Zoszak Adam

Zoszak, Adam Adam Zoszak was a lawyer. Before the war and during the occupation he lived in Borysław, in eastern Galicia. Borysław was also the home of the Jewish Tenenbaum family - Jakub, his wife Laura, and their son Leopold. The Tenenbaums found shelter from May 1943 until August 1944 in the cellar of the house on 61 Wojciechowska Street, Borysław. They shared the shelter with Serafina Halleman, Malvina Grunberg, Jozef Seifman, Anna Katz, and Rozia Ebel. Since none of them could leave the hideout, Edmund Blum who carried “legitimate” papers under the name of Michał Machiński cared for them. Adam Zoszak helped Michał with this task, although the hidden Jews did not discover his identity until August 1944. Adam, a prewar judge, put his heart into helping the nine hiding Jews. He stood on guard at night in front of the house and personally brought them food, and kept their spirits up by bringing them newspapers and relaying to them what he heard on foreign radio broadcasts. In time, the hideout had to be camouflaged even more and Adam bricked it up himself. Whenever he brought them food, he had to take the new wall down and then reconstruct it. Edmund made it clear to the hidden Jews that their benefactor “wishes to remain unknown, in order to avoid thanks” even after the liberation. Nevertheless, Jakub and the rest of the Jews found out that their benefactor was Adam Zoszak and, in August 1944, they asked Edmund to deliver a letter expressing their gratitude. This is what they wrote: “The very honorable, venerable, loved patron! Finally, our torment is over and we can leave the hideout, breathe fresh air and delight in the warm sun. Our first thought turns to you, dear patron, to whom we owe so much for getting to this day... Sir, dear man, venerable judge, of Roman Catholic faith, of Polish nationality, on his shoulders hauled the bags of bread and potatoes and carried them on freezing winter nights to nine hiding Jews completely unknown to him. For suchan act of humanity there are no words to express gratitude...” After the war, Adam Zoszak moved to Gilwice in Upper Silesia. The fates of the survivors are unknown. On May 8, 1986, Yad Vashem recognized Adam Zoszak as Righteous Among the Nations. File 3373