WACLAWIK, Jozef
WACLAWIK, Stefania, wife
WAJCMAN, Antoni
WAJCMAN, Zofia, wife
WAJDA-LIRO, Zofia see LIRO-WAJDA,
Zofia
WALAS, Marcin
WALCZAK, Stanislaw
WALCZAK-CHOINSKI, Leokadia
(not related)
WALCZYNSKI-KIELCZYK, Regina
see KIELCZYK-WALCZYNSKI. R.
WALE(SZ)CZYNSKI, Jan
WALICKI, Maria
WALICKI, Zofia, daughter
WALKOW-SZEJNBAUM, Jadwiga
Jadwiga Walkow lived at Kamionka
Strumilowa. Being a professional nurse she worked during the occupation
in a German hospital. Towards the end of 1942 she hid in her apartment
Dr. Henryk Zinger, who had escaped from the transport to Belzec.
In March 1943 the doctor's wife and her brother came over to her.
She also took them in and cared for them till the "liberation" by the Soviets,
in July 1944. After the war Jadwiga Walkow married Mr. Szejnbaum
and left with him for Israel. See: Grynberg, op. cit.
WALLISH, Henryk
WALLISH, Irena
WALO, Jozef
WALTER, Ryszard
WALTER, Magdalena, wife
WALEGA-FILOZOF, Janina
WANDA, Sister, a nun
WANTUCH, Maria
WARDAS, Maria
WARENICA, Jozef
WARENICA, Stanislawa, wife
WARSZAWSKI, Eleonora (1899-1945)
WARSZAWSKI, Czeslaw (1920-1980)
son
WARSZAWSKI Jerzy, son
Eleonora, a widow, lived
with her two sons in Wolomin, near Warsaw. The Germans formed the
Wolomin ghetto in September 1940. They liquidated it in October 1942,
deporting the inmates to Treblinka and killing 600 on the spot. At
that time, the Rubinsteins, seven (7) persons, came over to the Warszawskis.
The Warszawskis placed them in the attic and later made a hideout in the
cellar. Five of them survived. Rubinstein's cousin and a 4
years old child died. They buried them in the garden. After
the war the Rubinsteins transferred their remains to the Jewish cemetery
in Wolomin. See: Grynberg, op. cit.
WARYCH-MIELCZAREK, Aleksandra
see MIELCZAREK, Rozalia, mother?
WASHUTA-WEGRZYNOWSKI, see
WEGRZYNOWSKI-WASHUTA, mother
WASENCZUK, Marianna
WASILENKO, Michal
WASILEWSKI, Albin
WASILEWSKI, Albin's wife
WASILEWSKI, Jan (not related)
WASILEWSKI, Anna, wife
WASILEWSKI, Jerzy, son
WASILEWSKI, Kazimierz, son
WASILEWSKI, Stanislaw, son
WASILEWSKI-MATUSZAK, Maria
(not related) see MATUSZAK, Katrzyna, mother
WASSERBERGER, Jadwiga
WASYLINKA, Dymitr
WASYLINKA, Katarzyna, wife
WASZCZEWSKI, Waclaw
WASZCZEWSKI, Janina, wife
WASZCZEWSKI, Janusz, son
WASZKINEL, Piotr
WASZKINEL, Emilia, wife
WAWAK, Ignacy (1898-1965)
WAWAK, Krystyna (1901-1966)
The Wawaks lived in the village
of Bujakow, near Bielsko-Biala. In the same village there lived also
Krystyna's sisters: Jozefa Hankus (q.v.) (1894-1975) and Rozalia Porebski
(q.v.) (1906-1989). Toward the end of 1943 Adela Zawadzki with her
child (3) and her sister Rozia came to the Hankuses. The three had
escaped from the Sosnowiec ghetto. Soon they got their false documents.
Rozia went to the Blachownia camp, where her betrothed, Elek Jakubowicz
worked. A supervisor and a railway man, Johan Brys (q.v.), helped
her to get him out. Brys gave Elek Jakubowicz his uniform and his
documents, in order to facilitate the trip by train, and took him and Rozia
in. Adela Zawadzki also spent some time in the Brys house.
Later, Rozalia Porebski sheltered them at Bujakow, as they could not stay
with the Wawaks: the police was searching for their son. Adela Zawadzki
changed her place of shelter several more times. In her 1981 declaration
to Yad Vashem, Adela Zawadzki affirmed that she was fortunate to find herself
and her child under the protection of all that magnificent family.
Johan Brys and Rozia also helped other Jews from Sosnowiec. Brys
led some to Hungary. In 1944 he and Rozia were arrested and sent
to Auschwitz. Only Rozia returned. See: Grynberg, op. cit.
WAWRYNIUK, Jan
WAWRYNIUK, Maria, wife
WAWRZKIEWICZ-WOLSKI, Joanna
see WOLSKI, Ewa, mother
WAWRZYCKI, Stanislaw
WAWRZYNIAK, Jadwiga
WAWRZYNIEC, Bruniany
WAWRZYNSKI-PAGOWSKI, Jadwiga
see PAGOWSKI-WAWRZYNSKI, J. Dr.
WACHALSKI-SAWICKI, Anna
see SAWICKI, Maria, sister
WADOLOWSKI, Jozef
WADOLOWSKI, Eleonora, wife
Cipora and Szlomo Stalik
escaped in 1942 from the Wolomin ghetto. For a certain time they
wandered in search of a refuge, which they found finally at the home of
Jozef and Eleonora, where they stayed for half a year. The Wadolowskis,
recognized as "Righteous" were honored on Dec. 15, 1999 in Warsaw.
It was Eleonora who got their medal and certificate from the hands of Yigal
Antebi, the Israeli Ambassador in Poland.
WASOWICZ-DUNIN, Krzysztof
and mother Janina see DUNIN-WASOWICZ, Krzysztof and mother Janina
WASOWICZ, Wieslawa (not related)
WASOWSKI, Eugenia, or Sister
ALFONSA (does not appear in the 1999 List, but in Paldiel, op. cit.
Sister Alfonsa was a Sister
of Charity of St. Joseph in Cracow. This main convent sent her to
that of Przemysl, to help in the care of the 47 orphaned Catholic children
there. A mother with her four years old girl, Hedi, roamed for two
years, seeking shelter. Exhausted, she told the girl: "From now on
your name is Jadwiga Kozowska and you are a Christian Pole". She
placed the child at the door of the convent and hid behind a tree.
The sister heard the weeping of the child and took it in, where she remained
for two full years. She was the first Jewish child to be admitted.
The mother superior, with the approval of the Cracow convent, decided to
shelter Jewish children. The Sisters ended up with thirteen (13)
of them. As two mothers superior died one after the other, Sister
Alfonsa was put in charge of the Jewish children's section. She slept
with them in the same room, and cared for them like the best of mothers.
Hedy' s mother found work in a nearby village and sometimes brought food
to the convent but could not show that she was Hedy's mother. The
fear of detection was a constant threat. Sister Alfonsa relates:
"We took the children to church along with Polish children not because
we were trying to make them Catholics, but just so nobody would suspect
they were Jews." Sister Alfonsa saw to it that her children did not
lack food and clothing in spite of the prevailing dearth. She calmed
and consoled them when they had sudden bursts of hysterical weeping, throwing
their food on the floor, screaming at night and wetting their beds.
Upon the "liberation" she immediately returned all the 13 children to the
Jewish Committee. "They were Jewish children and belonged with Jews",
she said. After the war Sister Alfonsa was cautioned not to discuss
her experiences. She left for Australia, and then in 1980 she went
to Israel in search of her charges. She reunited there with six of
them. "This is the happiest moment of my life", she said. Miriam
Klein, one of them, remarked: "I was privileged to experience calm and
mental relaxation, and there I discovered the best and the most beautiful
women". See: Paldiel, op. cit.
WASOWSKI-LESZCZYNSKI, Eugenia
(1906-1987) (not related)
Eugenia Wasowski, came from
a peasant family. She completed her Political Science Studies in
Warsaw. She held important posts in the field of publicity and social
affairs. Being connected with the workers' movement she helped political
prisoners. From 1940 she tried to help Jews, but involved herself
completely in that activity with the creation of Zegota. Her apartment
at Zorawia Street became the seat of the Council for Aid to Jews.
Here was its secretariat, here took place its meetings. The following
met in her appartment: Ferdynand Arczynski (q.v.), Emilia Hiz, Ignacy Barski,
Witold Bienkowski, Wladyslaw Bartoszewski (q.v.), Julian Grobelny (q.v.)
Tadeusz Rek (q.v.). Eugenia Wasowski cooperated closely with the
members of the Jewish resistance operating on the "Aryan" side: Adolf Berman,
Icchak Cukierman, Leon Feiner, Arie Wilner and others. From January
1943 to the end of the Warsaw Uprising she hid in her apartment the main
activist of the Bund, Ignacy Samsonowicz, going under the name of Tadeusz
Leszczynski, her future husband. In her apartment she kept arms for
the ZOB, the secret Bund archives, and money in local and foreign currencies
for the needs of the underground and for help to Jews. The last of
these meetings took place just the day before the Warsaw Uprising.
Even during the Warsaw Uprising her apartment still served many such persons.
It is absolutely
unbelievable that with so
many people knowing that address and meeting there for the underground
activity on both sides of Warsaw, there was not one mishap. Her attitude
and work commands respect and admiration and her name will remain forever
in the memory of the martyrdom of the Polish Jews and of the Poles who
tried to save them. See: Grynberg, op. cit., Prekerowa, op. cit.
WASOWSKI-RENOT, Eugenia (not
related to the other Wasowskis)
WASOWSKI, Jozef
WASOWSKI, Ewa, wife
WASOWSKI, Halina, daughter
WASOWSKI, Jan, son
WASOWSKI, Jerzy, son
WASOWSKI, Longin, son
WEINGLAS, Maria
WEINGLAS, Kazimiera, daughter
WENCEL, Jozef (1907-)
Jozef lived in Cmielow, Tarnobrzeg
prov. He worked as a foreman in an iron-mine, which was situated
in the vicinity of two forced labor camps. His neighbors, Jozef and
Mordechaj Kohn, brothers, and Berek Bretstein worked there as inmates.
First he brought them food and later got false documents for them.
In October 1943 the Germans liquidated the two camps. At that time
Wencel managed to get them out and took them into his house. After
a certain time he helped them to leave "voluntarily" for work in Germany.
After the war they returned to Poland and later left Poland for the USA
and for Canada. In 1971 the Kohns invited Wencel to Canada and he
stayed with them for 45 days. See: Grynberg, op. cit.
WERNER-LAPINSKI, Lidia see
LAPINSKI-WERNER, L.
WERNIK-ZAJACZKOWSKI, Aniela
see ZAJACZKOWSKI-WERNIK, A
WERSTLER, Antoni
WESOLOWSKI, Jan
WESOLOWSKI, Walentyna, wife
WESOLOWSKI, Jozef (not related)
Jozef Wesolowski was well
known in the Nalewki Street area before the war. He had business
relations with the Berman, a company of leather goods. Jozef was
the head of the American Singer sewing machines branch in Poland that operated
in the ghetto. Due to their overly intensive use (more than 10 hours
daily) in the ghetto, hundreds of machines were in a lamentable state.
This could be seen in every case in which a shop was taken over.
Wesolowski's company did not spare any effort to repair and keep the machines
in good order, thus allowing the Jewish workers in the ghetto to earn money.
The Singer Company branch in Poland was practically fully Polish.
It employed only Poles, who maintained contacts with the ghetto, facilitating
communication and the supply of spare parts from abroad, and even escapes
from the ghetto. Jozef was the soul of that activity. See:
Bednarczyk, Zycie Codzienne op. cit.
WEYMA N, Karol
WECKOWSKI, Kazimierz, Dr.
WEGLOWSKI, Florian (1887-1979)
WEGLOWSKI, Maria (1893-1974)
wife
WEGLOWSKI, Franciszek (1890-1943)
Florian's brother
WEGLOWSKI-KLEPUSZEWSKI,
Stanislawa (1912-1987) daughter
WEGLOWSKI, Stanislaw (1925-)
son
WEGLOWSKI-SZACHNIEWICZ,
Helena, (1929-) daughter
The Weglowskis lived in the
village of Stara Huta, near Kostopol in Volhinia. They
knew many Jews. In
the first months of the occupation there, (June to November 1941), there
were many pogroms by the Ukrainian nationalists helped by the German occupant.
In contrast to the other parts of Poland, the Germans generally did not
organize ghettos in the eastern parts of Poland, but killed Jews outright,
by special units called "Einsatzgruppen" on the spot, outside of the towns,
approximately 50,000. The Weglowskis offered food and later shelter to those
who managed to avoid these massacres. In June 1942 Rachela and Jozef
Weksler, their daughter Chana (6) and Mircia Sztatlin came over to them.
After a certain time the Weglowskis moved them to the forests and brought
them food there, but they kept Chana and Mircia at home. Jewish partisans
used to come to their farm for food. The family never refused it
to them and treated them always with good will. After the war the
Weglowskis and the Weksler family of nine moved to the western provinces
and later emigrated. In 1985 Rachela Weksler, from Canada, and in
1986 Mircia from Brazil confirmed these facts. See: Grynberg, op.
cit.
WEGRZYNOWICZ, Remigiusz (1922-)
scholar
Born in Lvov, and residing
there, Remigiusz studied veterinary medicine. On Nov. 15, 1942 he
found at his mother's apartment a friend of his, Tadeusz Slowik (q.v.)
with a Jewish woman, Scharlotta Katz. Tadeusz asked him to take her
in for a short time. As the conditions for hiding her were not good
at Remigiusz's flat, Scharlotta was transferred in January of 1943 to Podburze
and stayed there with Tadeusz Slowik until the "liberation". See:
Grynberg, op. cit.
WEGRZYNOWSKI-WASHUTA, mother
WEGRZYNOWSKI, Dorota, daughter
WEGRZYNOWSKI, Jan, son
WEGRZYNOWSKI, Michal, son
(the four do not appear in the 1999 List, but did before)
WIANECKI, Jan (1910-)
WIANECKI, Franciszka (1919-)
The couple lived at Dabrowka
Pniowska, Tarnobrzeg prov. In August 1942 Jan met at his parents'
home a schoolmate of his sister, Regina Schreiber from Wadowice.
As his sister did not have proper conditions to conceal her, Jan took her
to his house. After 5 weeks her colleague recognized her.
Jan paid 2,000 zlotys (a hefty amount at that time) for a faked Kennkarte
with which she was able to go to Germany for work. She and her husband
maintain contacts with Jan. See: Grynberg, op. cit.
WIATER, Adam
WIATER, Helena, wife
WIATR, Tadeusz
WIACEK, Jan
WIACEK, Katarzyna, wife
WIACEK, Aniela, daughter
WIACEK, Franciszka, daughter
WIACEK, Karolina, daughter
WIACEK, Ludwika, daughter
WIACEK, Maria, daughter
The Wiaceks resided at Strzelczyska,
Lvov prov. They hid on their farm, from October of 1941 till the
"liberation", three Jews: the two Brudner sisters, Itka and Matla and Abram
Doren. After the war Abram joined the Polish Army and later settled
in Warsaw. The Brudner sisters went to Israel. They maintained
steady contact with Jan Wiacek. See: Grynberg, op. cit.
WICHEREK, Mieczyslaw
WICHEREK, Mieczyslaw's wife
WICHEREK, Jozefa, daughter
Minna Rosner of Winnipeg
related in The Canadian Jewish News of Sept. 28, 1989, p. 7. under the
title: "Courageous Pole helped 6 Jews to survive" the following story:
(here abbreviated)
In June 1943 the German
occupant perpetrated their 6th "Aktion" to make Buczacz (a town now in
Ukraine) "Juden frei", i.e. Jew-free. Minna's family paid a hefty
sum to a Polish woman, who after taking everything from them, betrayed
them and all were killed. Minna, whose husband was taken to Russia
and who had lost already her 3 years old son, refused to the last moment
to go into a shelter. But after finally going to one, she soon left
it to make place for others. A different Polish family, the Wichereks,
took her in, with a Jewish couple and their child and their two cousins.
The Wichereks were poor peasants in some village inhabited mostly by Ukrainians.
-[Editor's note: the name of that village, appearing in this text, have
been probably changed]. They had one large room with a hall containing
a built-in bread oven. Mieczyslaw, 6 feet tall and strong, removed
the oven and built tiers for the six fugitives. There was a ladder
to the attic in which they hid in moments of particular danger. His
diminutive wife of delicate features and white complexion always worried
whether they would find their charges on their return from the fields.
Once the hidden Jews overheard a neighbor saying that if she knew anyone
concealing Jews, she would denounce them. But in spite of that Wicherek
did not ask them to leave. The Ukrainians after finishing the Jews
went after the Poles. - [Editor's note: For the sake of truth, it
is necessary to add that less than 1 percent of the Ukrainian nation, the
nationalists, OUN and UPA, collaborating with the Germans, took part in
those killings. Many Ukrainians protected Poles and even lost their
lives for them]
One day "dziadek" (a gentle
diminutive for grandfather, or for an old man) i.e. Mieczyslaw, told them
that he heard that in Buczacz there are already Russian soldiers and that
it will take only 3 hours and a half to be free. But that turned
into three months and a half, as they were in a war zone between the two
armies. A bomb fell in their yard and killed Dziadek's tiny wife,
who only exclaimed "Jesus, Maria" and expired. His married daughter
died from wounds the next day. Because of the Ukrainian raids, the
Poles fled each night into the woods. There were many such cases,
mentioned here previously. But Dziadek never left them, and "Juzia",
his teenage daughter, remained with the fugitives in the bunker.
On such nights, Dziadek stood behind the door with an axe. Fortunately
Ukrainian nationalists never came to their place. In September of
1944 the Russians occupied the area and they were free. It was announced
that the Poles and the few remaining Jews could go to the west, as the
raids of the collaborators started again, - [Editor's note: not without
Soviet complicity this time]. The six persons saved and the Wichereks
went to Silesia. In January 1946 Minna's husband returned from Russia.
On Sept. 28, 1948 the Rosners arrived in Canada. Dziadek remained
with "Juzia" in Silesia and Minna wrote him often, until he passed away.
Now she corresponds with "Juzia". Minna says at the end of her story:
"I bow my head in memory of his heroism for saving six Jewish people. Was
he a saint.? Who was he?" It is a great pity that we do not
know the family name, nor the first name of his tiny wife on whose shoulders
fell surely a great weight for that remarkable rescue. On the photograph
appear from left: daughter Juzia, "Dziadek" Mieczyslaw Wicherek, Minna saved
by them with five others. Standing behind: them Minna's husband.
WICHERT, Stanislaw
WIDERSZAL-BUDNA, Agnieszka
see BUDNA-WIDERSZAL, A.
WIDOMSKI, Anna
WIDY-WIRSKI, Feliks, Dr.
WIDY-WIRSKI, Marta, wife
Dr. Widy-Wirski is one of
many physicians who in the years 1940 to 1944 cooperated with the Committee
of Democratic and Socialist Doctors in Warsaw, who were very active in
helping Jews. See: Grynberg, op. cit. and in this list see
under Dr. Feliks Kanabus, Dr. Andrzej Trojanowski, etc.
WIECHNO, Wojciech, Prof.
The same as Dr. Widy-Wirski, above
WIECZKOWSKI, Jozef
WIECZKOWSKI, Felicja, wife
WIECZOREK, Aleksandra
WIECZOREK, Antoni, son
WIECZOREK-AWNI, Zofia Marta,
daughter
The Wieczoreks lived in Warsaw.
They helped several Jews, whom they knew from before the war: Irena Don,
her mother and her daughter, Liliana Stern and three other persons.
The family rented an apartment in which they hid and fed them. After
the war Liliana went to Australia, the others to Israel. Zofia Marta
Wieczorek, who married Avni, one of the rescuees, also settled in Israel.
See: Grynberg, op. cit.
WIECZOREK, Jerzy (not related)
WIEJAK, Aleksander
WIEJAK, Helena, wife
WIELEBA, Jan
WIELEBA Katarzyna, wife
WIELICZANSKI, (WIELICZENSKI?)
Henryk, Dr
WIELICZANSKI, (WIELICZENSKI?)
Teodozja, wife
WIELOGORSKI, Franciszek
WIELOGORSKI, Rozalia, wife
WIERZBICKI, Jan
WIERZBICKI, Jozefa, wife
The couple received the following
attestation: "We express our deep gratitude and love for our dear and beloved
Mr. Jan Wierzbicki and his beloved wife, Jozefa Wierzbicki, and their children.
Their generosity for 17 months (Oct. 24 1942 - March 17 1944) saved
twelve(12) Jews from certain death at the risk of their lives with feelings
of noble mercy towards us. During all this period, they stood day
and night as our father and mother to protect us, to feed us and to care
for our health, showing us their love and compassion. Dubno, May
1, 1944. Signed: Grossblatt Mojsze, Sztaler Cyla, Grosberg Aron,
Wajsberg Chasia, Grosberg Klara, Kac Estera, Kram Sonia. I attest
that all that is written here corresponds to the truth and it is the holy
duty of every Jew to show gratitude to all those who saved Jews.
Dubno, May 1, 1944. Signed: Mojsze Lewi Sztemberg, the rabbi
of the town of Brady, now rabbi of the town of Dubno". Translated
from the Hebrew. See Wronski & Zwolakowa, op. cit.
WIERZBICKI, Michal
WIERZBICKI, Anna, wife
WIERZBICKI, Slawoj (not related)
WIERZBICKI, Wladyslawa (not
related)
WIES-KRZYSZTANIAK, Irena
see KRZYSZTANIAK, Kazimierz & Barbara, parents
WIETESKA, Eugenia
WIECKOWSKI-KALKO, Antonina
WIECKOWSKI, Maria (not related)
WIECKOWSKI, Anna, daughter
WIECKOWSKI. Jadwiga, daughter
In December 1984, Anna Wieckowski
(77), her mother and sister Jadwiga were recognized as "Righteous among
the Nations" by Yad Vashem. The recognition was dated Sept 6, 1984
and was signed by the director of the Department for the Righteous, Dr.
Mordechaj Paldiel. He asked that Anna come to Jerusalem to receive
the medal and plant a tree in honor of the family. Anna's memory
returned to those terrible times of massive street executions of Poles
and also of the heart-rending cries and weeping of the Jewish women at
the nearby Gdanski railway station, from where they were taken to various
extermination or concentration camps. During the war, Anna' s family
lived at the Avenue Wojska Polskiego, at Zoliborz, (a Warsaw suburb).
Eleven (11) persons were massed in the small apartment, among them two
families with small children, driven out by the occupant from Ostroleka
and Suwalki. The old mother, Maria, trembled for the life of the
family, so much more so, that an active member of the resistance often
hid there for the night, after completing his military assignments.
Nevertheless, the three Wieckowski women took in two more Jewish women.
One of them was the well-known poet, Hanna Mortkowicz, married name Olczak
(1905-1968) who thus described the atmosphere of Warsaw at that time: "Long
lasts the gloomy night. In the bitter toil courage fails. We
do not ask for an easy victory, we ask for dignity and strenght." [This
researcher's translation] That prayer was granted. One
day a German in uniform with pistol at his belt, in company of a Volksdeutch
as translator, entered the apartment. The Volksdeutch saw the Jewish
woman and exclaimed: "Jude, Jude!" i.e. Jewess, Jewess! Death appeared
imminent and unavoidable. In that moment the the old Maria, with
utmost composure replied:"She is not a Jewess, she is an Armenian".
"How come? An Armenian in Warsaw?"-. "We lived in the Caucasus, in
Tbilisi; my daughters went to school with her." The two intruders
started a heated conversation. The officer looked a long while at
the Jewish fugitive and at the old Polish lady, turned around and went
out. At the door he said: "Yes, yes, it is impossible that a grey
haired lady, with such a face, would tell a lie." Maria's son did
not take part in those events as he was then in the Polish Army fighting
with the Allies in the West. Anna did not even want to hear about
any recognition and only after a long persuasion on his part and on the
part of the others and of the Jewish woman saved, Mrs. B., Anna finally
agreed to sign the requested documents. From the letter of Maria's
son to this researcher, dated June 23, 1985
WIGLUSZ, Jan
WIGLUSZ, Maria, wife
WIGLUSZ-KOT, Anna, daughter?
(does not appear in the 1999 list, but did before)
WIGLUSZ, Jozef, son
WIGLUSZ-FERENC, Katarzyna,
daughter
WIGLUSZ, Stanislaw, son
WIKIEL, Jan
WIKIEL, Maria, wife
WIKTOR, Stanislaw
WIKTOR, Henryka, wife
WILASZEK, Augusta
WILCZEK-BISKUP, Paulina (1907-)
Paulina Wilczek lived in
Katowice. In the summer of 1943 Emma Majtlis, an acquaintance from
before the war, appeared at her appartment. She had lost her parents
and sisters, deported to Auschwitz, and she herself had escaped from the
Bedzin ghetto. At the same time, a Silesian man, an anti-fascist,
came to Paulina's house. He was threatened with forcible induction
into the German army. Paulina led them to the apartment of her sister
who had passed away and the two lived there till the end of the occupation.
In 1984 Emma Maitlis wrote to the ZIH (Jewish Historical Institute) in
Warsaw, confirming these facts and stating that Paulina acted with total
unselfisheness,
only from humanitarian concerns. See: Grynberg, op. cit.
WILCZEK, Stanislaw (not related)
WILCZEK, Janina, wife
WILCZENSKI, Stanislaw
WILCZENSKI, Maria, wife,
born SKRZYPEK
WILCZENSKI, Boleslaw, son
WILCZKIEWICZ, Jozefa
WILEMSKI, Bronislawa, Sister,
a nun
Sister Bronislawa Wilemski
was recognized as "Righteous" together with bishop Albin Malysiak (q.v.)
and honored with him on Sept. 13, 1994. They are credited with saving
five (5) Jews. Maria Rolicka, one of the persons saved, was in atttendance.
They procured them false documents and placed them in Helclow House for
invalid people in Cracow. See: "Gazeta". Toronto, Sept. 14,
1994.
WILICHNOWSKI, Lucjan
Before the war Lucjan lived
in Wloclawek. Being a professional soldier, he fought near Kutno
in September of 1939, was wounded and became a POW. The Germans released
him in November of 1939 due to his sickness. At Dolina he met his
old acquaintances, Stefan and Maria Engel, who were on "Aryan" papers.
All survived, as he took care of the couple and their small child.
See: Grynberg, op. cit.
WILK, Bronislaw
WILK, Katarzyna, wife
WILK, Zofia (not related)
WILK, Jozef, Zofia's son
WILKOSZ, Barbara (1903-1979)
WILKOSZ, Tomasz (1915-1953)
brother-in-law
WILKOSZ, Adam (1926-1979)
son
WILKOSZ, Jan, (-1989) son
WILKOSZ-FILO, Stefania (1924-)
daughter
The Wilkosz family farmed
in the village of Groble, Cracow prov. On their farm they harbored
for 18 months six (6) Jews from Cracow: Herman and Roza Silverman, their
daughters Hanna and Nina and the mother and the sister of Roza Silverman,
Rozalia Neiger and Irena Sweszewic and that until the arrival of the
Red Army. After the war the Silverman family went to Israel
Hanna Silverman and Rozalia's daughter, Irena Sweszewic correspond with
Stefania Filo from France, where the latter visits them often. See:
Grynberg, op. cit.
WILNIEW(SZ)CZYC, Waclaw
WILNIEW(SZ)CZYC, Maria,
wife
WILNIEW(SZ)CZYC-ZMIGRODZKI,
Anna , daughter?
WILSKI, Ludwika
WILUSZ-KUROWSKI, Emilia
see KUROWSKI, Jan & Maria, daughter
WILUSZYNSKI, Janina
WILUSZYNSKI, Stefania, sister
WINCEWICZ (WINCZEWICZ?) Rozalia
(Stanislawa?) (1882-1972)
WINCEWICZ, Jozef, (1905-1980)
son
WINCEWICZ, Franciszek (1908-1988)
son
WINCEWICZ, Stanislawa, daughter
The Wincewicz family lived
at Dunajow, Tarnopol prov. They helped many Jews, among them: Erna
and Mozes Eisenstein, Jozef Hecht, Jehuda Hochberg, Hela Anisman, Mendel
Law, Chana Proff, Hela Tanger and Mozes Trajman. On Feb. 13, 1947
Jozef Hecht and Mendel Law stated before the Jewish Committee in Bytom,
that Franciszek Wincewicz, concealed, besides them, 15 17 in total) Jews
without any reward, from Dec. 1, 1942 till July 22, 1944 (18 months).
They invited Franciszek to Israel in 1962. In 1983 he wrote in his
letter to ZIH (Jewish Historical Institute) that they received him very
warmly, that they organized for him a big reception of over 100 persons
with the rabbi. Even people whom he did not know showed him much
respect and goodwill. The Proff family gave him many presents for
his wife and daughter. "They received me with soul and heart, and
this for me was the most important". See: Grynberg, op. cit.
WINIARSKI, Edward
WINIARSKI, Maria, wife
WIONCZEK, Mieczyslaw
WIRSKI-WIDY, Feliks and
Marta see WIDY-WIRSKI, F. and M.
WISLOCKI-MILKOWSKI, Maria
see MILKOWSKI, Adolf & B. parents?
WISZNIEWSKI, Boleslaw
WISZNIEWSKI, Kazimiera,
wife
Barbara Medynski stated in
Cracow that in the Wiszniewskis' house she found not only shelter, but
also help in all difficulties. When the Gestapo came to their apartment
looking for her, the Wiszniewskis said that they knew her from before the
war as an "Aryan" and they would take complete responsibility for that.
Besides her, they hid Dr. Aleksander Wertheim and his wife. Mrs.
Wertheim was the chief of the Radium Institute in Warsaw. They also
confirmed being hidden by them. When the Gestapo searched for her
brother, the Wiszniewskis took him with his family, together six (6) persons.
They kept them several weeks without registration (which was obligatory
for everyone under severe punishment) When Mrs. Einham had to flee from
Warsaw, Mrs. Wiszniewski accompanied her to Radzymin and helped her as
much as she could. She also offered Barbara Medynski her help
in getting out of the ghetto her father and harbored him at their house.
All her Jewish acquaintances needing assistance came to her and always
found meaningful help. Among others, they were Alfred Helman, Halina
and Marietta Teich, now in France, and Roma Rolewicz. "Mrs. Wiszniewski's
attitude toward Jews merits the highest praise and her generosity and heroism
the highest reward", said Barbara Medynski. See: Wronski &
Zwolakowa, op. cit.
WISNICKI, Aleksander
WISNICKI-LOZOWSKI, Zofia,
wife
WISNIEWSKI, Maria
WISNIEWSKI, Ludwik (not related)
WISNIEWSKI, Aleksander,
son
WITEK-KACZMARCZYK, Stanislawa
see KACZMARCZYK, Jan, brother
WITEK, Zofia (not related)
WITKOWSKI, Felicja
WITKOWSKI, Aniela, daughter
WITKOWSKI, Ryszard, son
WITOMSKI, Maria
WITOMSKI, Ignacy, son
WITOMSKI, Jan, son
WITOMSKI, Kazimierz, son
WITTI(N)G, Lech (1912-1990)
WITTI(N)G, Halina (1921-)
wife
The Wittigs lived in Otwock
in a wooden house that had several apartments. In June 1943 an elderly
woman with a 12 years old girl moved to an apartment next to them.
The other apartment occupied a young railway-man. The Wittigs found
out that they were a Jewish family, the Spielreins: Maria, the mother,
Aleksandra, the daughter and Ryszard, the son. When a Blue policeman
started to blackmail their neighbor, Lech gave him several thousand zlotys
and a watch; but being a member of the AK, he complained to his authorities
and the blackmailing stopped. When it became necessary to get the
little girl, with very Semitic features, to a hospital, they bandaged her
head so as to cover her face. Lech got for her secret medical care
from a physician, also member of the underground. He said later that
that trip with the Jewish girl to the hospital was one of the most dangerous
he had made. The Spielreins moved to Australia. See: Grynberg,
op. cit.
WITUSZEK, Jan
WITUSZEK-BEDNARSKI, Anna,
sister?
WIZANOWSKI, Jadwiga
WLOCZEWSKI, Marianna
WLOCZEWSKI, Zuzanna, daughter
WLODARCZYK, Edward
WLODARCZYK, Marian (not related)
WLODARCZYK, Zofia, wife
WLODARCZYK, Piotr (not realted)
WLODARCZYK, Wiktoria, wife
Piotr and Wiktoria Wlodarczyk,
concealed in their house at Swider three Jewish families till July 1944.
All of them survived. They were honored as "Righteous Among the Nations"
on Jan. 14, 1999 in Warsaw, as announced the Israeli Embassy in Poland.
WLODAZ-SZLAMA, Stanislawa
see SZLAMA, Stanislaw & Marianna, parents?
WLODEK, Wladyslaw (1900-1957)
WLODEK, Maria (1902-!978),
wife
The Wlodeks farmed at Lekawica,
near Przemysl. They had three children. Jozef Reich and Mr.
Grossmann escaped from the transport to Auschwitz and hid in the forest.
Wladyslaw found them there, brought them food and took them to his farmstead.
He made for them a hideout in the barn and with the help of his family,
provided them with food. Jozef Reich settled in Israel and confirmed
these facts, adding that after the war he proposed a sum of money to Wlodek,
who refused to accept it. See: Grynberg, op. cit.
WLODEK, Stanislaw (not related)
WLODEK, Jadwiga Maria, wife
WLODEK, Janusz, son
WLODEK, Krystyna, daughter
WNOROWSKI, Wanda
Adolf Berman, the secretary
of Zegota and representative of Warsaw Jews, beside Leon Feiner, wrote
that the Poles headed many Jewish underground self-help units organized
by the ZKN, Jewish National Committee and by the Bund. Many scholars,
writers, artists, social workers, laborers and peasants brought salvation
to the persecuted. A time will come that a great Golden Book should
contain all their names. He mentions: Irena Sawicki (q.v.), Dr. Zofia
Podkowinski, Janina Buchholtz-Bukolski (q.v.), Prof. Maria Grzegorzewski,
Stefania Sempolowski, Aleksandra Dargiel, Jadwiga Leszeczanin, Antonina
Roguski, Mrs. Wyrub, Mrs. Petkowski, Roza Zawadzki, Stanislaw Papuzinski,
Zofia Rodziewicz, Maria Laski and dozens of other names. He concludes
this list as follows: "The Poles mentioned in this essay, are only a tiny
fraction of those who at the risk of their life helped to save Jews from
the Hitlerite beasts". In contrast to this eminent Jewish activist,
Wladka Meed from the Bund, affirms that only a very few helped, most were
reserved, and acts of blackmail and denunciations were much more numerous
that acts of help. Meed mentions only a few Polish friends, whom
she met or about whose help she heard. Among them she mentions Wanda
Wnorowski. Wanda employed young escapees from the Warsaw and Piotrkow
ghettoes in her tailor shop. Her apartment at Wspolna Street 39 was
a meeting-point of many hiding Jews. She organized for them false
documents, found them shelters, and distributed pecuniary aid, unwilling
to accept for herself anything but flowers for her birthday. A second
such woman, (according to Meed) was Julianna (Jasinski) Larisz, (q.v.)
owner of a prosperous restaurant. Julianna devoted the profits thereof
mostly to helping Jews, providing them with food, clothing and books.
She even baked matzoth (unleavened bread) for Passover. From the
21 Jews she led out of the ghetto, 17 survived. Berman, on the contrary,
mentions several Poles that paid with their lives, among others: Dr. Ewa
Rybicki, Janina Kunicki, and Irena Prochnik. Those here mentioned
that do not have "(q.v.)" after their names are not recognized as "Righteous
among the Nations". See: Bartoszewski & Lewin, op. cit. and Prekerowa,
op. cit.
WOCHELSKI, Leokadia
WOCHELSKI, Maria, sister
WODNICKI, Jan
WODNICKI, Jozefa, wife
WODYK, Jan
WODYK, Kazimiera, wife
WODZINOWSKI-STOPKA, Wincentyna,
see STOPKA, Andrzej, husband
WOHANSKI, Adam
WOHANSKI, Wladyslawa, wife
WOINSKI, Janina
WOJCIECH, Maria
WOJCIECHOWSKI, Mrs.
WOJCIECHOWSKI, Tadeusz (not
related)
WOJCIECHOWSKI, Anna, wife
WOJCIECHOWSKI, Ksawery (not
related) see WOYCIECHOWSKI, Ksawery
WOJCIESZUK-ZAKRZEWSKI, Regina
see ZAKRZEWSKI, Franciszek.& Aniela, parents?
WOJDYLAK, Jozef (1908-)
WOJDYLAK, Anna (1907-) wife
The Wojdylaks farmed at Zielonka,
near Przemysl. In July 1942 the Germans formed the Przemysl ghetto
from which they deported the Jews to Belzec. Dr. Marek Turkel, his
wife Diana and their two children (14 and 8), the lawyer Aleksander Kronberg
and his wife, Mundek Fast-Falat and his wife Stefania and Jakub Reinbach
came to the Wojdylaks for shelter. All of them survived and most
of them left Poland. Jakub Reinbach, who lives now in Przemysl, confirmed
the saving of these nine (9) people, who maintained cordial contacts with
the Wojdylaks. See: Grynberg, op. cit.
WOJEWODA, Czeslaw
WOJEWODA, Maria, wife
WOJNAROWICZ, Zygmunt
WOJNAROWICZ, Elzbieta, wife
WOJNEROWSKI, Florian
WOJNEROWSKI, Maria, wife
WOJTOWICZ, Alojzy
WOJTOWICZ, Antoni, brother
WOJTOWICZ, Kazimierz, brother
WOJTOWICZ, Apolonia (not
related)
WOJTOWICZ, Kazimierz, son
WOJTOWICZ, Wieslawa, daughter
WOJTON, (WOJTUN?) Marian
WOJTON, Julia, wife
The Wojtons lived at Wzdow,
Rzeszow prov. During the occupation they concealed the four members
of the Wilner family: Jakub and Blima, Jakub's father Chil, and Blima's
brother. The Wilners after the war went to Israel. See. Grynberg,
op. cit.
WOJTUNIK, Florian
WOJTUNIK, Janina, wife
WOJTYNA, Jan
WOLANSKI, Stanislawa (1899-1976)
WOLANSKI-BAK, Danuta (1920-)
daughter
WOLANSKI, Eugeniusz (-1988
son
WOLANSKI, Wladyslaw (1924-1986)
son
The Wolanskis farmed one
hectare in the village of Jacmierz, near Sanok. They harbored on
their tiny farm four persons of the Silberman family, known to them before
the war: Avon, his sister Golda, Samuel and Frida Silberman who had probably
escaped from the Sanok ghetto towards the end of 1942. The Wolanskis
hid them in their barn, which the fugitives left only at night. As
they did not have any reserves they were completely dependent on these
very poor farmers. All survived and left for Israel, the USA and
Australia. See: Grynberg, op. cit.
WOLANSKI, Walerian (not related)
WOLANSKI, Emilia, wife
The Wolanskis resided in
Grodno (now in Bielorussia). At the beginning of 1941 the Germans
formed the Grodno ghetto, where they massed 25,000 Jews. After murdering
many of them on the spot, they deported the others to Auschwitz in January
1943. Among them was Dr. Sulamit Majzel, married and mother of a
small son. Her mother-in-law entrusted Dr. Majzel's boy to the Wolanskis.
She herself died with other members of the family. After the war
the Wolanskis were repatriated from Soviet Russia to Poland with the Majzel
child. Dr. Sulamit Majzel survived Auschwitz and reclaimed her child
from the Wolanskis who lived then in Lodz. See: Grynberg, op. cit.
WOLF, Alfred
WOLF-PRZYBYLSKI. Jadwiga
(not related) see PRZYBYLSKI, Zdzislaw & Jadwiga, parents?
WOLFINGER-MARCUS, Julia
see MARCUS-WOLFINGER, J.
WOLIKOWSKI-MALINOWSKI, Danuta
see MALINOWSKI-WOLIKOWSKI. D.
WOLINSKI, Henryk (1902-1986)
, alias WACLAW, later ZAKRZEWSKI
At the beginning of the occupation
there was no Jewish underground organization, so the Polish underground
authorities contacted Jews unofficially. On Feb. 1, 1942 a Section
for Jewish Affairs was instituted, headed by Henryk Wolinski, a lawyer.
He was at the BIP (Biuro lnformacji i Propagandy, i.e. Office of Information
and Propaganda) at the AK (Home Army) headquarters. He was in contact
with the Jewish intelligentsia involved in the administration of the ghetto.
Before that, the Polish leaders had been in touch with the Bund through
the PPS (Polish Socialist Party) and the Hechaluc, through the Polish Scout
Association. Private, professional, business and social contacts
were maintained. Thanks to these contacts, the Polish underground
had all the information needed about the situation of Jews in the ghettoes
and in the country as a whole, to present it to the world. Wolinski
was the co-author of the report of the underground authorities to the Polish
government-in-exile in London, especially about the mass deportations from
the Warsaw ghetto to Treblinka from July 21 till mid September 1942.
Over 300,000 Jews from the Warsaw ghetto were transported under the guise
of "resettlement for work in the East". He received daily reports
from railway men about the number of trains and of people in them.
Thus, the Polish government informed the Allied governments and the western
mass media about the enormity of German crimes in Poland and particularly
against its Jewish population. Henryk Wolinski belonged to that group
of people who came out with the initiative of creating a special institution
to assist Jews, realized shortly after by the creation of Zegota (Council
for Aid to Jews). He contacted Adof Berman, the representative of
the ZKN (The Jewish National Committee), Leon Feiner, representative of
the Bund and Arie Wilner, representative of the ZOB (The Jewish Fighting
Organization). Due to his intervention it became possible for Arie
Wilner to contact the Polish underground, its military and civilian authorities,
in September 1942. In November 1942 Arie Wilner presented a written
declaration on behalf of the ZKN and the ZOB to the delegate in Poland
of the Polish government-in-exile (in London) and to the commander-in-chief
of the Home Army. On Nov. 11, 1942, the latter, General Stefan Grott
Rowecki, recognized the ZOB as a paramilitary entity, to be organized along
the directives laid down for the AK and urged that all possible aid be
given to the Jewish Fighting Organization. That aid was small, insufficient
for the enormous needs, but the AK had itself only a very limited amount
of arms and ammunition and in the Warsaw Uprising a year and a half after
the Ghetto Uprising, the Polish insurgents were even less equipped than
the ghetto fighters. Wolinski transmitted to Arie Wilner the approval
of the government's delegate for Poland. The ZKK (Jewish Coordinating
Committee) was set up to include also the representative of the Bund, which
at first had been unwilling to join the ZKN. Wolinski and others
from the BIP had many Jewish friends on both sides of the ghetto wall.
He and the others helped the Jews in many ways, getting false documents,
finding employment, places of shelter - often in their own apartments.
What more, Wolinski established on behalf of the High Command of the AK
an organization which on Aug. 1st, 1944 sheltered 283 Jews and himself
he harbored in his apartment over 25 of them for a period going from
a few days to several weeks. See: Bartoszewski & Lewin,
op. cit., Grynberg, op. cit., Iranek-Osmecki, op. cit., Lukas: Out of the
Inferno, op. cit., and Prekerowa, op. cit.
WOLNY, Maksymilian
WOLNY, Joanna, wife
WOLNY, Bozenna, daughter
WOLNY, Zbigniew, son
WOLSKI, Ewa
WOLSKI-WAWRZKIEWICZ, Joanna,
daughter
WOLSKI, Feliks (not related)
WOLSKI, Maryla, wife, born
ABRAMOWICZ
Maryla and her husband helped
several Jews. She organized the risky transport of Dr. Gabaj's family
and of a certain Fink to the Vilna ghetto, which at that time seemed safer.
Maryla particularly assisted Jews with great devotion and energy.
Janina Zienowicz-Zagala tells in her account that their home was a veritable
factory of help". See: Bartoszewski & Lewin, op. cit.
WOLSKI, Jadwiga (not related)
WOLSKI, Malgorzata (1879-1974)
(not realted)
* WOLSKI, Mieczyslaw (1912-1944)
son
WOLSKI-MICHALECKI, Halina
(1920-) daughter
WOLSKI-SZANDURSKI, Wanda
(1921-) daughter
A Jewish woman named Wiska
was the first to come to the Wolskis. She went to the ghetto several
times, often in Mieczyslaw's company, and brought from it other Jews, who
were harbored in the Wolskis' house, at Grojecka Street in Warsaw.
When there were 34 of them, the Wolskis decided to build a bunker.
Mieczyslaw and his nephew, Janusz Wysocki (q.v.), built in his garden,
under the greenhouse, a 5 by 7 meter shelter, with tiered beds, a table,
benches, electric light and water. They called it "Krysia" (little
Christine). To reach "Krysia" it was necessary to go across two back
yards, enter the greenhouse and find the secret entrance. According
to Wanda's account to the ZIH (Jewish Historica Institute) of 1988, Mieczyslaw
directed the whole operation. Janusz Wysocki and Wanda had to buy
food and bring it in and take the waste out. Halina was in charge
of correspondence, and she also went out with their mother, for meat and
other foodstuffs. In their house, their sister Leokadia had a shop,
which facilitated matters greatly. On March 7, 1944, the Germans
and the Blue Police entered "Krysia", took Mieczyslaw, their sister
Maria, Janusz Wysocki and all the Jews, and leaving guards, left.
The other family members managed to flee. Halina saw her brother
brought back in a terrible state. He was taken with Janusz Wysocki
and with all the Jews to the Pawiak prison and executed in the ruins of
the ghetto. No trace of Mieczyslaw Wolski and of Janusz Wysocki was
found. "Krysia" and their house was ransacked completely and Krysia"
was burnt. After a certain time Wanda and her mother returned home.
Among the Jews sheltered was the famous Emmanuel Ringelblum (1900-1944)
a Ph.D. in history, author of scholarly works, who set up clandestine archives
about the fate of the Jews under German occupation. From 1940 he
wrote a diary in Yiddish. After the ghetto destruction in 1943 he
was taken to the Trawniki, camp. Teodor Pajewski (q.v.) got him out
of it. While hiding in "Krysia" he wrote in Polish his work, Polish-Jewish
relations during the 2nd World War, published later by the ZIH. Ringelblum
wrote a glowing report about the entire family. Mieczyslaw Wolski
and Janusz Wysocki were awarded the medal of "Righteous Among the Nations"
and as such were mentioned here previously in the list of "Those Who Paid
with Their lives". See: Bartoszewski & Lewin, op. cit.,
and Grynberg, op. cit. Paldiel, op. cit.
WOLSKI, Mieczyslaw
(another one, not related)
WOLSKI, Janina, wife
WOLSKI, Stanislaw (not related)
WOLSKI, Wincentyna, wife
WOLSKI, Tomasz (not realted)
WOLSKI, Olga, wife
WOLSKI, Wlodzimierz (not
related)
WOLSKI, Krzysztof, son
WOLODKOWICZ-MORSTIN, Izabela
WOLODKOWICZ-LISOWSKI, Maria,
sister -in-law
Dr. Jadwiga S-K., a Jewish
physician, lived before the war in Vilna under a different name and during
the occupation in Warsaw, under a still another name. Maria Wolodkowicz
harbored her from the fall of 1942 till the spring of 1943. Maria's
husband, Jozef, was at that time in Vilna. He had been deported by
the Soviets to the Kazachstan (in Soviet Russia). Their son, Andrzej
Wolodkowicz remembers the doctor well. She was employed as one of
five persons in the production of meat pies. The daughter of Dr.
Jadwiga S-K, Liliana F. was sheltered for several years by Izabela, the
sister-in-law of Maria. A bathtub served as her bed. After
the Warsaw Uprising (1944) she married a Jewish man, also saved by another
Polish family and they live in New Scotland, and both are doctors.
In the home of Izabela and Gustaw Wolodkowicz there were two daughters,
Elzbieta Dzierzykray-Morawski and Helena Podlewski. Yad Vashem recognized
Maria and Izabela as "Righteous on June 10 and July 26, 1982, together
with the Kemnitzes, (q.v.) Wojciech and son Edward and the Kmiecinskis,
Maria and son Jozef. (q.v.) The letter from Yad Vashem was dated Aug. 5,
1982. Case No. 2309a and 2309b.
On Dec. 13, 1983 in the
Israeli Embassy in Canada, in the city of Ottawa, there took place the
ceremony of conferring the medal "Righteous among the Nations" posthumously
on Maria and Izabela Wolodkowicz. It was Andrzej Wolodkowicz, Maria's
son and Izabela's nephew, who received the medal in their name in the presence
of the Israeli Ambassador, the entire personnel of the Embassy, the president
of the Canadian Jewish Congress and of the mass media. The Ambassador
underlined the enormous heroism of harboring Jews during the Nazi occupation
in Poland. The TV personnel visited Andrzej in his home to make photos
for the evening television show. It evoked so much interest that
even several members of Parliament called on Andrzej Wolodkowicz with words
of congratulation. See: The article in "Glos Polski" (Toronto)
dated Jan 19, 1984. The cause started in 1978.
WOLOSZANSKI, (Wolosianski?)
Izydor
WOLOSZANSKI, (Wolosianski?)
Jaroslawa, wife
The couple Woloszanski is
credited with saving forty (40) Jews on the Szaszkiewicz Street in Drohobycz.
The Jews were downstairs and above them resided, incredibly, the Gestapo.
In that bunker found refuge also an uncle of Stella Kreshes. The
Woloszanski couple fed them and took care of removing the wastes disinterestedly.
According to Stella Kreshes they did not get a cent for it. They
were recognized as "Righteous" early, in 1967. See: Isakiewicz,
op. cit.
WOLOSIEWICZ, Bronislaw
WOLOSIEWICZ, Anna, wife
WOLOSZKIEWICZ, Dominika
WOLOSZYN, Antoni (-1962)
WOLOSZYN, Maria (-1970)
wife
WOLOSZYN, Maria (1927-)
daughter
The Woloszyn family consisted
of six persons. They lived in the village of Wojcza, Kielce prov.
During the liquidation of the nearby ghetto in Nowy Korczyn, escaped from
it: Benjamin Kolacz, his wife Sara and their two daughters, Chaja and Chawa.
Knowing the Woloszyn family they came to them for shelter. The latter
made for them a hideout in the barn, and gratuitously provided them with
food and necessities. This results from the deposition by the Kolacz
sisters Oct. 7, 1983. See: Grynberg, op. cit.
WOLOSZYN, Jan (not related)
WOLOSZYN, Rozalia, wife
WOLOSZYN, Stanislaw (not
related)
WOLOSZYNIAK, Stanislaw
WOLOSZYNIAK-GRZEBYK, Stefania,
wife, daughter of GRZEBYK, Jan & Maria?
WOLOSZYNSKI, Jozefa
WOLOWSKI, Anna
Anna stayed with her mother
and with Jadwiga Pagowski (q.v.) and her sister in Warsaw. Toward
the end of 1943 Jadwiga brought to their apartment a Jewish girl, Izabela
Simel. Anna took care of her for half a year until Izabela left Warsaw.
She survived. Anna was honored on Jan 14, 1999 as a "Righteous",
as announced by the Israeli Embassy in Poland.
WOLYNSKI, Jadwiga
WOROBIEC, Wilhelm
WOROBIEC, Janina, wife
WOROBIEC, Henryka, daughter
WOSOWSKI, Andrzej
WOS, Pawel
WOS, Anna, wife
WOS, Zenon, son
WOS, Pawel (another one,
not related)
WOS, Helena, wife
WOYCIECHOWSKI, Ksawery Stanislaw
(1870-1961)
WOYCIECHOWSKI, Zofia ) 1884-1972)
wife
WOYCIECHOWSKI, Wlodzimierz
(1910-) son, engineer
WOYCIECHOWSKI, Anna (1915-)
daughter-in-law
Ksawery Stanislaw owned the
estate Kanie, commune Pawlow, Chelm Lubelski prov. His son, Wlodzimierz,
worked in a private company in Dabrowa Gornicza. During the war he
administered his father's estate. His father grew vegetables for
which he employed a specialist, Chaim Mosze Kohn. Germans ordered
to increase the vegetables' production and allowed the employment of several
dozen Jews on the estate, among them the Kohn's family. But in 1942
they disallowed it completely. The intervention before the German
command to keep the Kohns as specialists was in vain. The Woyciechowskis
decided to save them. Wlodzimierz prepared a plan for a bunker in
the forest, which the Kohn's sons built in ten days. It had beds
for six people, ventilation, and a store for vegetables. It was built
so well, that even Wlodzimierz's wife standing on it could not see it.
Once a week, Wlodzimierz brought in the vicinity of the bunker big sacks
of food: bread, fat, flour, grits, eggs, meat and plenty of onions and
garlic and alcohol to cook with. In winter it was very difficult
not to leave marks of their walking outside of the bunker, as foresters
could not be admitted to the secret. Many people wondered what had
happened to the Kohns, especially the Ukrainian village administrator.
But the six Kohns survived and after the war left Poland. In October
1950 they confirmed all of the above adding that the Woyciechowskis' help
was completely disinterested. See: Grynberg, op. cit.
WOZNIAK, Alojzy
WOZNIAK, Olga, wife
WOZNIAK, Stanislaw (not related)
WOZNIAK, Janina, wife
Stanislaw lived in Warsaw
and during the occupation was a janitor in a house belonging to a Jewish
company, which employed him before the war. When that family had
to leave their apartment in 15 minutes, to make room for some Germans,
Stanislaw took the four persons into his home. At night he sneaked
in that vacated apartment, still unoccupied, to take from it articles of
value to bring them to their owners. He provided food to them when
they were in the ghetto. He also helped the owner's daughter, Zofia
Breskin, her husband Michal and her brother, when they got out of the ghetto
in January 1943. They could not stay with him for long, as the janitor
next door knew them and used to denounce Jews. In July 1964 Zofia
Breskin stated to Yad Vashem that Wozniak received them always with great
cordiality and understanding of their plight, did not want to accept any
money, on the contrary he shared with them his meager food supply.
Stanislaw's son was twice in Israel, invited by the Breskins and in 1964
planted the tree on the Hill of Remembrance in memory of his father.
His mother was recognized only in 1992.
WOZNIAK, Stanislaw (another
one, not related))
WOZNIAK-MELLER, Stefania
(not relate) see MELLER, Jozef & Eugenia, parents?
WOZNIAK, Wladyslaw (not related)
WOZNIAK, Marianna, wife
WOZNY, Michal
WOZNY, Andrzej, son
WOZNY, Maria, daughter
WOJCICKI, Jan
WOJCICKI, Anna, wife
WOJCIK, Halina
WOJCIK, Jozef (not related)
WOJCIK, Maria (not related)
WOJCIK-LEWANDOWSKI, Krystyna,
daughter
WOJCIK-POCIECHA, Stanislawa,
daughter
WOJCIK, Tadeusz, son
WOJCIK-PIEKART, Wladyslawa,
daughter
Maria Wojcik and her family
lived in Felsztyn, Sambor district. During the occupation they harbored
five (5) Jews. At their request Yad Vashem conferred on Maria Wojcik
and her children the title and medal "Righteous Among the Nations".
See: Grynberg, op. cit.
WOJCIK, Wiktor (not related)
WOJCIK-KULAGA, Emilia, sister
WOJCIK, Wladyslaw (not related)
WOJCIK, Wladyslaw (another
one, not related) alias ZEGOCINSKI (1917-1974)
WOJCIK-JANOWSKI, Wanda (1914-)
wife
WOJCIK, Helena, Wladyslaw's
sister
Wladyslaw Wojcik was the
secretary of the Cracow branch of the RPZ (Council for Aid to Jews, or
Zegota) as representative of the Polish Socialist Party. (See under
the names: Dobrowolski, Anna and Stanislaw Wincenty, Matus, Jerzy, Seweryn,
Tadeusz, Strzalecki, Jadwiga) His main task was to find places of
shelter in Cracow and vicinity for the persecuted Jews and to organize
false documents for some of them. He had a hand in extricating from
the Janowski camp Maksymilian Boruchowicz, later called Michal Borwicz,
a man of letters, who went on to organize a partisan unit. Wladyslaw
concealed prof. Ludwik Wertenstein (1887-1945), a nuclear physicist and
his family and participated in their crossing the border to Hungary.
Helena harbored in her apartment Robert Kaufman. In that apartment
took place the meetings of the RPZ. His wife, Wanda Janowski, sheltered
Janina Hescheles (12), whose diary was published in Polish in 1946 by the
Jewish Historical Commission in Cracow:, under the title: "Through the
eyes of a twelve years old girl". Maria Hochberg-Marianski, the representative
of the Cracow Jewish community, found other shelters for Janina, as the
Wojciks' apartment served for Zegota's meetings. At the beginning,
the Cracow branch received from Warsaw the sum of 50,000 zlotys monthly,
which due to its lively activity rose a year later to one million zlotys.
In 1944 up to 1,000 persons received some kind of assistance, most of them
regularly. See: Bartoszewski & Lewin, op. cit. and Grynberg,
op. cit.
WRAZEJ, Henryk
WRAZEJ, Zofia, wife
WROCZYNSKI, Edward
WROCZYNSKI, Jozefa, wife
WROCZYNSKI-JEDRUSZEK, Jolanta,
daughter?
WRONA, Jan
WRONA, Maria, wife
WRONA, Jozef (not related)
WRONSKI, Anna see BOGDANOWICZ,
A.
WRONSKI, Henryk-Michal
Henryk was a young student
(21) in Ostrowiec when he saw a pile of corpses of Jews, patients at a
German-occupied hospital. He resolved to save Jews. He met
a young Jewish pianist, Leo Spellman and his wife, Mary. They reunited
in Toronto after 49 years. "I was crying when he walked out from
the hotel. I recognized him right away", Spellman said. Wronski
found him through correspondence with his first cousin, a well-known pianist
in Poland, Wladyslaw Szpilman. Henryk-Michal rented the back of
a vacant store for their first hideout, but was ordered by the Germans
to vacate it for a German woman. Then he rented a two-room apartment,
right under the nose of the German and Polish police. When he got
out he had to padlock the door. Germans often pounded on the door;
a Polish neighbor would come out telling them that the student was away.
The couple not only had to be totally silent - neither could they cook
during the day to avoid being betrayed by the smoke from the stovepipe.
Wronski brought them small amounts of food in his briefcase and had to
take the waste out. "If they caught him with it, they'd have killed
him." Spellman said. "What a risk he took." Wronski arranged
two hideouts: a six-foot hole beneath a wardrobe and a hall-closet, plastered
up. Once the German police came just when he was digging the hole.
He explained that he was preparing a bomb shelter. When the Germans
were retreating before the Russians, eight soldiers broke into the apartment
and installed themselves in it. For five days the Spellmans remained
without food or water, hidden in the closet. Once, when the soldiers
got drunk, and went to sleep - what Leo and Maria observed through a peephole,
- Leo opened the door and stole a piece of bread. In the morning
two soldiers accused one another of stealing the bread. One of them
pushed on the door, but the Spellmans pushed back. "We were lucky
he gave up." Leo said. He stresses that Wronski saved their
lives without payment, except some money for food. See: the article
by Ruth Schweitzer, published in the Canadian Jewish News of Nov.
17, 1994, on p. 30.
On the photo appear: Leo
Sepllman, his wife Mary in the middle and Michel on the right.
WROBEL, Jozef
WROBEL, Helena, wife
WROBEL, Stanislaw (not related)
WROBEL, Anna, wife
WROBEL, Janina, daughter
WROBEL, Zygmunt, son
WROBEL, Stanislaw (1861-1956)
not related
WROBEL, Karolina, wife (1876-1971)
WROBEL, Stanislaw, son (1920-)
The Wrobel family farmed
on two hectares in the village of Wola Zalezna, near Opoczno, Kielce prov.
The Frenkiel family from Lodz fled the western provinces incorporated into
the Third Reich and came to Opoczno, where lived their relatives.
The Germans liquidated the Opoczno ghetto in October 1942. The Frenkiels,
Jakub, his wife Sara and their son Henryk (6) as well as Sara's sister,
Bela Rozenberg, asked the Wrobels for help. As Stanislaw and his
wife Karolina were elderly, all the weight of the responsibility fell on
the shoulders of the 22 years old son, Stanislaw. They had just one
eroom. First Stanislaw placed the refugees in the attic and then
in a hole under the floor. As neighbors often visited them it was
not safe. Stanislaw dug a hole in the stable, but fearing that under
the weight of the horse the ceiling of the hideout could brake up, he dug
another hole on the side of a farm building. Water flooded it from
time to time, but the Frenkiels survived in it till the war's end.
Stanislaw worked at his neighbors' farms, as their modest means were insufficient
to feed all of them. It lasted two years and 58 days. In 1987
he wrote to the ZIH: "I treated the Jews like my own family but I lived
in constant terror. I stood guard day and night, paying attention
whether anyone approached the place in which the Jews were concealed.
It is impossible now to describe what I went through. Until today
I wake at night and scream, all in a sweat." The Frenkiels went to the
USA. See: Grynberg, op. cit.
WROBLEWSKI, Edward
WROBLEWSKI, Stefania, wife
WROBLEWSKI, Henryk (not related)
WROBLEWSKI, Stefan (not related)
WROBLEWSKI, Stefan's wife
Ziporah Wind now Preston,
was instrumental in placing in Talleyville, Delaware (USA) the first official
monument to the Catholic Poles and other Christians who saved Jews.
It was unveiled on Dec. 11, 1983. Stefan Wroblewski was probably
the friend who helped Leopold Socha and his wife (q.v.) in saving a group
of Jews, from Lvov, about whom wrote so eloquently Paldiel, op cit.
Krystyna Chiger wrote a most vivid account published in 1947 in Cracow
by the Jewish Historical Commission under the title "Dzieci oskarzaja"
(Children accuse). In it she relates how Leopold Socha (q.v.), Stanislaw
Wroblewski - (probably Stefan not Stanislaw) and Jerzy Kowalow, three Polish
sewer cleaners, brought food every day to the twenty (20) Jews hiding in
the Lvov sewers for 14 months. Krystyna says that they were very
good to them from the very first day, giving them black bread and margarine,
even eggs sometimes, fuel for the carbide lamp and conducting them to safer
places in the sewers. When the Jews had no more money they brought
them food for free. See: Bartoszewski & Lewin, op. cit., p. 381-384
and Paldiel, op. cit.
WRZOSEK, Kazimierz
WRZOSEK, Helena (1920-)
wife
The Wrzoseks lived on a small
farm in the village of Galkowice, near Zawichost, Tarnobrzeg prov.
They also had a small store with articles needed on the country that they
bought in Zawichost from a Jew shop-owner, Szulman. The Zawichost
ghetto was liquidated in October 1942. At that time Josef Szulman
and his wife Chaja, with their daughter, Frida asked the Wrzoseks for shelter.
Their farm buildings formed a quadrangle, so that the yard was invisible
from the street. At the beginning the little girl could play in it,
but once a Blue policeman saw her. The Wrzoseks told him that the
girl is the daughter of Kazimierz's sister living in Sandomierz.
Soon same people, supposedly partisans, appeared requesting that Wrzoseks
give up their Jews. They tried even to search for them but fortunately
without result. In 1944 with the front approaching, the Germans occupied
the Wrzoseks' household. The farm buildings were burnt during the
fighting. The owners and the Jews hid in the cellar in the yard and
were nearly asphyxiated. The Wrzoseks' relatives got them out of
the cellar to the yard thinking that the Jews were dead. The next
day the Wrzoseks wanted to ascertain what happened to the Szulmans; fortunately
these survived. After the war they left for Argentina. In the
statement of April 23, 1985, the Szulmans attested that from the fall of
1942 till the spring of 1944 the Wrzoseks hid them in the barn or in the
pigsty and brought them food when they fed the animals. All their
stay with the Wrzoseks was gratuitous. See Grynberg, op. cit.
WUENSCHE, Jerzy alias DOBROWOLSKI
(1914-)
Jerzy was born in Radomsk,
as son of an old and wealthy German family, von Wuensche, who came to Poland
(then under Russia) before the First World War. His father had a
furniture factory and had many business affairs with the Jews. Jerzy
grew up in a democratic and liberal atmosphere. He married a Jewess,
Zosia Zeidman and after his father's death took over his company.
When Germans occupied Radomsk, Jerzy moved to Warsaw and supplied furniture
to the Wehrmacht (German army) in order to be able to employ Jews in his
factories, especially Radom Jews. When all private companies employing
Jews were closed, Jerzy took dozens of them into his home. Among
them was a schoolmate from Radomsk, Ruth Zarski, whom he met in Lvov.
Her husband was taken to Germany and with a baby she was in dire straits.
He took both to Warsaw and placed the infant with a Christian family paying
for her upkeep. In 1943 The Germans killed Ruth. Her daughter,
Miriam Zarski, now Feldman, survived and after the war Jerzy took the 4
years old into his home, until relatives came to claim her. She went
to Israel. A similar case was that of Krysia Kowalski, now Leah Buchman.
In 1941 Jerzy met in Radomsk Mrs. Buchman, whose husband was in a labor
camp. Jerzy offered to take her little girl, Leah, to Warsaw for
the duration of the war. The mother accepted. Jerzy put the
girl up with some Christian family paying for her upkeep. After the
Warsaw Uprising (1944) all trace of her vanished. Jerzy and the mother,
with the help of the Jewish Committee in Cracow, found the girl in that
city where she was staying with a Polish woman. Avraham also survived
and the family left for Israel. See: Bauminger, The Righteous among
the Nations, op. cit.
WUZYNSKI, Jan
WYDRA, Bronislawa and Jozef,
son, see: WYDRO, Bronislawa and Jozef, son
WYDRO, (WYDRA?) Bronislawa
WYDRO, (WYDRA)?) Jozef,
son
WYDRYCH-PINDELAK, Helena,
see: PINDELAK, Roman & Paulina, parents?
WYGANOWSKI, Elzbieta
WYGANOWSKI, Helena, (not
related) born TOLLOCZK0, 1mo voto KOPCINSKI,
see: TOLLOCZKO-KOPCINSKI-WYGANOWSKI.
H.
WYPYCH, Stanislaw (1913-1982)
Stanislaw, who as a child
lost his parents, was brought up by his uncle and aunt, Jozef and Anna
Marcinkowski.(q.v.). With their cooperation he hid five (5) Jews
for almost five years, in his house. He lived in Piotrkow Trybunalski.
Piotrkow Trybunalski, was a XIII century town, situated on the Warsaw-Katowice
railway junction. It already contained camps for Polish POW's in
the first days of September 1939 and later forced labor camps. On
Oct 8, 1939 the occupying Germans organized there the first ghetto in Poland.
The Goodfriend family came to Wypych, the mother and her children first,
and then the Dzialowski family. Stanislaw helped everybody who needed
it, taking care of all of them. Pola Dzialowski, one of the women
sheltered with the best appearance (it means with least Semitic features)
went out with Stanislaw to buy food in the town, buying and selling, like
everybody else did at that time. Stanislaw beside the nine (9) persons
hidden, helped eighteen (18) other Jews. Once he was picked up in
a roundup, not knowing if the Germans knew about his activity. Weeks
of interrogation, beatings and threats followed. Fortunately he survived.
When he reappeared home everybody greeted him in tears. Today that
house on the Narutowicza Street does not exist anymore. Stanislaw
is an extremely modest man, not able to speak about his exploits.
Asked why he did it, he replied: "I just did not think about why I did
it. I just did what had to be done." In the Yiddish bulletin
"Folks Sztyme", appeared a photograph with the caption: "Goodfriend
and Pole who sheltered him" with the notice: "Cantor Isaac Goodfriend visited
also his old home-town in Poland, Piotrkow Trybunalski, where he was hidden
by a decent Polish family. He brought presents and memories to the
house of his savior." The cantor came from Atlanta, USA. The
above photograph had first appeared in "Time Magazine" on Aug. 20 1979.
Yad Vashem recognized Stanislaw Wypych and the Marcinkowski couple on Sept.12,
1990. The letter was dated Oct. 24, 1990. Case No 4642, started
in 1989.
WYROBEK-PAWLOWSKI, Wanda
(1912-)
Wanda cooperated with the
Social Welfare Department of the city of Warsaw. On Grojecka Street
there were shops where worked Jewish women from the ghetto. Sometimes
they managed to bring along a Jewish child, in the hope that it might be
saved. Wanda brought two girls (6 or 7) from these shops, which she
placed in dependable hands. She also cared for Marysia, daughter
of the well-known writer and stage manager Jonas Turkow, who survived the
war. See: Grynberg, op. cit.
WYRWA, Wladyslaw
WYRZYKOWSKI, Aleksander
WYRZYKOWSKI, Antonina, wife
The couple farmed in the
village of Janczewo, near Lomza. From November 1942 till January
1945 they concealed in their pigsty seven (7) Jews: Grodnowski, Berl, Jakub
Kobrzanski, Mosze and Elka Olszewicz, Elka Sosnowski.and Samuel Wasserstein.
They were denounced. Police searches with dogs followed, but the
Jews were not discovered, as Antonina each day poured kerosene on the entrance
to the pigsty. After the war, Antonina, feeling her neighbors' disapproval,
left for Austria. She returned later to Poland, but to another village.
See: Grynberg, op. cit.
WYRZYKOWSKI-SZWAJKAJZER,
Wanda (not related) see SZWAJKAJZER, Stefan & Teofila, parents
WYSIADECKI, Franciszka
* WYSOCKI, Janusz (1924-1944)
Janusz Wysocki, nephew of
Mieczyslaw Wolski (q.v.) for helping him and his family to harbor 34 Jews,
among them Emmanuel Ringelblum, was arrested on March 7, 1944 and executed
in unknown circumstances. Awarded posthumously the medal "Righteous
Among the Nations", he was mentioned here in the list of "Those Who Paid
with Their Lives"(No. 690)
WYSOCKI, Mikolaj (not related)
WYSOCKI, Anna, wife
WYSOCKI-KIELBASA, Helena,
daughter
WYSOCKI-MAROSZEK, Maria,
daughter
The Wysocki family farmed
at Wielki Grabowiec. They were not rich farmers. They had one
cow, one horse, one pig, three chickens and a very small piece of land.
Nevertheless when two terrified, hungry and dirty teenagers, the brothers
Jack and Irving Posesorski came to them asking for asylum, they did not
refuse but offered them shelter in the loft of the barn. The two
elder sisters, Janka and Maryska Wysocki, also teenagers, volunteered to
go to a German forced labor camp to dissuade soldiers from searching the
farm. In March 1944 the girls, 15 and 17, were taken to Germany and
returned from it only after the war. From Sept. 24, 1942 until Aug.
21, 1944 the two boys stayed with the Wysockis. Their parents and
elder sister, Golda, were murdered in March 1943. Helena, who was
ten at that time, too young to volunteer for forced labor, was their messenger,
keeping them in contact with a cousin also hidden elsewhere. When
the sisters returned from Germany some people in the village suggested
that the boys should marry the two girls. But it was not to be.
They left Poland. Jack, the elder brother, came to Canada with his
wife, Yetta, in 1948. He managed his own textile store. Irving
and his wife, Dora, came a year later and is now retired. He went
to Poland and visited Helena in 1986. When Helena, invited by the
brothers, came to Toronto, Jack wept at the sight of her. Helena
said that she could have easily picked him out without the aid of Irving.
"We lived through the tragedy like one family together", Helena said.
"Whatever he had, we always shared." Helena is now an inspector on
the Board of education, a mother and a grand mother. It was Irving
who undertook the steps necessary for the recognition, with the help of
Yetta, after her husband's death. The brothers sent help to the family.
See: the article by Susan Reid, under the title: "Brothers saved from Nazis
greet 'girl' who aided them", published in the "Toronto Star" on May 23,
1988, p. A7. Yad Vashem recognized them as "Righteous Among the Nations".
The letter dates from May 9, 1995. Case No. 6509a; it was started
in 1993.
WYSOCKI-PELKO, Wanda
WYSZASTYCKI, Stanislawa
WYSZEWIANSKI-SIKORSKI, Kamilla
see SIKORSKI, Wladyslawa, mother and sisters
A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M|N|O|P|R|S|T|U|V|W|Z
|