Burchacki Stefan & Burchacka Helena

File 1794 Burchacki, Stefan Burchacka, Helena In November 1940, Kleinbard Józef (Kleinbard or Klejnberd; later known as John (Josef) Klein) was interned in the ghetto in Radzymin in the Warsaw district. A non-Jewish friend of his, named Burchacki Stefan (who lived with his wife, Helena, in Warsaw), heard from his brother- Stanisław (in the beginning of October 1942; two days before the liquidation of the ghetto (probably it occurred on the 1st of October 1942) who run a restaurant in Radzymin (Stanisław heard a conversation between two local officials, one from the German police and the second one from the Polish Blue police; during their conversation, the two of them raised the issue of the intended liquidation of the ghetto) that the Radzymin ghetto was about to be liquidated. Thus, Stanisław immediately informed Kleinbard as well as his brother- Stefan, who lived at that time in Warsaw. Afterwards, both Stanisław and Stefan planed how to save the life of Kleinbard. On the next day, when Kleinbard was outside the ghetto working in the Struga forests - region of Struga (located 20km from Warsaw), Stefan reached him by a cab; after wandering in a heavy rain, Stefan found Mr. Kleinbard, and stayed with him in the forest till the next morning (due to the heavy storm and the late hour, Stefan could only return to Warsaw (due to the police hour-restrictions) in the next morning). On the next day, Stefan, at the risk of his life, brought Kleinbard out the forest together with two other young Jewish women (sisters) named: Wajnsztejn (or Wajnsztajn) Róża (known also as- Rózia) and Sabina. He took the fugitives to his apartment in Warsaw (located on the 26th Targowa Street, Praga-Warszawa) where they were warmly received by Helena and hidden in one of the rooms. In the course of time, the three were joined by another Jew, named Wajnsztejn (or Wajnsztajn) Leon. During the period of- October 1942 until August 1944; the Burchacki couple have provided an aid toapproximately 40 Jewish fugitives as 12 of them lived in their apartment for a periods between few weeks till few months. The Burchackis’ rescue activities were motivated by sympathy and true friendship; they received no recompense for their actions. Even after the street in which the apartment was situated was carefully searched following a bomb attack on a butcher’s shop that served only Germans, they continued to assist the four fugitives. Józef and the Wajnsztejns (or Wajnsztajns) remained in the Burchackis’ care until the outbreak of the Warsaw Uprising in August 1944. After the entire population of the city had been deported, the Burchackis obtained “Aryan” documents for their protégés. These were used by the latter to find separate places of refuge in the surrounding villages until the liberation by the Red Army in January 1945. On the 20th of March 20, 1980, Yad Vashem recognized Burchacki Stefan and his wife, Burchacka, as Righteous Among the Nations.