Tomczak Anna

Tomczak-Hornung, Anna In 1939, Leon Hornung, his wife and their children moved from Teschen in Upper Silesia to Stryj, in the district of Stanisławów (today Stryy, L’viv District), which at the time was under Soviet control. When the Germans conquered the area, Hornung’s wife and younger children were incarcerated in the ghetto and when it was liquidated they were sent to the Bełżec extermination camp. Hornung and his two eldest sons remained on the Aryan side of the town and as they spoke German fluently, they presented themselves as ethnic Germans (Volksdeutsche) and found employment with a German construction firm in Podwołoczyska in the district of Tarnopol (today Pidvolochys’k, Ternopil’ District). To avoid arousing suspicion, the Hornungs employed a Ukrainian housekeeper called Anna Tomczak. Later on, when their managers demanded to see their papers, the Hornungs were compelled to flee the town and it was only then that Tomczak realized that her employers were Jews. The three Hornungs moved to Drohobycz (Drohobych), where they presented themselves as Poles and found work. They decided to invite Tomczak to join them and when she arrived, they introduced her as Leon Hornung’s wife. Tomczak’s Aryan appearance deflected all suspicions about the Hornungs’ ethnicity and Tomczak never made the Hornungs feel that they were dependent on her goodwill. Tomczak faithfully played her role as the mother of the family and helped the Hornungs get out of dangerous situations. After some time, a romantic relationship developed between Tomczak and Hornung and thus Tomczak remained with the family after the liberation by the Red Army in August 1944. After the war, Hornung married Tomczak and, with his two sons, they moved to Israel. On December 16, 1996, Yad Vashem recognized Anna Hornung (née Tomczak) as Righteous Among the Nations.