Rys Józef ; Partner: Niemiec Janina

Ryś, Józef Niemiec, Janina In the spring of 1943, Adolf Wegner contacted Józef Ryś, a Polish acquaintance in Borysław (Eastern Galicia), and asked him to provide shelter for himself, his wife Róża, his two-year-old daughter Felicja, and his mother. Ryś agreed and built a camouflaged hideout in the storeroom in his yard for the four Jewish refugees. Within a short time, additional Jews joined them until the total came to thirteen. The refugees’ maintenance fell upon Ryś and Janina Niemiec, his life partner, who in addition to the danger of protecting so many Jews in their mixed Polish-Ukrainian town also undertook a heavy economic burden. Only one of the concealed people paid for his food; Ryś shouldered most of the expense himself. Apart from the financial outlay, the very act of buying so much food could have made the neighbors suspicious. To avert this danger, Ryś traveled to distant localities, bought what was needed, and sold some of the provisions in shops in Borysław to convince people that he was trafficking in the black market. For more than a year, the thirteen Jewish fugitives found shelter with Ryś, who, together with Niemiec, met all their needs, made them meals at night, and delivered the food to the shelter in pails—for humanitarian motives and no material reward. When the Red Army liberated the area in August 1944, all of the hiding Jews were alive. In addition to the Wegners, they included Dr. Bronisław Estreicher, his wife Helena, and their son Marian; Dr. Henryk Kudisz; an engineer named Polajner and his wife; Mr. and Mrs. Zareński; and Róża Symchowicz, née Eisenstein. The survivors emigrated to various countries after the war. On June 7, 1983, Yad Vashem recognized Józef Ryś and Janina Niemiec as Righteous Among the Nations. File 2606