Wartime Rescue of Jews by the Polish Catholic Clergy

XXVI. Mników near Kraków

During the German occupation evacuees from Warsaw came to us. Along with others, a Jewish woman and her child and two elderly Jewish sisters from Warsaw stayed with us. They told us that, in Warsaw, they had stood behind the chimney of a burned-out building, on the third floor, for two days. They had prayed to the Blessed Virgin of Częstochowa for help. After two days they were rescued by the fire department. These people stayed with us for two weeks, until the local reeve, who was afraid of the Germans, told them to leave the village.
XXVII. Kraków: 6 Podbrzezie Street

Two Jewish boys were accepted into the institution. They were seven and ten. One of them was named Jurek. Their last name had been changed to a Polish one, Nowak. Their mother came to see them three times a week and brought them various things. She was wealthy because it was said that the family owned two large stores on Floriańska Street and their own house. The mother promised the Sisters a large reward for sheltering these children. The children went outside once and were caught by the Germans. Because of this incident the institution had much unpleasantness: reports, German inspections, etc.
Another Jewish child who was sheltered briefly at this orphanage was Sara Warszawiak, who passed as Irena Jabłońska. She was transferred to Kraków from a convent in Brody in the winter of 1943, and was later adopted by Professor Jan Pilch and his wife, Julia. Sara, who had Semitic features, remained with the Pilchs for some time after the war. Despite her desire to be baptized, Father Archilles, a Capuchin monk, dissuaded her from doing so.⁵⁸³
XXVIII. Rząska near Kraków

1. A ten-year-old girl named Hania Raj [Reich]⁵⁸⁴ gave the impression of being physically developed beyond her years. She was brought to us by her aunt, who said that the girl’s parents were taken to a camp and then left for England, and that she did not have the means to keep the girl. Hania attended school and was a good student. At the request of her aunt she was prepared by the Sisters for Confession and Holy Communion. When the Russians came the aunt took her and placed her in the Jewish Orphanage in Kraków.

2. A 70-year-old woman walking to Rząska met some Sisters and asked them whether she could stay overnight. The next day she asked to stay another night because she had no place to go. She did not admit to being Jewish. She prayed, received the sacraments and only when the local priest admonished her, did she stop taking Holy Communion. She lived in a room with the children, behind a screen, because there was no other place to put her. She was fluent in German and Russian and helped the children with their lessons. As soon as the Germans left, she went to Kraków.
XXIX. Kraków-Prądnik Czerwony

A certain lady came to Mother General asking her to accept Jaś into the shelter. He was the son of a rich neighbour from Rząska who was a lawyer. The parents were Catholics, but of Jewish background. Jaś, using the name of Moskowski, was sent to our orphanage in Bochnia. He survived the war and returned to his family.

Additional Data:

1. One Sister stated that in Szczawnica a Mr. Majerczak hid a Jewish man in his basement. He brought this man food in a basket used for coal. After the war this person rewarded him.

2. Another Sister stated that while she was still living with her parents (Jan and Anna Zielonka, in the village of Filipy, in the county of Końskie), during the third year of the war, there was a Jewish family who went from house to house looking for a place to stay the night. Her parents took them in and that night the woman gave birth to a child. They could not stay any longer because the Germans made a thorough search of all of the houses.

3. A Sister stated that in 1939, after the German invasion, her friend from school, Salomea Baldinger, begged her to help her receive the sacrament of Baptism. The baptism was performed by Father Józef Kosibowicz, the pastor of Sromowce Wyżne. As her Godmother, the Sister felt a responsibility to take care of her friend. Her friend’s family was very angry with her. After two years the benefactor became a Sister. Not too long after Maria Salomea came to the Sister asking for help because her entire family had been killed by the Germans.

Miraculously, the friend was able to reach Kraków. Mother General instructed that she be accepted into the convent on Lubicz Street [in Kraków] as a helper. After a few weeks she came back to the Mother House to ask for different work because she said working with the mentally ill depressed her. She later left for Germany to work. After the liberation she returned to Poland. In 1952 she came to us to ask for a baptismal certificate which she could not obtain during the war. She received one, got married and I was present at her daughter’s First Holy Communion. At the present time she is doing well.