Wołoszyńska Józefa (Szpaczek)

WOŁOSZYŃSKA, JÓZEFA During the war, Józefa Wołoszyńska lived with her family in Kowel, Volhynia. The family had moved to Kowel in 1933 when Józefa’s husband took a job in the local post office. During the occupation, the Wołoszyńskis’ house was close to the ghetto. In July 1942, an Aktion began in the ghetto. Bronia Eckhaus, along with her one-year-old son, hid in a hideout on a roof together with a dozen or so other Jews. At nightfall, Bronia climbed down from the roof with her son and they hid for a few days in a ransacked, empty house. When she thought that the Aktion was over, she left the hideout. She then went into a church where she met a priest who fed her and advised her to look for shelter in the neighboring villages. He even gave her names of Polish and Ukrainian villages. She took his advice and wandered from village to village carrying the child in her arms until she arrived in the village of Elizówka. There, she met a woman from Kowel, Józefa Wołoszyńska, who had come there to buy food. Józefa immediately recognized that Bronia was Jewish. She gave Bronia her address in Kowel and Bronia came there a few times whenever her situation became desperate. She was always warmly accepted and Józefa always fed her and offered her advice. “She gave me more power in the fight for survival,” wrote Bronia in her testimony. “I remember one night, in March 1943. It was a cold night. I wanted to spend the night in the entrance to Mrs. Wołoszyńska’s home. I sat in front of the door, with my child in my hands. Suddenly, someone opened the door unexpectedly. I had to stand up and go inside. Mrs. Wołoszyńska had three children - a son about 20 years old, a seventeen-year-old daughter and a little boy. The children were very frightened... But that woman told her children: ‘If you are afraid, go to sleep at your friend’s houses, the girl and her child stay here.’ It was heroism. The children stayed at home.” The next morning after breakfast, Józefa had a warmtalk with Bronia and told her that the Germans were beginning to withdraw and that the Russians were getting closer. She advised her not to give up and return to the villages. She then gave her food and a coat for the son - taken from her own young child. Józefa walked with the fugitive for a few kilometers and wished her well. “She gave me hope, courage and belief in the future,” recalled Bronia. On March 4, 1985, Yad Vashem recognized Józefa Wołoszyńska as Righteous Among the Nations.