Łasica Tadeusz

Łasica, Tadeusz In early 1941, when the Jewish community of Żyrardów (Warsaw district) was liquidated, Chedwa Sieradzka and Cyrla Kaufman were transferred to the Warsaw ghetto, where they stayed until April 10, 1943. That day, several days before the ghetto uprising began, Tadeusz Łasica entered the ghetto, located Sieradzka and Kaufman, told them that he had come at the behest of his parents, and—in a daring and dangerous operation—took them out of the ghetto to the Aryan side of the city. Lasica then escorted the two Jewish refugees to his parents’ home in the resort village of Międzylesie. He built a partition of bricks in one of the rooms to create a space where his wards could hide. To avert neighbors’ suspicions, Lasica bought food for the fugitives in Warsaw. All of his actions were prompted by his parents’ strong, sincere friendship with the Jewish girls’ parents before the war. Chedwa and Cyrla stayed in hiding until the Red Army liberated the area in September 1944. After the war, Łasica married Cyrla and Chedwa moved to Israel; in due course, the latter hosted Lasica in her home. On May 18, 1965, Yad Vashem recognized Tadeusz Lasica as Righteous Among the Nations.