Skuza Józef & Bronisława

Skuza, Józef Skuza, Bronisława On a winter day in early 1943, when they were wandering in the forest near Staszów (Sandomierz County, Kielce District) looking for a hiding place in one of the villages, the Graudens family – Daniel and Lola, her mother, her brother-in-law, and her cousin – met Józef Skuza, a farmer from the nearby village of Solec Stary, who took pity on them and invited into his home. Józef prepared a hideout for them in the hayloft and together with his wife, Bronisława, undertook to provide them with food and other supplies. The neighbors were hostile, and the Skuzas, who had four children at home, knew very well what a risk they were taking upon themselves by hiding such a large Jewish family. One day Polish underground Home Army (AK) partisans came to their home, and beat Józef in front of his family, demanding that he turn over the Jews he was hiding. But he refused. Sometime later, one of the neighbors discovered the hiding fugitives and they had to be quickly moved from the yard. Józef divided them into two groups and relocated them to the homes of two of his friends in a neighboring village where they could hide. Not very long after that, the AK men came to that village too, discovered three of the Jews in hiding, and murdered them. After this incident, the farmer who had hidden the Graudens was no longer ready to keep them and told them to leave. Having no other choice, they returned to the Skuzas. With a heavy heart, the Skuzas decided to take them back in despite the hostility of their neighbors and the presence of German soldiers in the village. Their sense of compassion, their religious faith, and their identification with the fate of the two persecuted Jews overcame their fears, and they set about preparing a hideout for them. During the entire period of occupation they continued to care for them and tried to make their life a little easier. In the evenings, they invited them into their home, to wash and launder their clothes. In addition to their everyday care, Józef helped them contact their relatives who were hiding in other places in the vicinity. This situation continued for two years until the liberation. On October 27, 2002, Yad Vashem recognized Józef and Bronisława Skuza as Righteous Among the Nations.