Feret Mieczyslaw

Feret, Mieczysław During the occupation, Henry Margulies worked under an assumed identity in a government office in Krakow, his hometown. After his neighbors suspected him of being Jewish, Margulies tried to find alternative accommodations, but in vain. In early 1944, his luck turned when he met Mieczysław Feret, a resident of the nearby village of Pleszow, who agreed to put him up in his one-room apartment. Margulies moved into his apartment and continued cycling into Krakow each day for work. When rumor spread that Feret was hiding a Jew, Feret, who believed his flatmate to be Christian, vehemently denied the rumor. As tension between the two mounted, however, Margules decided to tell Feret the truth. Although astounded by Margulies’ confession, Feret hugged him, and promised to keep his secret. Margulies and Feret became inseparable friends, and when the neighbors’ suspicions intensified, Feret accompanied Margulies to the nearby village of Opatkowice, and stayed with him until January 1945, when the area was liberated by the Red Army. After the war, Margulies immigrated to Israel where, for many years, he kept up a correspondence with his savior. On March 7, 1994, Yad Vashem recognized Mieczysław Feret as Righteous Among the Nations. File 6007