Płatek Maria (Miza)

File 6829 Płatek, Maria During the occupation, Maria Płatek lived alone with her two children in the village of Eleonorówka, in the Tarnopol district, after her husband had been taken to do forced-labor in Germany. One night in December 1943, she heard someone knocking at the door of her home, and when she opened the door, she was stunned to see seven Jewish fugitives standing there, trembling with cold. They were Aron Bernstein, his wife Zofia, their eight-year-old daughter Danuta, Sofia’s sister Augustyna Werner and three members of the Fischbein family. Płatek, who had never met the Jewish fugitives before, immediately took them all in, and after suggesting that they stay in her house, hid them in the attic. Motivated by pure altruism and without asking for or receiving any remuneration of any kind, and disregarding the danger to her life and the lives of her children, Płatek took all seven fugitives under her wing. Despite her own impoverished circumstances, she provided for all their needs, depriving her own family of food when necessary to feed the fugitives. All seven fugitives remained in Płatek’s home until the Red Army liberated the area in April 1944. After the war, they immigrated to the United States, where they later hosted Płatek, who had moved to an area within the new Polish borders. On October 18, 1995, Yad Vashem recognized Maria Płatek as Righteous Among the Nations.