Małkiewicz Henryk

Małkiewicz, Henryk In October 1942, a few days before the large-scale Aktion in the ghetto of Ostrowiec Swietokrzyski, in the Kielce district, Henryk Małkiewicz, a resident of the nearby village of Stokow, approached the members of the Kudlowicz family, whose flour mill he had managed for many years, offering to hide them in his home. At first, the Kudlowicz family rejected his offer. However, after the Aktion, during which most members of the Kudlowicz family were murdered, Henia and her brother Szama Kudlowicz, together with their relatives, Alter Naftali and Yocheved Shif fled to Małkiewicz’s home to ask for asylum there. He hid the four Jewish fugitives in his farmyard, and without asking for or receiving any payment in return, cared for them devotedly and provided them with all their needs as best he could. Following threats from hostile neighbors, the four Jews were forced to leave their hiding place, but only after Małkiewicz had found them another place to hide with an acquaintance in a nearby village. Małkiewicz continued to look out for them in their new hiding place too, bringing them food and other necessities until their liberation in January 1945. Everything Małkiewicz did to save the members of the Kudlowicz family was motivated purely by altruism and the loyalty of a worker to his employer, even at the risk to his life. After the war, the survivors immigrated to Israel, except for Szama Kudlowicz, who moved to Brazil. On April 8, 1986, Yad Vashem recognized Henryk Małkiewicz as Righteous Among the Nations.