Eckhardt Maria (Leszczyńska)

Eckhardt, Maria Before the war, Kalina Kleinberg lived in Tarnopol in eastern Galicia, where she attended the same music school as the Eckhardt children, and often frequented their house. Already in 1941, at the beginning of the German occupation, when the Germans and Ukrainians were launching pogroms against the Jews, Maria Eckhardt, the girls’ mother, invited Kleinberg to stay with them whenever she wished. In 1943, after the bloody Aktionen, which culminated in the deportation of the last of the Jews from Tarnopol, Kleinberg managed to escape the massacre. Remembering Eckhardt’s offer, she sought her out. Eckhardt gave Kleinberg a warm welcome, and despite the danger, agreed to take her in. She arranged a hiding place for her behind a mirror in her bedroom, and saw to all her needs, without expecting anything in return. Also living with the Eckhardts was Maria’s five-year-old grandson who did not know that Kleinberg was Jewish. Kleinberg remained with the Eckhardts until the Red Army liberated the area in April 1944. After the war, Kleinberg immigrated to the United States, while Eckhardt immigrated to Canada. On March 17, 1996, Yad Vashem recognized Maria Eckhardt as Righteous Among the Nations.