Podkowińska Zofia

Podkowińska, Zofia In February 1942, Nina Assorodobraj arrived in Warsaw from Lwow equipped with “Aryan” papers in the hope of finding a place to hide in the capital. Assorodobraj went to the home of Zofia Podkowińska, a professor of archeology, whom she had known before the war as part of their joint scientific work in the University of Warsaw. Podkowińska received her warmly as if she were a member of the family. Podkowińska, a member of the left-wing Polish intelligentsia of the Polish Socialist Party (PPS) was known before the war for her sympathetic feelings for Jews. Podkowińska’s immediate willingness to aid Jews during the war was part of her humanistic struggle against the German occupation, and the ties with her Jewish friends became even stronger during the occupation. In March 1943, Tamara Assordobraj, Nina’s mother, and Leonia Kahan, her sister-in-law, and her two-year-old daughter, who had fled from the Grodno ghetto during its liquidation, all showed up at Podkowińska’s home. Podkowińska received them all warmly, and together they lived like one big family. Podkowińska’s apartment also served as a meeting place for the members of the National Jewish Committee, which was active on the Aryan side of Warsaw. In the spring of 1944, the security situation in Podkowińska’s neighborhood worsened, and because of the manhunts for underground activists conducted by the Germans, there was a very real danger that the Jewish fugitives Podkowińska was hiding would be discovered. After they decided to split up, the mother, sister-in-law and granddaughter moved to one of the nearby villages, and Nina remained with Podkowińska in Warsaw, until both were driven out from the bombed-out city after the Warsaw Uprising was put down in early autumn 1944. After the liberation, the four survivors reunited and considered Podkowińska as part of their family, continuing to live together for many years. On November 28, 1994, Yad Vashem recognized ZofiaPodkowińska as Righteous Among the Nations. File 6365