Bodaszewski Kazimierz & Bodaszewska Maria

Bodaszewski Kazimierz Bodaszewska Maria Malinowski Antoni Only a few Jews survived the liquidation of the Rohatyn ghetto in the Stanislawow district in June 1943. Three of them, Herman Wohl, his wife-to-be, Bertha, and his younger brother, Morris, from the town of Bursztyn, managed to escape from the transport taking them to the Belzec death camp. The three had planned to reach nearby Brzezany, but when they discovered that the Jews of Brzezany had also been liquidated, they turned to Herman Wohl’s school friend, who lived in the village of Mlyniska. The school friend, who was being threatened by Ukrainian neighbors, was unable to put them up, but sent them to relatives of his in the village of Honoratowka. Here, the three refugees were taken in by Kazimierz and Maria Bodaszewski, a poor peasant couple, with whom they stayed until fear of discovery prompted Bodaszewski to prepare a hiding place for them in the forest. The refugees initially paid for their upkeep, but even when their money ran out, the Bodaszewskis still bought them food and clothes, and even medicines, without expecting anything in return. While hiding out in the forest, the three Jews were helped by another villager by the name of Antoni Malinowski, whose real name they discovered only after the liberation. Malinowski guided them through the forest, dug a trench for them to hide in, and, despite his extreme poverty, supplied them with food and other vital needs, without expecting anything in return. He also watched out for their safety, and warned them of the many dangers that lay in wait for them. Malinowski looked after the Jewish refugees until July 1944, when the area was liberated. In risking their lives to save the Jewish refugees, the Bodaszewskis and Malinowski were guided by humanitarian considerations only, without any thought of material gain. After the war, the three survivors emigrated to the United States, where Herman and Morris Wohl kept up a correspondence with theirsaviors, and helped them materially whenever they could. On January 27, 1986, Yad Vashem recognized Maria and Kazimierz Bodaszewski and Antoni Malinowski as Righteous Among the Nations.