Mazak Stanisław

File 2788a Mazak, Stanisław (Father) Mazak Stanisław, a Roman-Catholic priest, was the spirit behind the campaign to save a group of Jews from the village of Szczurowice, in the Radziechów county, in the Tarnopol voivodeship. In his sermons in the local church, Father Mazak would call upon the faithful to take part in saving the persecuted, trying to convince them to do what they could, even at the cost of self-sacrifice. And indeed, the much-admired Father Mazak’s flock responded to his appeal and extended their assistance to the Jews hiding in the area. Under Father Mazak’s influence, even farmers who did not personally hide Jews in their homes volunteered to help them, providing food and keeping their hiding places secret from their Ukranian nationalist neighbors. Mazak himself visited the hiding places, cheering up the Jewish fugitives, providing them with medicine as needed, all without asking for or receiving anything in return. In one case, the priest provided Sczarlota Wechsler / or Wechslier (= primo voto; Donatova- secundo voto), her husband Dr. Wechsler / or Wechslier and her four-year-old son with “Aryan” papers. Afterwards, he accompanied Szarlota and her son to Kraków, and after learning that the mother had been sent for forced labor to Germany (she was sent to Bavaria), moved her son to a Catholic children’s home in Warsaw, where his life was saved (Dr. Wechsler / or Wechslier, fought during the Warsaw uprising, unfortunately he perished (he jumped from a train and probably was shot to death). In early 1944, Ukrainian collaborators learned of Father Mazak’s efforts to save Jews and sentenced him to death. After he was forewarned of the danger to his life, the priest managed to flee from his village. He hid out in the nearby city of Łopatyn, and after the war, moved to the town of Pszczyna located in the Silesian voivodeship. On the 16th of February 1984, Yad Vashem recognized (Father) Mazak Stanisław, as a Righteous Among theNations.