Jews.

Hartabus, Stefan

“The members of Zegota (the Council for Aid to Jews) in Wieliczka near Krakow, focused on helping Jewish prisoners working in the local salt mines, and finding hiding places for Jews who had escaped the liquidation of the local ghetto in August 1942. Among the members of Zegota who were operating in the area was Stefan Hartabus, formerly a volunteer firefighter from the nearby village of Krzyszkowice. Hartabus was mainly responsible for finding hiding places for Jewish refugees, in and outside the city. Among those whose lives he saved were the four members of the Aleksandrowicz family who fled from the Krakow ghetto. Dr. Julian Aleksandrowicz was put in touch with an AK partisan unit, where he fought as a doctor and commander, under the code name Doctor Twardy. Hartabus’s brother worked as Wieliczka’s only mailman, and Hartabus, who used to “help” him sort letters, removed incriminating letters against Jews sent by local inhabitants to the Gestapo. The work of Zegota, and Hartabus’s part in it, has been described in the book Righteous Among the Nations by Wladyslaw Bartoszewski and Zofia Lewinowna, and in books by Michal Borwicz, a historian and member of the underground.

“On January 7, 1981, Yad Vashem recognized Stefan Hartabus as Righteous Among the Nations. File 1941.

Gutman, Israel (Editor-in-Chief), and Sara Bender (Associate Editor). The Encyclopedia of the Righteous Among the Nations, Vol. 1. Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, 2004, .

Dr. Paulina Hauzmann (“Alicja”), lawyer member of the Democratic Party.

Emilia Hizowa (“Barbara”), a Democratic Party activist.

“Maria Hochberg (Miriam Peleg), codename: "Mariańska" and "Ewa" (1913- 1996). A writer, journalist, author and editor of the children's supplement of "Nowy Dziennik". During the War, she used "Aryan " documents with the pre-War identity surname of "Maria Górska". She worked together with the Polish Socialist Party underground. In 1943, she joined the Kraków branch of the Coucil to Aid Jews "Żegota" as a representative of the Jewish community. She delivered false documents and financial support. Those whom she helped included the Libermann and Aleksandrowicz families, Izaak Birnbaum and Szymoni Zajdow, escapees from the Auschwitz camp. She also helped Michał Borowicz and Janina Hescheles, escapees from the Janowski camp in Lwów.

“Roman Jan Jabłonowski, codenames: "Jurkiewicz", "Gruszecki", "J. Janowski" and "Marian Kozłowski", (1886-1963). Socialist and communist activist and Doctor of Philosophy. From May to July 1944, he served as Chairman of the Council to Aid Jews "Żegota".

Jamioł, Zofia

“In December 1942, Chana Urbach fled from the Kraków ghetto with five relatives, two of who were babies. After leaving the ghetto, the refugees hid in an apartment rented from a Polish landlord, according to an arrangement they had made while still in the ghetto. In May 1943, when blackmailers began threatening to report them, the Jewish refugees moved into a new hiding place in nearby Ojców, except for Chana Urbach who remained in Kraków. Chana turned to Maria Mariańska (later Miriam Peleg), a Jewish acquaintance who worked, under an assumed identity, for Żegota (the Council for Aid to Jews). Zofia Jamioł, a courier for Żegota, was assigned to look after Chana. Jamioł accompanied her to a hiding place in the city, gave her money to buy food, and a few days later, provided her with “Aryan” documents. Jamioł also let Chana stay with her occasionally, visited her in her hiding place, saw to all her needs, and watched out for her safety, and, when Chana fell ill, nursed her back to health. In a daring operation, Jamioł also saved Chana from being sent to work in Germany. Chana stayed with Jamioł until the area was liberated in January 1945 and, after the war, immigrated to Israel with her five relatives.

“On March 28, 1979, Yad Vashem recognized Zofia Jamioł as Righteous Amomg theNations. File 1611.

Gutman, Israel (Editor-in-Chief), and Sara Bender (Associate Editor). The Encyclopedia of the Righteous Among the Nations, Vol. 1. Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, 2004, .

Jedynak, Józef
Dymek-Jedynak, Wanda
Panuszko-Jedynak, Józefa
Bobrowski, Mieczysław
Bobrowska, Maria

“Irena Leinkram, who came to Krakow after escaping from the Warsaw ghetto, stayed with the Bobrowskis until the area was liberated by the Red Army, after which she immigrated to Israel.

On December 24, 1979, Yad Vashem recognized Józef Jedynak, his daughters, Wanda Dymek-Jedynak and Józefa Panuszko-Jedynak, and Maria and Mieczysław Bobrowski as Righteous Among the Nations. File 1737.

Gutman, Israel (Editor-in-Chief), and Sara Bender (Associate Editor). The Encyclopedia of the Righteous Among the Nations, Vol. 1. Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, 2004, .

Kaliczyńska, Józefa
Jekielek-Kluska, Maria
Kobylińska, Łucja

“During the occupation, Józefa Kaliczyńska, Maria Kluska, and Łucja Kobylińska worked as couriers for Zegota (the Council for Aid to Jews) in Krakow. Their duties included visiting Jews in their hiding places on the Aryan side of the city and in the surrounding towns and villages. Their visits had a dual purpose: to supply the refugees with money and basic requirements, and to show the landlords, who were being paid by Zegota, that the underground was keeping an eye on them. The couriers, who saw their work as an integral part of the war against a common enemy, were constantly risking their lives, and frequently had to improvise ways of saving refugees whose lives were in immediate danger. In 1944, when Stefania Rozenberg, her little daughter Eugenia, Eugenia Nusbaum and Anna Weksler thought that their end was near, the courageous Zegota couriers came to the rescue and saved their lives.

“On July 7, 1980, Yad Vashem recognized Józefa Kaliczyńska, Łucja Kobylińska and Maria Jekielek (née Kluska) as Righteous Among the Nations. File 1896.

Gutman, Israel (Editor-in-Chief), and Sara Bender (Associate Editor). The Encyclopedia of the Righteous Among the Nations, Vol. 1. Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, 2004, .

Jetkiewicz, Henryk
Jetkiewicz, Janina
Łopuszańska-Jetkiewicz, Maria

“In the spring of 1942, Rajzl Feldman and her seven-year-old daughter, Janina, escaped from the Krakow ghetto. Members of Zegota (the Council for Aid to Jews) supplied the two refugees with “Aryan” documents and arranged accommodation for them in Warsaw. A Zegota activist also put Feldman and her daughter in touch with the Polish author Zofia Kossak-Szczucka, who arranged for them to stay with Henryk and Janina Jetkiewicz, underground activists, who lived with their 16-year-old daughter, Maria, in central Warsaw. When Feldman and her daughter arrived at the Jetkiewiczes they were both suffering from tuberculosis, and in 1943 the mother passed away. Little Janina stayed on with the Jetkiewiczes, who nursed her back to health. When the Jetkiewiczes participated in the Warsaw Uprising in August 1944, their daughter, Maria, took over sole responsibility for Janina. After the suppression of the uprising and the evacuation of the city’s population, the Jetkiewiczes took Janina with them to Plock, where they remained until the area was liberated by the Red Army. After the war, Janina stayed in Poland where she married and raised a family. She never forgot her saviors, and for many years remained friendly with their daughter, Maria.

“On May 6, 1997, Yad Vashem recognized Janina and Henryk Jetkiewicz, and their daughter, Maria Łopuszańska-Jetkiewicz, as Righteous Among the Nations. File 7595.

Gutman, Israel (Editor-in-Chief), and Sara Bender (Associate Editor). The Encyclopedia of the Righteous Among the Nations, Vol. 1. Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, 2004, .

Kaliczyńska, Józefa
Jekielek-Kluska, Maria
Kobylińska, Łucja

“On July 7, 1980, Yad Vashem recognized Józefa Kaliczyńska, Łucja Kobylińska and Maria Jekielek (née Kluska) as Righteous Among the Nations. File 1833.

Gutman, Israel (Editor-in-Chief), and Sara Bender (Associate Editor). The Encyclopedia of the Righteous Among the Nations, Vol. 1. Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, 2004, .

Kamiński, Stefan

“After her mother's death in 1942, 11-year-old Felicja Seifert was smuggled out of the ghetto to the Aryan side of Kraków. Felicja's father, who lived under an assumed identity outside the Kraków ghetto, arranged this daring operation. Felicja was sent to a farm in the village of Wawrzeńczyce in the county of Miechów, near Kraków, where, together with another Jewish couple, she stayed for about a year. One day, the Germans raided the farm and arrested the farm owners and the Jewish couple. Felicja managed to escape and ran to the private tutor the farm owners had hired for her, who sent her to Aleksandra Mianowska * in Kraków, a Żegota activist. Mianowska arranged for Stefan Kamiński, un underground activist and member of Żegota, to take Felicja to an institution run by nuns near Warsaw for children whose parents were working in Germany. Kamiński undertook this mission with alacrity, despite the tremendous risk. When Felicja took ill and had to go into the hospital, Kamiński stayed by her side, watched over her, and kept her spirits up. After she recovered, Felicja went to children's institution under an assumed identity and stayed there until the area was liberated. After the war, she immigrated to Israel.

“On May 26, 1997, Yad Vashem recognized Stefan Kamiński as Righteous Among the Nations. File 7618.

Gutman, Israel (Editor-in-Chief), and Sara Bender (Associate Editor). The Encyclopedia of the Righteous Among the Nations, Vol. 1. Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, 2004, .

Alexsander Kaminsky, leader Section of Minority Groups in the Polish Scouts Association.

“Maria Kann, wrote and assembled the material, which included a series of documents and reports by Polish and Jewish eyewitnesses and observers. It had an important effect on many Polish readers.

Kann, Maria

“During the occupation, the author Maria Kann organized the Scouts movement and edited clandestine newspapers for the AK in Warsaw. Over time, Kann became active in Żegota (the Council for Aid to Jews), where her assignment was to find accommodation for Jewish children in private homes or in orphanages, under false identities. In June 1943, Kann published a tract entitled "Na oczach świata" (“While the World Looks On”), describing the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising and the liquidation of the ghetto. The tract, which was also sent abroad, also contained a letter by Mordecai Anielewicz dated April 23, 1943, and an appeal to Poles by the ghetto insurgents. Abraham (Adolf) Berman, a leader of the Jewish underground in Warsaw, later wrote that the tract, which was published and distributed by the underground, had a great impact on many circles in occupied Poland, particularly on Catholics. In 1963, at the invitation of the many Jews who owed her their lives, Kann visited Israel where she was given a hero’s welcome.

“On October 22, 1963, Yad Vashem recognized Maria Kann as Righteous Among the Nations. File 2/30.

Gutman, Israel (Editor-in-Chief), and Sara Bender (Associate Editor). The Encyclopedia of the Righteous Among the Nations, Vol. 1. Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, 2004, .

Kawalski Edward-Marcin

“At the end of 1939, as war raged in Europe, Edward Kawalski, 20, reached the city of Skarżysko-Kamienna (Końskie County, Kielce District), and moved into a rented apartment next to the home of the Kahan family. There he met Irena Kahan, the daughter of the family, who was three years younger than he, and a romantic attachment developed between them. He continued to stay in touch with her when she and her family were moved into the ghetto in 1941 and helped them obtain basic items. Subsequently, Irena was transferred to the HASAG munitions plant in the city, where Edward also worked. As a technician, he had unrestricted movement in the plant, and so he did his best to be at her side and help her as much as he could. In the autumn of 1942, when the ghetto was liquidated, the Kahans organized to get to the “Aryan” side of the city and go into hiding. Thanks to the connections that Zundel Kahan, the father of the family and a physician, had with the Polish underground, he was able to obtain false “Aryan” papers for the whole family from the ŻEGOTA underground organization. He also arranged a place of hiding for his whole family with a Polish family in Otwock, outside Warsaw. Irena found shelter in Edward’s small apartment in the city, but not for long. Fearing that sooner or later a hostile neighbor would identify Irena as a Jew and inform on them, the two decided to move to Baranów (Puławy County, Lublin District), where Irena registered with the mayor as a Polish woman under her assumed identity.

“Throughout this period, Edward continued to be in contact with Irena’s parents and brother and saw to their needs. In June 1943, Edward married Irena secretly under her assumed name, and she continued to maintain that identity until the liberation in January 1945.

“On July 12, 1945, Yad Vashem recognized Edward-Marcin Kawalski as Righteous Among the Nations. File 9413.

Gutman, Israel (Editor-in-Chief), and Sara Bender (Associate Editor). The Encyclopedia of the Righteous Among the Nations, Vol. 1. Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, 2004, .

Kielbasiński, Stanisław

“Professor Stanisław Kielbasiński, a member of the Polish intelligentsia in Warsaw, had Jewish childhood friends. He was arrested by the Germans as part of their policy to destroy Polish elites and sent to the Dachau concentration camp. He, however, gained his release through bribery. This did not prevent him from endangering himself by helping persecuted Jews. In the summer of 1942, when the great deportation of the Jews of Warsaw to Treblinka commenced, his apartment on Saska Street became a transit station for assimilated Jewish intellectuals who sought hiding places on the "Aryan" side. Kielbasiński had ties with the ŻEGOTA underground organization, which worked in the framework of the Polish underground to assist Jews who had escaped from the ghetto. Izabela Kielbasińska, his wife of Jewish origin, urged her Jewish friends and relatives to escape from the ghetto with the offer of safe passage. Both searched for and found suitable apartments to hide the escaped Jews, supporting them financially from the ŻEGOTA budget and providing them with forged "Aryan" documents obtained from the Polish Home Army (AK) underground. There are many who owe their lives to their assistance, including the well-known scientist, Professor Ludwik Hirszfeld, his wife Hanna and sister Jósefa, Lucja Konorska, Irena Ewenson and her mother, and others.

“On November 7, 2000, Yad Vashem recognized Stanisław Kielbasiński a Righteous Among the Nations. File 9099.

Gutman, Israel (Editor-in-Chief), and Sara Bender (Associate Editor). The Encyclopedia of the Righteous Among the Nations, Vol. 1. Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, 2004, .

Andrzej Klimoicz, Zegota activist (photo USHMM.)

Klimowicz, Andrzej

“During the occupation, Andrzej Klimowicz, a resident of Warsaw, was an activist in the Polish underground and a leader of the Democratic Party (Stronnictwo Demokratyczne). Already at the start of the occupation, Klimowicz came to the help of persecuted Jews and when the Jews of Warsaw were interned in the ghetto, he intensified his activities on their behalf. His main assignment was to supply Jews with forged documents and hiding places on the Aryan side of the city. Klimowicz used his workshop in central Warsaw as headquarters for his underground activity. After Zegota (the Council for Aid to Jews) was established, Klimowicz began working for it, and kept up regular ties with members and leaders of the Jewish underground, including: Leon Feiner, Salo Fiszgrund, Adolf Berman, and others. In due course, Klimowicz’s workshop became an address for Jews fleeing from the ghetto. Among the Jews who were fortunate to be helped by Klimowicz was Jankiel (Yaakov) Wiernik, who fled from Treblinka on August 2, 1943, during the prisoners’ uprising in which he took an active part. While staying with Klimowicz, Wiernik wrote his book A Year in Treblinka, which was circulated among the underground and even smuggled out of the country to London. Klimowicz saw his activity on behalf of persecuted Jews as part of the war against a common enemy and never expected anything in return.

“On May 26, 1981, Yad Vashem recognized Andrzej Klimowicz as Righteous Among the Nations.

Gutman, Israel (Editor-in-Chief), and Sara Bender (Associate Editor). The Encyclopedia of the Righteous Among the Nations, Vol. 1. Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, 2004, .

Kaliczyńska, Józefa
Jekielek-Kluska, Maria
Kobylińska, Łucja

“On July 7, 1980, Yad Vashem recognized Józefa Kaliczyńska, Łucja Kobylińska and Maria Jekielek (née Kluska) as Righteous Among the Nations. File 1897.

Gutman, Israel (Editor-in-Chief), and Sara Bender (Associate Editor). The Encyclopedia of the Righteous Among the Nations, Vol. 1. Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, 2004, .

Cebulakowa Stanisława
Kociel-Kowalczyk, Anna

“On March 24, 1980, Yad Vashem recognized Stanisława Cebulakowa and Anna Kociel-Kowalczyk as Righteous Among the Nations. File 1774.

Gutman, Israel (Editor-in-Chief), and Sara Bender (Associate Editor). The Encyclopedia of the Righteous Among the Nations, Vol. 1. Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, 2004, .

Hanna and Zophia Kolodziejska, mother daughter medical doctors aided Zegota.

Komorowska, Maria
Komorowska-Śląska, Zofia
Komorowska, Julia
Komorowski, Henryk

“In January 1943, Rivka Satt escaped from the Piotrków Trybunalski ghetto and made her way to Warsaw, where her sister, Ester, was living under an assumed identity. Since Rivka was unable to move in with Ester, the two sisters were wondering what to do, when Ester remembered two Polish sisters, Maria and Zofia Komorowska, who had given her their address, and decided to try their luck. “It was a Sunday, and although the two were about to set out for Church, they gave us a welcome that defies description… even though we were total strangers to them,” Rivka later testified. At first, the Komorowska sisters decided to put up Rivka (who assumed the name of Irena Malarecka) for a few days until a permanent hiding place could be found. However, when Ester returned to fetch her sister, as agreed, the Komorowska sisters, realizing that Rivka had nowhere to go, decided to let her stay. Later, Rivka described her stay with the Komorowskas as a period of recovery and warmth. “They were so kind to me. I stayed with them until October 1944. They were motivated by love, and were entirely disinterested.” One day, Rivka was joined by 15-year-old Sabina Wylot, who, having left the ghetto to bring back food for her family, found, upon her return, that the ghetto was surrounded by Germans. After wandering through the streets of the city, sleeping in stairwells and knocking on doors for food, she met a couple of activists from Żegota (the Council for Aid to Jews) who directed her to the home of Henryk and Julia Komorowski, the Komorowskas’ brother and sister-in-law.

“Komorowski took her in and passed her off as a relative, but when one of the neighbors began suspecting she was Jewish, he sent her to his sisters, who agreed to take her in. In her subsequent testimony, Wylot stated that the Komorowska sisters, with whom she stayed until the end of the Warsaw Uprising in October 1944, treated her likeone of the family. After the war, Satt immigrated to Israel while Wylot stayed in Poland.

“On June 4, 1985, Yad Vashem recognized Maria Komorowska, Zofia Komorowska- Śląska, and Julia and Henryk Komorowski, as Righteous Among the Nations. File 3217

Gutman, Israel (Editor-in-Chief), and Sara Bender (Associate Editor). The Encyclopedia of the Righteous Among the Nations, Vol. 1. Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, 2004, .

Ukalo, Walter
Korolczuk, Mr.
Pacholska, Mrs.

“Before the occupation, Walter Ukalo, who lived with his family in the town of Brody, in Eastern Galicia, was on friendly terms with his neighbor, Dorothy Taub, and her family. When the Germans occupied the city in 1941, the ties between the two families grew stronger, and when the eight members of the Taub family had to leave their apartment, Ukalo hid them in his family’s apartment, until he found a better hiding place for them. He hid them with a Ukrainian women named Pacholska, and then later with another Ukrainian man named Korolczuk. In 1943, Ukalo joined Zegota (the Council for Aid to Jews) in Lwow and Brody and supplied the Jewish refugees with “Aryan” documents, found them hiding places, and gave them money for their upkeep. Ukalo’s rescue operation saved the lives of at least eight people: Dorothy Taub and her daughter, Sabina, Klara Chotiner, and her daughter, Bronia Roth, Frieda Ahl, Herman Halpern and Ian Lustig. In risking his life for the Jewish refugees, Ukalo was guided by humanitarian considerations and a friendship that triumphed over adversity, and never expected anything in return. After the war, Ukalo married Dorothy Taub and they immigrated to the United States. Jan Lustig immigrated to Australia and the other refugees immigrated to Israel.

“On September 21, 1978, Yad Vashem recognized Walter Ukalo as Righteous Among the Nations. On November 30, 1978, Yad Vashem recognized Pacholska and Korolczuk as Righteous Among the Nations. File 1438.

Gutman, Israel (Editor-in-Chief), and Sara Bender (Associate Editor). The Encyclopedia of the Righteous Among the Nations, Vol. 1. Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, 2004, .

“Zofia Kossak-Szczucka (Polish pronunciation: [ˈzɔfʲja ˈkɔssak ˈʂt͡ʂut͡ska]; 10 August 1889[a] – 9 April 1968) was a Polish writer and World War II resistance fighter. She co-founded two wartime Polish organizations: Front for the Rebirth of Poland and Żegota, set up to assist Polish Jews to escape the Holocaust. In 1943, she was arrested by the Germans and sent to Auschwitz concentration camp but survived the war.

“During the German occupation of Poland, she worked in the underground press: from 1939 to 1941, she co-edited the underground newspaper Polska żyje (Poland Lives). In 1941, she co-founded the Catholic organization Front Odrodzenia Polski (Front for the Rebirth of Poland), and edited its newspaper, Prawda (The Truth).

“In the underground, she used the code name Weronika.[3]

“In the summer of 1942, when the liquidation of the Warsaw Ghetto began, Kossak-Szczucka published a leaflet entitled "Protest," of which 5,000 copies were printed. In the leaflet, she described in graphic terms the conditions in the Ghetto, and the horrific circumstances of the deportations then taking place. "All will perish ... Poor and rich, old, women, men, youngsters, infants, Catholics dying with the name of Jesus and Mary together with Jews. Their only guilt is that they were born into the Jewish nation condemned to extermination by Hitler."

“The world, Kossak-Szczucka wrote, was silent in the face of this atrocity. "England is silent, so is America, even the influential international Jewry, so sensitive in its reaction to any transgression against its people, is silent. Poland is silent... Dying Jews are surrounded only by a host of Pilates washing their hands in innocence." Those who are silent in the face of murder, she wrote, become accomplices to the crime. Kossak-Szczucka saw this largely as an issue of religious ethics. "Our feelings toward Jews have not changed," she wrote. "We do not stop thinking of them as political, economic and ideological enemies of Poland." But, she wrote, this does not relieve Polish Catholics of their duty to oppose the crimes being committed in their country.

“She co-founded the Provisional Committee to Aid Jews (Tymczasowy Komitet Pomocy Żydom), which later turned into the council to Aid Jews (Rada Pomocy Żydom), codenamed Żegota, an underground organization whose sole purpose was to save Jews in Poland from Nazi extermination. In 1985, she was posthumously named one of the Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem.[4]

“Regarding Kossak-Szczucka's "Protest", Robert D. Cherry and Annamaria Orla-Bukowska wrote in the introduction to Rethinking Poles and Jews: "Without at all whitewashing her antisemitism in the document, she vehemently called for active intercession on behalf of the Jews - precisely in the name of Polish Roman Catholicism and Polish patriotism. The deportations from the Warsaw Ghetto precipitated her cofounding of Żegota that same year - an Armia Krajowa (AK, Home Army) unit whose sole purpose was to save Jews."[5]

“On September 27, 1943, Kossak-Szczucka was arrested in Warsaw by a German street patrol.[6] The Germans, not realising who she was, sent her first to the prison at Pawiak and then to Auschwitz II-Birkenau death camp. When her true identity became known in April 1944, she was sent back to Warsaw for interrogation and sentenced to death. She was released in July of 1944 through the efforts of the Polish underground and participated in the Warsaw Uprising.

“Kossak-Szczucka published Zotchłani (From the Abyss, 1946), based on her experiences of Auschwitz.

“In 1982 Yad Vashem recognised Zofia Kossak as a Righteous Among Nations. In 2009, the National Bank of Poland issued a coin posthumously commemorating the work of Kossak, Irena Sendler and Matylda Getter in helping Jews (see Żegota). In 2018 Zofia Kossak was awarded the highest Polish order, the Order of the White Eagle.

“Zofia's daughter, Anna Szatkowska (15 March 1928, Górki Wielkie – 27 February 2015), wrote a book about her experience during the Warsaw Uprising.[7]

Notes

1. "Archived copy" (in Polish). Archived from the original on 27 September 2007.

2. Zdzisław Hierowski (1947). 25 [i.e., Dwadzieścia pięć] lat literatury na Śląsku, 1920-1945. Drukarnia Cieszyńska. p. 194.

3. Tomaszewski, Irene; Werbowski, Tecia (2010). Code Name Żegota: Rescuing Jews in Occupied Poland, 1942-1945: the Most Dangerous Conspiracy in Wartime Europe. ABC-CLIO. p. 37.

4. "The Righteous Among The Nations: Szczucka Zofia (1989 - 1968)".

5. Robert D. Cherry; Annamaria Orla-Bukowska (2007). Rethinking Poles and Jews: Troubled Past, Brighter Future. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 5.

6. Maria Przyłęcka (1997). "Zofia Kossak jaką pamiętam (wspomnienia łączniczki)". In Heska-Kwaśniewicz, Krystyna. (ed.). Zwyczajna świętość: Zofia Kossak we wspomnieniach [Ordinary Sainthood: Remembering Zofia Kossak]. Katowice: Macierz Ziemi Cieszyńskiej. pp. 62–64.

7. La maison brulée (The burned house). A sixteen-year-old voluntary helper during the Warsaw insurrection. Anna Szatkowska, Les Éditions Noir sur Blanc, CH-1007 Lausanne, 2005 (in French)

8. Giffuni, Cathe (1990). "Zofia Kossak: An English Bibliography". The Polish Review. 35 (3/4): 289–293.

Kowalski, Adam
Kowalska, Leonora

“From the liquidation of the Krakow ghetto in March 1943, until the city’s liberation in January 1945, a group of ten Jewish fugitives from the ghetto found shelter with Adam and Leonora Kowalski, on the Aryan side of the city. Kowalski, who was a senior member of the underground and an AK activist, saw saving Jews as an integral part of the struggle against a common enemy. Leonora, his wife, helped him and despite the danger, looked after the Jewish refugees in the cellar of her home. In due course, the Kowalskis received financial assistance from Zegota (the Council for Aid to Jews), which helped them pay for the refugees’ upkeep. One day, members of the Gestapo came to arrest Kowalski for his underground activity but, luckily, he was not at home at the time. In saving the lives of Efroim and Daniel Goldberger, Daniel’s five-year-old daughter, Anna, Józef, Karol, Joachim, Jakub and Henryk Lieberman, Felicia Reisman, and Samuel Wohlfeiler, the Kowalskis were guided by humanitarian motives only, and never expected anything in return.

“On August 2, 1989, Yad Vashem recognized Leonora and Adam Kowalski as Righteous Among the Nations. File 4207.

Gutman, Israel (Editor-in-Chief), and Sara Bender (Associate Editor). The Encyclopedia of the Righteous Among the Nations, Vol. 1. Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, 2004.

Kowalski, Wojciech
Kowalska-Chmura, Lucylla

“Even before the establishment of the Dabrowa Tarnowska ghetto in the Krakow district, Lucylla Chmura came to the help of Ida Margulies, a widowed school friend of hers, and her son, Henryk. Chmura supplied them with “Aryan” documents, and advised them to move to the village of Czechow, in the county of Pinczow, in the Kielce district. In their new home, Wojciech Kowalski, Chmura’s fiancé and an engineer, employed Henryk as his assistant, and helped his mother financially. In early 1944, when the police became suspicious of Ida’s identity, she and Henryk moved to Krakow, with the help of Chmura and Kowalski. In Krakow, members of Zegota (the Council for Aid to Jews) found jobs for them and watched out for their safety, until January 1945, when they were liberated by the Red Army. After completing his law studies, Henryk immigrated to Israel with his mother. Chmura and Kowalski married and immigrated to the United States.

“On November 18, 1992, Yad Vashem recognized Lucylla and Wojciech Kowalski as Righteous Among the Nations. File 5479.

Gutman, Israel (Editor-in-Chief), and Sara Bender (Associate Editor). The Encyclopedia of the Righteous Among the Nations, Vol. 1. Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, 2004.

“Wanda Krahelska-Filipowicz (15 December 1886–1968),[1] code name “Alinka”[2] or “Alicja”, was a leading figure in Warsaw’s underground resistance movement[3] throughout the years of German occupation during World War II in Poland, co-founder of Żegota.[4] As the well-connected wife of a former ambassador to Washington, she used her contacts with both the military and political leadership of the Polish Underground to materially influence the underground's policy of aiding Poland's Jewish population during the war.

Early on, Krahelska-Filipowicz used her influence to persuade the Government in Exile, including members of the Delegatura and its military counterpart, the AK, of the importance of setting up a central organization to help Poland's Jews, and to back the policy with significant funding.[5]

“Krahelska-Filipowicz also personally sheltered Jewish individuals in her own home early during the German occupation.[6] Among the refugees was the widow of the Jewish historian Szymon Aszkenazy.[7]

“A Catholic Socialist activist and a devout Democrat, she was the editor of the Polish art magazine "Arkady".

“In the pre-World War I partitioned Poland, on 18 August 1906, at the age of twenty she took part in an assassination attempt on the Russian governor-general of Warsaw, Georgi Skalon.[8] She threw three 'dynamite bombs' on the governor's coach; two did explode and slightly injured three persons in governor's entourage. Afterwards, she fled to Cracow in Austrian part of Poland, entered into fictional marriage with painter Adam Dobrodzicki and became citizen of Austria-Hungary. Austria refused to extradite her to Russia and instead arranged a trial in Wadowice, starting on 16 February 1908. Wanda Dobrodzicka had confessed but was acquitted.

1. "The story of Wanda Krahelska-Filipowiczowa | Polscy Sprawiedliwi". sprawiedliwi.org.pl.

2. Bartrop, Paul R.; Dickerman, Michael (2017-09-15). The Holocaust: An Encyclopedia and Document Collection [4 volumes]. ABC-CLIO.

3. Atwood, Kathryn J. (2011). Women Heroes of World War II: 26 Stories of Espionage, Sabotage, Resistance, and Rescue. Chicago Review Press.

4. Tomaszewski, Irene; Werbowski, Tecia (2010). Code Name Żegota: Rescuing Jews in Occupied Poland, 1942-1945: the Most Dangerous Conspiracy in Wartime Europe. ABC-CLIO.

5. Ackerman, Diane (2017-02-07). The Zookeeper's Wife: A War Story (Movie Tie-in) (Movie Tie-in Editions). W. W. Norton & Company.

6. zbiorowy, autor (2015-11-23). Wielka Księga Armii Krajowej (in Polish). Otwarte.

7. Lewinówna, Zofia (1969). Righteous among nations: how Poles helped the Jews, 1939-1945. Earlscourt Publications Ltd.

8. Instytut Historii (Polska Akademia Nauk) (1971). Raporty warszawskich oberpolicmajstrów, 1892-1913. Ossolineum. p. 75.

Korniecka, Józefa
Filipowicz-Krahelska, Zofia

“On May 23, 1967, Yad Vashem recognized Józefa Korniecka and Zofia Filipowicz- Krahelska as Righteous Among the Nations. File 322/1.

Gutman, Israel (Editor-in-Chief), and Sara Bender (Associate Editor). The Encyclopedia of the Righteous Among the Nations, Vol. 1. Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, 2004, .

Kruszewski Piotr

“Piotr Kruszewski lived in Kraków, and as an underground activist during the occupation, he helped Jews who managed to escape from the city’s ghetto. Kruszewski, who regarded saving the lives of Jews as part of his underground activity against the German occupier, turned his apartment in a suburb of the city into a shelter for several Jews. He found hiding places for other Jews, provided them with Aryan papers, defended them against blackmailers and warned them whenever the Gestapo was conducting searches. Thanks to his connections with Żegota and the Bund, Kruszewski was able to obtain financial aid for the Jews he was sheltering, although in some cases he covered the expenses entailed in this activity from his own pocket. Among the Jews who owe their lives to Kruszewski are: Dorota Buerstenbinder, her relative Lidia Zimmels, Natalia and Zygmunt Grün, Zofia Komitau, her sister-in-law Rozalia Komitau and her small sons, Ludwik and Aleksander. One day, when Rozalia Komitau went out into the street, she was arrested. Kruszewski looked after her two children and found them a hiding place in the home of friends who lived outside the city, where they remained until their liberation. Some of the Jews Kruszewski sheltered, using their borrowed identities, registered for work in Germany, where they were later liberated, while others were liberated in Kruszewski’s apartment, by the Red Army in January 1945.

“On February 21, 1992, Yad Vashem recognized Piotr Kruszewski as Righteous Among the Nations. File 5221.

Gutman, Israel (Editor-in-Chief), and Sara Bender (Associate Editor). The Encyclopedia of the Righteous Among the Nations, Vol. 1. Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, 2004, .

Kruszyński, Konrad
Kruszyńska, Janina

“Konrad and Janina Kruszyńska lived in Warsaw, and during the occupation were active in the underground, in which they served as couriers for Żegota. The Jews who escaped from the ghetto knew their address, and those who came to them received a warm welcome, shelter, financial help and Aryan papers. Although they only had a modest apartment, in which they lived together with their son and Janina’s mother, the Kruszyńskis took in Jewish refugees without receiving any payment, and despite the danger, hid them until they could find a permanent hiding place for them. The names that are known of Jewish refugees whose lives were saved thanks to the Kruszyńskas are: Frank Morgens, Ludwika Trzaskowska and Zofia Masłowska-Wilson, who later testified that the Kruszyńskas saved their lives out of purely humanitarian motives and that they greatly appreciated their courage and their willingness to make sacrifices to save persecuted Jews. The Kruszyńskis regarded their act of rescue as part of the struggle against a common enemy. In her testimony, Ludwika Trzaskowska stated that after escaping from the ghetto, in 1942, the police had arrested her, and when Janina learned of this, she did not hesitate to go to the police to persuade them that Ludwika was known to her as a Polish woman, and by doing so, gained her release.

“On May 26, 1981, Yad Vashem recognized Konrad Kruszyński and his wife Janina Kruszyńska as Righteous Among the Nations. File 2074.

Gutman, Israel (Editor-in-Chief), and Sara Bender (Associate Editor). The Encyclopedia of the Righteous Among the Nations, Vol. 1. Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, 2004.

Krzemiński, Władysław
Krzemińska, Leokadia

“In March 1943, the Brandwajn brothers, who with their families were interned in the Warsaw ghetto, decided to try to save the lives of their daughters, 13-year-old Aleksandra and 11-year-old Shulamit. The two girls were smuggled out to the Aryan side of the city, and given the address of Leokadia Krzemienska, who had been Shula’s nursemaid. As soon as they left the ghetto, they came to the home of Leokadia and Władysław Krzemiński, where they received a warm welcome. The Krzemińskis lived in a small room as sub-tenants in the apartment of a shoemaker who worked and received his customers there. Although they were taking a grave risk, they agreed to hid the two little refugee girls in their room, and until they could find an alternative shelter, they kept the girls in their own bed, covering them with blankets and only letting them out at night to wash and go to the bathroom. After two months, the Krzemińskis found the girls a hiding place in an apartment that belonged to acquaintances of theirs, and despite their difficult financial situation, they continued to look after the girls, visiting them and bringing them food. After some time, Leokadia managed to obtain a monthly allotment from Zegota, and they gave the money to the owners of the apartment, who did not know the two girls were Jewish. After the suppression of the Warsaw Uprising in October 1944, the population was expelled from the city, and the Krzemińskis traveled, with the two girls, to Pruszkow, where they were later liberated by Red Army.

“In saving the lives of Aleksandra and Shulamit Brandwajn, the Krzemińskis were motivated solely by compassion and the loyalty of a former employee. After the war, the two Brandwajn cousins immigrated to Israel, and kept up a correspondence with the Krzemińskis.

“On April 16,1978, Yad Vashem recognized Władysław Krzemiński and his wife Leokadia Krzemińska, as Righteous Among the Nations. File 1348.

Gutman, Israel (Editor-in-Chief), and Sara Bender (Associate Editor). The Encyclopedia of the Righteous Among the Nations, Vol. 1. Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, 2004, .

Kubiczek, Edward
Hrabyk-Dziurzyńska, Maria

“On January 22, 1981, Yad Vashem recognized Edward Kubiczek and Maria Hrabyk (née Dziurzyńska) as Righteous Among the Nations. File 1982.

Gutman, Israel (Editor-in-Chief), and Sara Bender (Associate Editor). The Encyclopedia of the Righteous Among the Nations, Vol. 1. Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, 2004, .

Kukulska, Maria
Krzyżowska, Anna

“Maria Kukulska, a teacher by profession, who lived with her daughter Anna in Warsaw, began to provide aid to Jews persecuted by the German occupiers in 1940. With the establishment of the Warsaw ghetto, Kukulska engaged in further acts of rescue, and over time her apartment became a shelter for imperiled Jews. At first, her young daughter Anna did not know that the people staying in their home were Jewish refugees, but when she was 16, her mother divulged her secret activity to her, and Anna became an active participant in it. Anna accompanied the Jews in their travels inside and outside the city, and served as a courier between those who were in hiding. Despite the risk to her own life, she brought them letters and cared for them with great devotion. Among those who lived permanently in the Kukulskas’ home were a Jew who appeared under the name Stefan Zgrzembski and was a Zegota activist, and the physician Roman Beseches, who was also involved in underground activity. When the number of those hiding in the Kukulskas’ apartment was liable to endanger them as well as the refugees themselves, Kukulska rented an apartment in nearby Swider and moved several of the Jews she was sheltering to it. Anna continued to care for the Jewish refugees, but after someone informed to the authorities, those hiding in Swider were arrested until bribes were paid to gain their release. Kukulska, determined to carry on with her rescue work, rented another apartment, this time in Otwock, where in addition to Zgrzembski and Beseches, she also sheltered Joram Gross and Jerzy Keiner.

“Kukulska and her daughter received no remuneration for everything they did to save the lives of Jews and were motivated solely by their humanitarian values. In later years, Natan Gross wrote about the actions of Maria and Anna Kukulska in his book, Where are You, Mr. Grimek?

On May 1, 1995, Yad Vashem recognized Marian Kukulska and her daughter Anna Krzyżowska as Righteous Among the Nations. File 6618

Gutman, Israel (Editor-in-Chief), and Sara Bender (Associate Editor). The Encyclopedia of the Righteous Among the Nations, Vol. 1. Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, 2004.

Kuźma Zbigniew
Kuźma Władysława

“In October 1941, Zbigniew Kużma left Kraków for Lwów (today L’viv) on a mission for the Polish underground Home Army (AK). His assignment was to take three forged “Aryan” identity certificates to Jews hiding in that city. Upon his return from Lwów he was joined by three Jews, two adults and one child – Edmund Ehrlich, Stefania Milwiw, and her 10-year-old daughter, Marlena. At first, Zbigniew took them to his familys’ home, where he lived. The three spent the winter months of 1942 in the Kuźma home in very crowded conditions and in dire financial straits, but their hosts, despite all the hardships, did not ask for payment. After the winter season had passed, Edmund found a different hiding place for himself, and left. Stefania and Marlena, however, stayed with Zbigniew and his mother, Władysława Kuźma, until the end of the war. If anyone asked about them, he would say that they were his relatives; and that is indeed how they were treated in his home. With the help of his underground connections, Zbigniew arranged work for Stefania as a telephone operator in a hospital, where in addition to a meager salary she was given a place to live. Marlena was enrolled in school and Władysława took care of her as if she was her own daughter. Stefania and Marlena maintained warm relations with their rescuers and even after the war, Marlena was strongly attached to Władysława until she died. Marlena always thought of her as her beloved aunt.

“Aside from the help that Zbigniew had provided for the three refugees that he had brought back from Lwów, he was also active in the ŻEGOTA underground organization and helped other Jews who fled from the ghetto to the “Aryan” side.

“On October 26, 2003, Yad Vashem recognized Władysława Kuźma and her son, Zbigniew, as Righteous Among the Nations. File:10136

Gutman, Israel (Editor-in-Chief), and Sara Bender (Associate Editor). The Encyclopedia of the Righteous Among the Nations, Vol. 1. Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, 2004.

Kwiatowska, Maria

“When the Warsaw ghetto was sealed, Maria Kwiatowska came to the aid of Jews interned in it. She smuggled foodstuffs and medications to them, and also helped some of her acquaintances to flee to the Aryan side of the city. In December 1942, when Zegota (Council for Aid to Jews) was established, Kwiatowska became active in that organization. Without asking for anything in return, simply because she felt it was her moral duty to help Jews persecuted by a common enemy, Kwiatowska became one of Zegota’s most courageous and outstanding couriers. Risking her own life, Kwiatowska helped Dr. Józef Fuswerk and his wife Maria neé Adler (who perished in the Warsaw Uprising in the summer of 1944) to escape from the ghetto and housed them in her mother’s apartment until she was able to find a permanent shelter for them. With Kwiatowska‘s active assistance, Stefania Staszewska also fled the ghetto. Kwiatowska obtained Aryan papers for her and employed her as a housekeeper in her home. After the outbreak of the Warsaw Uprising, Kwiatowska transferred Staszewska to Zakopane, where she was liberated by the Red Army in January 1945. Kwiatowska also saved Jewish children by taking them to Christian orphanages, in particular to the Father Boduen children’s home, where she was known and her activity was greatly valued. Kwiatowska ‘s apartment in the center of Warsaw was an address for Jews who fled from the ghetto and those seeking shelter on the Aryan side. Among the Jews whose lives were saved thanks to Kwiatowska’s help were Hipolit Bajer and Zygmunt Rukalski, who left Poland after the war.

“On June 19, 1979, Yad Vashem recognized Maria Kwiatowska as Righteous Among the Nations. File 1651.

Gutman, Israel (Editor-in-Chief), and Sara Bender (Associate Editor). The Encyclopedia of the Righteous Among the Nations, Vol. 1. Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, 2004, .

Updated October 31, 2021