Biel Tomasz & Maria

Biel Tomasz Biel Maria Maria and Tomasz Biel lived in Wojakowa, in the district of Kraków, during the German occupation. They had settled there in 1935 after spending ten years in France, where Tomasz had worked as a miner in both coal and iron mines. Upon their return to Poland, they purchased a farm in Wojakowa that had previously been managed by Mojżesz Riegelhaupt with whom they had become acquainted. Moshe’s son, Zygmunt, first met Maria and Tomasz during the German occupation. In July 1942, the day before the deportation of several Jewish families, including the entire Riegelhaupt family, from the Iwkowa district to the ghetto in Zakliczyn, Zygmunt, together with Isaac Tauger, his brother-in-law’s brother, fled to the forest. In October 1942, Mojżesz succeeded in escaping from the ghetto shortly before its liquidation, together with Zygmunt’s sister Regina and her child, and his sister-in-law and her two children. Mojżesz and Zygmunt hid together and were helped by Maria and Tomasz Biel. “The Biels wanted us to survive and were totally committed to rescuing us. They helped us in every possible way, by sheltering us, feeding us, and giving us comfort,” writes Zygmunt. “Tomasz Biel was honorable and humane. Not only did he provide us with information about the war-front but he also warned us about roads where our lives would have been in danger.” For two months during the winter of 1942/43, Zygmunt and his father hid in the Biels’ home in a special shelter built by Tomasz and Maria. In the early spring of 1943, they returned to the forest, visiting the Biels often, sometimes only coming to get food and sometimes staying for two or three days. The Biels’ home was some distance from their hideout in the forest and it gradually became more and more dangerous to move between the two, both for those in hiding and for Tomasz and Maria. In March 1944, the Biels’ house was attacked and Tomasz was severely beaten. Maria wrote: “We went through a really badtime. Fortunately, they did not find the fugitives, who would have been killed.” On September 15, 1991, Yad Vashem recognized Tomasz Biel and his wife, Maria Biel, as Righteous Among the Nations. File 4632a