The Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington DC is paying honour to Polish rescuers of Jews today, part of the 2009 Days of Remembrance activities.
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum is hosting a breakfast today honoring five Polish citizens designated Righteous Among the Nations by the Yad Vashem Institute for their efforts in rescuing Jews during the Holocaust.
The Museum has designated "Never Again: What You Do Matters" as the 2009 Days of Remembrance theme to encourage people to reflect upon the power of individuals to create a more just and humane world.
The five Poles being honoured are:
Anna Stupnicka-Bando, Chair of the Polish Society of the Righteous, the nation's organization of Holocaust rescuers. Along with her mother, a teenaged Anna helped smuggle food supplies into the ghetto and assisted several Warsaw Jews to hide on the so-called Aryan side. In 1941, Bando swapped clothes with a Jewish girl to smuggle her out of the ghetto and live as a part of the Bando family until the end of the war.
Ireneusz Rajchowski and his family assisted many of Warsaw's Jews who escaped the ghetto during deportations and the ghetto uprising. Also during this time, he would frequently provide food to Jewish children hiding outside of the ghetto. In 1944, the Rajchowski family was deported to Germany as forced laborers where they remained until liberation.
Alicja Szczepaniak Schnepf, along with her younger sister and her mother took in several Jewish families in their one bedroom apartment, often deceiving their neighbors while risking their own lives. Frequently, Schnepf had to provide distractions for the German authorities or cover-up for noises or other signs of the many people in their apartment.
Tadeusz Stankiewicz, along with his family, assisted Jews who escaped from nearby ghettos or work camps as the family lived in a small forest village. With their familiarity of the woods, the family was able to construct numerous hiding places. Stankiewicz would frequently transport provisions to the hidden Jews using a small boat to navigate the swamplands.
Józef Walaszczyk, after escaping detainment by Nazis in the first weeks of the war, Walaszczyk rescued Irena Front from a round-up of Jews hiding in a hotel; he purchased documents and paperwork to pass her off as his wife and then hid her at his apartment. The following year, Walaszczyk used his connections and a well-paid bribe to a Nazi official to again save Front as well as 21 other Jews who were captured the same day.
The rescuers will light a candle with a Holocaust survivor and member of Congress at the national Days of Remembrance ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda, Washington D.C.. (pg)