Kołaczkowska Aniela (Czarna); Brother: Czarny Aleksander

Kołaczkowska, Aniela (Czarna) Czarny, Aleksander During the 1942 Aktionen (mass executions) of Galician Jews, Simon Turkel was approximately 30 years old. He lived with his family in Grzymałów, Poland. Faced with the likelihood of being caught in one of the Aktionen, Simon decided to voluntarily join a labor camp in the hope of surviving there. At the time, young physically able Jews were employed in such camps, performing agricultural work and building roads. Simon, like many Jews, believed that being useful to the Germans and performing work that aided their military effort was the key to survival. What he did not know was that after liquidating all of the ghettos, the Germans moved on to liquidating the labor camps as well. In 1943 Simon found himself once again stranded, without work or any kind of protective framework. He decided to approach his high school friend, Aniela Czarna (later Kołaczkowska) at her home in the village of Eleonorówka. Aniela was living with her elderly father and two brothers, one older and one younger than she. Aniela’s father and older brother refused to have anything to do with the perilous choice to shelter a Jew, but Aniela was determined to help Simon, and her younger brother, 16-year-old Aleksander, joined the effort. Simon and Aleksander went out into the fields surrounding the house, and together they built an underground hideout: it was relatively hidden and offered some protection against the elements. Turkel entered the hideout in September 1943, and he stayed there until March 1944, when the area was liberated by the Soviet Army. Aniela and Aleksander provided him with everything he needed—not only food and laundry but also newspapers and other necessities. The area was going through very dangerous times: the local Ukrainians, having disposed of all the Jews, had launched an ethnic cleansing campaign against Poles. They kept raiding the Czarnys’ house, going as far as beating Aniela’s elderly father. And right before the liberation, things became unstable enough that the Czarnys had to leave their home. They let Simon know what was happening and left him some food before they departed. When the Soviets liberated the area, the Czarnys moved to Poland, while Simon soon went to live in Canada. There he created a family of his own, and he stayed in touch with his rescuers until his old age. On May 16, 2016, Yad Vashem recognized Aniela Kołaczkowska (née Czarna) and her brother Aleksander Czarny as Righteous Among the Nations.