Surowiecki Józef & Surowiecka Zofia

Surowiecki, Józef Surowiecki, Zofia Ben, Kazimierz Goldie Szachter was born in 1931 in Bodzentyn, Kielce, Poland. Her parents were Ichiel (b. 1900) and Miriam Rywka (b. 1902). She had four older siblings: Moshe (b. 1924), Irka (b. ca. 1926), Shlomo (b. 1927), and Rachel (b. 1929). The family was relatively well-off because Ichiel co-owned the town mill and sold the grain produced there. In 1939 the Nazis invaded Bodzentyn and everything changed. Goldie, who was in second grade, was no longer allowed to attend school. The conditions were worsening, and by 1942, the danger of mass murder was looming over the town. To escape this fate, Ichiel had his whole family moved to Starachowice, a town where there was a labor camp and a munitions factory, in which He arranged for them to be employed. Having thus protected most of his family, Ichiel was left with 10-year old Goldie, who was too young to work. He found a Christian woman, Zofia Surowiecki, who lived with her husband, Józef, in a nearby village. Zofia agreed to shelter Goldie. Zofia’s nephew, Kazimierz Ben, came in his horse-drawn wagon to fetch the girl one October night in 1942. The very next morning, Zofia set to work trying to disguise Goldie’s Jewish identity. She tried to conceal this even from her husband, as she taught the girl Catholic rituals, gave her chores on the farm, straightened her hair, and gave her the name Halinka Bertusówna, the name of her niece. Soon enough, Józef noticed “Halinka” crossing herself with her left hand instead of her right and immediately guessed that the child was Jewish, but he made his peace with it. Before long, some people from Bodzentyn arrived in the village, and despite their assurances that they would not denounce the Surowieckis and Goldie, rumors began spreading that there was a Jewish child sheltered in the village, even after the Surowieckis twice had the girl stay with their friends in other villages. Zofia and Józef had remained in touch with Goldie’s father, who was still interned with his family in Starachowice. They let him know that there was imminent danger to his daughter, and he devised a plan to bring her back to the camp. Meanwhile, Kazimierz Ben helped the Szachters again, this time at great personal cost: the family’s resources were running out, and he agreed to search for the money Ichiel had hidden in his former house in Bodzentyn and bring it back to him. After the mission was completed, Kazimierz was captured and beaten so severely, he was bedridden for a while. Eventually, he was executed for working with the Polish underground. In July 1944, Starachowice was shut down, and all its inmates were transported to Auschwitz. Ichiel and Shlomo died during the journey, while Goldie, her mother, and surviving siblings made it to Auschwitz. They remained there for half a year, until January 1945, when the Germans, fearing the approaching Soviet Army, disassembled the camp and sent them to Bergen-Belsen. Goldie’s brother Moshe was sent to Dachau, where he perished. In April 1945, Goldie, her mother, and her two sisters were liberated, but very soon afterward, Goldie’s mother passed away in the hospital. On April 12, 2016, Yad Vashem recognized Józef and Zofia Surowiecki and Kazimierz Ben as Righteous Among the Nations.