Boguszewski Bruno

Boguszewski, Bruno Bruno Boguszewski, a priest, used his official position as birth registrar at Swiętego Lazarza (Saint Lazarus) Church, Krak\w, to save Jewish children by issuing them with “Aryan” birth certificates. Boguszewski’s reputation as a savior of Jewish children spread far and wide. One woman whose child was saved thanks to Boguszewski was Anna Carter who, after escaping from the Krak\w ghetto, obtained a birth certificate for her daughter, Alina, aged eight. A little while later, Boguszewski also provided four-year-old Zygmunt, Alina’s brother, with an “Aryan” birth certificate. He gave Carter another five birth certificates issued in the names of Catholic children, for distribution to those in need. The priest found a hiding place for little Alina in the home of acquaintances in Chrzan\w, where she stayed until the area was liberated in January 1945. Her brother, Zygmunt, was not so lucky – he was shot dead by the Germans after they were alerted by an informer. After the war, Alina was reunited with her mother, who had survived Auschwitz. Mother and daughter emigrated to the United States, where they kept up contact with Boguszewski. Boguszewski knew full well the fate that awaited him if caught, since his predecessor, who had also supplied Jews with false certificates, had been imprisoned by the Gestapo and sent to Auschwitz. His actions were dictated by purely selfless, humanitarian and religious considerations. On May 28, 1978, Yad Vashem recognized Bruno Boguszewski as Righteous Among the Nations.