Skrzypiec Wiktoria (Dziedzic)

Dziedzic-Skrzypiec, Wiktoria Already at the start of the German occupation, Wiktoria Dziedzic helped persecuted Jews escape east to the Soviet territories. Among the refugees whom she helped were Iza Waks and her relatives, who escaped from Warsaw. Dziedzic escorted the fugitives to her parents’ apartment in Lwów, and decided to stay on in Lwów, where her acquaintanceship with Iza Waks and her family swiftly turned into a warm friendship. Even after the Germans occupied Lwów in 1941, Dziedzic continued helping Jews. Iza Waks, most of whose family had been killed during the riots following the Germans’ entry into the city, was one of the first to be helped by Dziedzic. Dziedzic hid her in her apartment for several weeks, obtained “Aryan” documents for her, and accompanied her to Warsaw, where she found her suitable accommodation. Waks remained in Warsaw until she was forced to leave with the evacuation of the population after the Warsaw Uprising in August 1944. After many vicissitudes, she was liberated in January 1945 by the Red Army. Upon returning home to Lwow, after accompanying Waks to Warsaw, Dziedzic smuggled little Hanka Waks, her brother Romek, and Julian and Stefa Nacht, out of the ghetto. She found places for all of them in the surrounding villages, looked after them and saw to all their needs until the area was liberated in the summer of 1944. Apart from Stefa Nacht, who died before the liberation, all the refugees survived, and immigrated to Israel after the war. Later, they testified that Dziedzic (later Skrzypiec) was a person of humanitarian values and invited her to visit them in Israel. On July 13, 1965, Yad Vashem recognized Wiktoria Skrzypiec (née Dziedzic) as a Righteous Among the Nations.