Kwoczyński Stanisław ; Daughter: Śliwowa Alina (Kwoczyńska)

Śliwowa-Kwoczyńska, Alina Kwoczyński, Stanisław In March 1939, Elfriede Thieberger moved from Czechoslovakia to Poland after the annexation to the Third Reich, and she was living in Tarnów when war broke out. Thieberger taught English to Alina Kwoczyńska, a Polish student, and the two quickly became friends. While in the ghetto, Theiberger received help from Kwoczyńska, who, at grave personal risk, provided her with food and moral support and spared no effort to take her out of the ghetto to the Aryan side of town. In a carefully planned operation that entailed courage and self-sacrifice, Kwoczyńska smuggled Thieberger out of the sealed ghetto and placed her with acquaintances, introducing her as a Polish refugee. Thieberger had to leave this place of asylum after her identity was discovered and, after suspicions as to her Jewishness arose at a second hideout, Kwoczyńska decided to conceal Thieberger in her own home, which she shared with her father, Stanisław Kwoczyński. Her father gave the matter his full consent, and although this placed the Kwoczyńskis in mortal danger, they assisted and cared for Thieberger with warmth and devotion. Thieberger stayed with Kwoczyński and his daughter until the Red Army liberated the area in January 1945. After the war, Thieberger moved to Austria but stayed in touch with the Kwoczyńskis, who had rescued her for purely humanitarian motives and for no material reward. On April 26, 1977, Yad Vashem recognized Alina Śliwowa, née Kwoczyńska, and her father Stanisław Kwoczyński as Righteous Among the Nations.