Szejnbaum Jadwiga

SZEJNBAUM-WAŁKOW, JADWIGA Jadwiga Wałkow (later Szejnbaum) lived, during the war, in Kamionka Strumilowa in Eastern Galicia. She was a nurse by profession and during the occupation she worked in the local hospital. A Jewish doctor, Henryk Singer, worked in the same hospital. When the liquidation of the local ghetto drew near, a local volksdeutsch helped Dr. Singer, his wife Felicja, and her brother (who was a lawyer). For Felicja and her brother he arranged false documents and gave them an address in Lwow. He directed Dr. Singer to Jadwiga (partly because of Dr. Singer’s strong Semitic appearance) to find shelter for a while. “Since this ‘while’ became longer, I had to look for another apartment,” wrote Jadwiga Szejnbaum in her testimony. Jadwiga moved to a safer apartment in which she hid Henryk behind a closet. In March 1943, Felicia joined Henryk in the hideout. Felicja had previously been arrested in Lwow - despite having “Aryan” papers - and then transferred to Belzec. Luckily, she managed to escape from the transport near Rzeczka. She found shelter with the local priest who then informed Jadwiga and asked her to come to Rzeczka in order to pick up Felicja. Shortly before the liberation, Felicja’s brother, who came by foot from Lwow, joined the Singers. After the war, Jadwiga married a Jew named Szejnbaum and in 1957, they immigrated to Israel. On January 11, 1982, Yad Vashem recognized Jadwiga Szejnbaum-Wałkow as Righteous Among the Nations.