Dygdała Zofia (Komperda)

Dygdała-Komperda Zofia Łucja Meister, followed by her brother, Bertold, escaped from the Przemysl ghetto, in the Rzeszów district with the help of forged documents which their friend, 19-year-old Zofia Komperda, obtained for them. Komperda arranged for Łucja to move in with her aunt, who lived in a village near the town of Przeworsk. However, when neighbors began suspecting that Łucja was Jewish, Komperda arranged for her to be transferred to a nearby village, where Lucja worked in a local school until the area was liberated in 1944. Although she survived the war, Łucja died shortly thereafter. Komperda also arranged for Bertold Meister, Łucja’s brother, to stay with her parents. Her father, who was a picture restorer, taught Meister the secrets of his trade, and employed him as an apprentice. Komperda also trained Meister as a land surveyor, and sent him to the nearby village of Wola Zgłobieńska, where he worked in his new profession until the area was liberated in 1944. After the war, Meister remained in Poland. In risking her life to save Łucja and Bertold Meister, Zofia Komperda (later Dygdała) was guided by humanitarian motives and an unwavering loyalty to her friends, which triumphed over adversity. Many years after the war, Komperda tried to trace a Jewish girl who, thanks to the forged documents with which she provided her, was sent to work in Germany, and presumably survived. On August 11, 1992, Yad Vashem recognized Zofia Dygdała (neè Komperda) as Righteous Among the Nations. File 5396