Batawia Zofia

Batawia-Klodnicka, Zofia Weronika During the German occupation of Poland, Zofia Batawia-Klodnicka, a resident of Warsaw, traveled to Czestochowa to assist the Majzner family, with whom she was friendly. Upon her arrival, she found that she was unable to enter the ghetto, which was hermetically sealed; however, she was informed that Jan (Janek), her friend’s 10-year-old son, was concealed in a temporary hideout outside the ghetto confines. With great fortitude, Zofia took the child into her care and after obtaining “Aryan” documents returned with him to Warsaw. At first Janek stayed with Zofia, but when she felt her home was no longer safe for him, she transferred the child to relatives in a nearby village. Subsequently, she moved him to her sister in the south, but when the Germans began to search the area for Jews in hiding, Zofia swiftly brought Janek back to Warsaw. She consulted a doctor, and it was decided to operate on the child in order to disguise the fact that he was circumcised and thus of Jewish origin. The operation was successful, and both Janek and Zofia’s lives were saved when, following a tip-off by informers, the apartment was raided by the Gestapo. Further searches followed, and Janek was sent to an institution run by members of the clergy. Soon afterward, Zofia found a safe refuge for him with the parents of a friend who lived in a village, and Janek remained there until the liberation. Janek, later Professor Jan Majzner-Michalski, emigrated to Brazil after the war. He corresponded frequently with Zofia, and also visited her in Poland. On December 23, 1982, Yad Vashem recognized Zofia Weronika Batawia-Klodnicka as Righteous Among the Nations.