Ceglewska Celina

Ceglewska Celina Until the outbreak of war, Celina Ceglewska worked as a nanny for the Goldman family in Warsaw. She gave up her position after her marriage, but continued to keep in close touch with her former employers and brought them food after their incarceration in the ghetto. In due course, the Goldmans’ daughter, Danuta, was smuggled out of the ghetto and took refuge with her Polish aunt on the Aryan side of the city. Mrs. Goldman was arrested during an Aktion, while her husband, who worked in the Ursus factory outside the ghetto, was shot to death in the street. The 12-year-old son, Julian, who had remained with his aunt and uncle in the ghetto, escaped to the Aryan side at the beginning of 1943. He took refuge with Celina, who lived in a small house adjoining a lot where building materials were stored. Celina’s husband, who was sick with tuberculosis, was employed as a guard at the lot; her daughter, who also fell ill, was sent to stay with relatives who lived in a village. After her husband’s death, Celina took over his position as guard, but the owner of the storage lot, who was worried by Julian’s presence, demanded that she send the child away. Celina was determined to save Julian, however, and whenever her employer appeared, she gave Julian some food and told him to stay away until the danger had passed. Following the suppression of the Warsaw Uprising in the late summer of 1944, Celina and Julian were deported to Auschwitz, where she claimed that he was her son despite the risk involved. At the end of the year, the two were sent to a forced labor camp in Berlin, where Celina worked as a cook until the liberation. After the war, they returned to Poland, and Julian was sent to relatives in Łódź. The latter transferred him to Lena Kichler’s orphanage in Zakopane, from where he immigrated to Israel. Celina subsequently testified that Julian’s parents had treated her like a daughter while she was in their employment, and that although she knewthat she was endangering her life, she had been prompted by her conscience to save the child. After their parting, Julian and Celina continued to keep in as close contact as possible. On June 25, 1991, Yad Vashem recognized Celina Ceglewska as Righteous Among the Nations. File 4930