Balicki Józef & Balicka Katarzyna (Bezrąk); Son: Stanisław ; Son: Władysław

Balicki, Józef Balicka, Katarzyna Balicki, Stanisław Balicki, Władysław The friendship between Józef and Katarzyna Balicki, residents of the village of Siemianówka, and the Pasternak family, who lived in nearby Lwów, dated back to prewar times. After Lwów was occupied by the Germans, the Pasternaks were interned in the local ghetto. Despite the danger involved, Józef and Katarzyna’s sons, Władysław and Stanisław, entered the ghetto secretly and supplied their Jewish friends with food. In the summer of 1943, when the ghetto was about to be liquidated, the Balicki brothers tried to smuggle out the six members of the Pasternak family. The daring enterprise was partially successful, and only the brothers Bernard and Moshe Pasternak escaped. They were transferred to the Balickis’ home in Siemianówka, and concealed in a special hideout under the floor. The Pasternaks were received sympathetically by all the members of the Balicki family, who supplied their needs in a spirit of genuine and altruistic friendship. Shortly before the village was liberated by the Red Army, the Pasternaks were betrayed by neighbors and arrested. They were taken to the Gestapo headquarters in Lwów and executed. Józef and Katarzyna Balicki were also arrested, and tried for sheltering Jews. They, too, were condemned to death. Józef was executed, while Katarzyna’s sentence was commuted to imprisonment. On November 26, 1987, Yad Vashem recognized Józef Balicki, Katarzyna Balicka and their sons, Władysław and Stanisław, as Righteous Among the Nations.