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WARSAW, DECEMBER 4th 2012
Welcoming the Guests
Ewa Rudnik, the Director of the Righteous Department, Embassy of Israel to Poland
Marek Zając, the Secretary of the International Auschwitz Council
Speech by
Prof. Władysław Bartoszewski, the Secretary of State
for International Dialogue in Chancellery of the Chairman of Ministers Council
Speech by
H.E. Zvi Rav-Ner, the Ambassador of Israel
Presentation on Righteous Among the Nations
and the Polish Council to Aid Jews ‘Żegota’
by the Museum of the History of Polish Jews
Presenting the Righteous Among the Nations
Medals and Certificates of Honour
Helena Godlewska
Presentation of the decoration into the hands of the Heroine’s son,
Leon Godlewski of Gdańsk
Michał and Maria Golba
Speech by the Survivors’ children, Rami Safri and Nechama Lind from Israel
Presentation of the decoration into the hands of the the Heroes' grandson,
Stefan Spała of Słupsk
Antoni and Leokadia Jastrząb
Presentation of the decoration into the hands of the Heroes' daughter,
Liliana Wierzbińska of Marki
Stanisława Olewnik
On behalf of the Heroine’s son, Jan Olewnik, Mayor of Grodzisk Mazowiecki
Grzegorz Benedykciński will collect the medal
Aniela Woroniecka neé Czartoryska and Róża Chmielewska
Presentation of the decoration into the hands of Aniela Woroniecka’s nephews:
Adam Czartoryski from Denmark, Gustaw Czartoryski of Puszczykowo,
Juliusz Czartoryski and Tytus Czartoryski of Morzęcin Mały,
and Zygmunt Czartoryski of Opole
Musical performance by Ola Bilińska
Conclusion of the ceremony and taking group pictures
•••
Refreshments
Whosoever saves a single life, saves an entire universe
Since 1963 a special commission of Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Martyrs' and
Heroes' Remembrance Authority in Jerusalem, headed by the Israel's
Supreme Court, has been awarding Righteous Among the Nations medals
and certificates of honour (‫חסיד אומות העולם‬, read: Chasid umot ha-Olam).
This decoration pays tribute to the Heroes who were putting their lives in
danger in order to rescue their Jewish friends, neighbours, acquaintances,
sometimes perfect strangers, all of them doomed to extermination.
Persons recognized as Righteous are awarded a specially minted medal
bearing their name and a certificate of honour. The names and surnames of
Righteous are also engraved on stone plates in the Garden of the Righteous
in Jerusalem. The planting of olive trees for the Heroes has ceased few years
ago for there is hardly no area left.
The certificates of honour and medals are being presented during ceremonies
taking place in Israel or in the Israeli diplomatic missions. The Embassy of
Israel to Poland organizes a dozen or so of such ceremonies each year,
mainly in Warsaw.
In 2011, in 12 ceremonies, 65 Poles were recognized as Righteous Among
the Nations, and 11 honorary citizenships of the State of Israel were conferred
upon them. All coverages of the ceremonies held in Poland are published on
the website of the Embassy: (www.israel.pl), the photos are available in the
public virtual gallery at (http://picasaweb.google.com/ambasada.izraela).
Yad Vashem has honoured over 24 000 Heroes from all over the world,
among them over 6 000 Poles, to name few Polish Righteous: Zofia KossakSzczucka, Irena Sendlerowa, Mieczysław Fogg, Igor Newerly, Henryk Sławik
and Władysław Bartoszewski.
Names of the Righteous from Poland on the Wall of Honour in the Garden of the Righteous
at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem
The Polish Council to Aid Jews
On December 4 1942, the Polish Council to Aid Jews, the codename ‘Żegota’,
was established at the Government in Exile Branch for Poland (Delegatura
Rządu na Kraj). The tasks of 'Żegota' consisted in organizing and providing
systematic support for persecuted Jews on the territory of the occupied
Poland. The creation of an organization attached to the government, the
operation of which was exclusively aimed at helping Jews, was unique in the
occupied Europe.
Among the missions of 'Żegota' were: seeking out apartments and hiding
places, safely escorting and placing the fugitives in those places, issuing
forged documents, providing financial and medical help for those in hiding,
taking care of children and giving protection against blackmailers. The Council
established its local branches in Cracow and Lviv.
Its operation was possible thanks to the input and work of many, often
anonymous and ordinary people, people of different age and of different social
and material status. They managed to cooperate regardless of religious
or outlook differences.
Julian Grobelny, known by the pseudonym 'Trojan', was appointed the Head
of ‘Żegota’. Leon Feiner, known by the pseudonym 'Mikołaj', and Tadeusz
Rek, known by the pseudonym 'Różycki', became his Deputies. Other senior
positions were held by: Ferdynand Arczyński 'Marek' (Treasurer), Adolf
Abraham Berman 'Borowski' (Secretary-General). Witold (Jan) Bieńkowski,
served as a liaison officer between 'Żegota' and the Polish Government
in Exile, he was helped by Władysław Bartoszewski, 'Ludwik'.
In 1963, Maria Kann and Władysław Bartoszewski planted a tree for 'Żegota'
in the Yad Vashem Avenue of the Righteous, which later has become the
Garden of the Righteous.
Władysław Bartoszewski is the only living co-founder of 'Żegota'.
th
Planting a tree in honour of ‘Żegota’ in Yad Vashem, October 28 1963;
Archive of Władysław Bartoszewski
Helena Godlewska
A tiny, gaunt Jewish girl, Masha Borenstein, got to the family of Helena and
Leon Godlewski of Warsaw in the summer of 1942. She was smuggled out
of the Warsaw ghetto in a rucksack by the Godlewskis’ daughter – Elżbieta
Andersz. From then on, the girl, called Misia, became a full member of the
family. With the help of a priest friend, Edward Tyszka, they arranged her
a forged baptism certificate for the name Irena Maria Godlewska. In 1943,
Helena Godlewska's husband was arrested for his activity in the Home Army,
and he was killed in the KL Auschwitz-Birkenau. Henceforth, the woman had
to deal with raising her four children on her own. Despite their difficult financial
situation, she did not leave little Misia and took great care of her until the end
of the occupation. In 1956, Masha Borenstein / Miriam Adika immigrated
to Israel, where she started her own family.
Helena Godlewska (1896-1967) in the 1950s
Misia Borenstein, ca. 1947
Michał and Maria Golba
During the German occupation, Michał and Maria Golba were hiding three
Jewish refugees: Hanna Kurz (Reiss-Lind) and Tonia Szulkind with her son
Natan on their farm in Zdzieci, a small village near Połaniec in the
Świętokrzyskie voivodeship. Although they could barely provide for
themselves and their two sons, they did not refuse to help those who were
in need, and who were also perfect strangers. The passage from Tonia
Szulkind's (Seiden) memoirs reads: ‘We were hiding at Maria and Michał's
place for over a year. All that time, they were great. They took care of all our
needs, without any payment. Never did they show any sign of fear
or impatience’. The Golba family took every effort so that their neighbours
would not find out about their secret. All of them safely lived through the end
of the occupation in August 1944. After the war, the Survivors emigrated from
Poland, yet they have never forgotten their rescuers.
Tonia Szulkind with her son Natan
Hanna Reiss-Lind
Antoni and Leokadia Jastrząb
Antoni Jastrząb and Joel Grinkraut knew each other well before the war. They
both were tailors and lived in Zawiercie. When a ghetto was established
in their home town, and all the Jewish population of Zawiercie was resettled
into the ghetto, Leokadia and Antoni Jastrząb convinced Priwa Grinkraut, their
friend's wife, to get out to the Aryan side. They were hiding her in their house
for six weeks. At that time, they arranged forged documents for her, issued for
the name Zofia Jabłońska, whereas Leokadia and Antoni's children thought
Priwa some catholic prayers. Then, thanks to some contacts in the
employment office, Antoni Jastrząb fixed Priwa up with a job for a German
farmer in the Sudetes. The whole time he remained in contact with her, and
helped to deliver the correspondence between Priwa and Joel. The latter
survived the war with the help of a German air force officer, Willi Garbrecht.∗
Leokadia Jastrząb (1911-1995)
∗
Antoni Jastrząb (1908-1979)
Between 1942 and 1944, Willi Garbrecht saved several dozens of Jewish inhabitants of
Zawiercie from deportation to the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp by hiring them in the
Luftwaffe plant. The ceremony of awarding the title of Righteous Among the Nations to Willi
Garbrecht took place in the Embassy of Israel in Berlin in 2011. The son of Joel and Priwa
Grinkraut, Prof. Abraham Gonen was present at the ceremony.
Stanisława Olewnik
During the war Stanisława Olewnik lived in Krzemień near Maków
Mazowiecki. She was a farm labourer and a single mother of two little sons.
Regardless of the great danger, she agreed to provide help for 5 members
of the Mławski family, who escaped from the Maków ghetto. In the autumn
of 1943, during the German raid, the Mławskis, who were hiding in the woods,
were arrested. After cruel torture, one Jewish girl admitted that Stanisława
Olewnik was hiding her in her house, and then equipped the girl with her own
documents, so as to facilitate the girl's survival on the Aryan side. The rescuer
and the rescued were imprisoned in the Gestapo torture cell in the castle
of Pułtusk. Next, they were transported to the Auschwitz-Birkenau
concentration camp. We can read in the survived documents that Stanisława
Olewnik, Ruchla Mławska and her daughters perished there in 1944.
Aniela Maria Elżbieta Woroniecka
Duchess Aniela Woroniecka, neé Czartoryska, was involved in providing help
to persecuted Jews from the very beginning of the war. She shared food and
clothing, provided medical help, and - which was against the wishes of her
family - she provided Jewish refugees with a temporary shelter in a special
hiding place in her house at the corner of Nowogrodzka and Krucza Streets
in Warsaw. To ensure their safety, she searched for other hiding places
in various spots in Warsaw and outside the town. Many people owe her their
lives. Dr. Edward Reicher and his family are among them. The Survivor wrote
in his memoirs: ‘Aniela Woroniecka was an angel in a human body. This
woman was not even a bit demanding. She leaded her life sacrificing herself
for others. She needed nothing for herself. She was the kindest human being
I have ever met in my life’. **
Aniela Woroniecka (1898-1978) with her brother Adam, ca. 1916
**
Edward Reicher, Country of Ash: A Jewish Doctor in Poland, 1939-1945, London 1989.
Róża Chmielewska
On the basis of the memoirs written by Dr. Edward Reicher, Yad Vashem
decided to award the title of Righteous Among the Nations to Róża
Chmielewska, as well. For two months she provided shelter for Edward
Reicher in her tiny apartment in Krucza Street in Warsaw. She was well aware
of the risk. Nevertheless, she offered help to a desperate man, with distinctly
Semitic facial features, who was roaming alone through the town shortly
before the curfew. Little is known about the heroine. What is know is that she
was a prostitute, and whenever a customer was visiting her, Reicher had to
stay in a special hiding place. She was also providing financial help to
Reicher's wife, who could stay on the Aryan side thanks to her 'good looks'.
Because of suspicious neighbours, Reicher had to change his hiding place,
and then he found a temporary shelter at Duchess Aniela Woroniecka’s. Róża
Chmielewska's later fate is unknown.
Edward Reicher, probably photographed on the Aryan side;
Yad Vashem Photo Archive
The procedure of awarding the title
of Righteous Among the Nations
The Survivors, as well as their relatives, are primarily entitled to nominate for
awarding the honorary title of Righteous Among the Nations to those who helped the
Jews during World War II. Based on their testimonies the committee of historians will
decide upon awarding the title of Righteous. In particular cases, Rescuers and their
relatives, as well as witnesses of those deeds could also make their requests.
However such requests are only of auxiliary character.
Upon prior contacting by phone or e-mail, applications shall be sent to the Embassy
of Israel to Poland or directly to Yad Vashem in Israel.
Instytut Yad Vashem, Righteous Among the Nations Department
P.O. Box 3477, 91034 Jerusalem, Israel
tel. 00972/ 2 644 3521, fax 00972/ 2 644 3443
e-mail: [email protected]
Departament Sprawiedliwych wśród Narodów Świata
Ambasada Izraela w Polsce / Embassy of Israel to Poland]
ul. Krzywickiego 24, 02-078 Warszawa, Poland
tel. 22/ 59 70 547, fax 22/ 82 51 607
e-mail: [email protected]
The application should include the following:
- an accurate account of the story of rescuing persons of Jewish descent made in
accordance with the Yad Vashem guidelines,
- signed witnesses' testimonies of the described events
- a list of persons who could witness the events
- any other documentation of the events (for instance correspondence between
survivors and rescuers),
- full contact details of the applicant (address, phone number, fax, e-mail).
While examining the application, the Yad Vashem Commission of historians shall
take into the consideration the following criteria:
- the scope and kind of aid given,
- financial profits obtained while aiding or lack of financial profits,
- the level of danger and risk faced while providing help,
- motivation of Rescuers, such as friendship, altruism, religion, beliefs (if possible to
be established),
- availability of the documents presented by the Survivors,
- other important facts and information, as well as documents confirming the
authenticity of the events presented.
The Righteous may apply to have honorary citizenship of the State of Israel
conferred. To this end, please apply by mail to Yad Vashem, preferably by the
Department of the Righteous of the Embassy of Israel.
More information on www.yadvashem.org