Cieśla Stanisław & Anna

Cieśla, Stanisław Cieśla, Anna In 1941, when the Germans occupied the town of Grzymałów, in the Tarnopol district, all the local Jews were herded into a ghetto that was set up in the nearby town of Skalat. A number of Jews who refused to enter the ghetto turned to Stanisław and Anna Cieśla, who lived in Grzymałów with their two children and were known for being sympathetic toward Jews. Already at the start of the occupation, Cieśla, a miller by profession, had supplied Jews with flour and other commodities, without demanding payment. When the Germans began sending Jews to the death camps, eight Jews – including Gisela Golding, Josef and Isidor Kahane, and Janina Weinrauch – asked the Cieślas for shelter. Despite the danger and the economic burden, the Cieślas took in all eight refugees, and looked after them to the best of their ability. One of the refugees, a two-year-old girl, was given extra care and attention. In due course, Cieśla prepared a safer hiding place for the refugees in the flourmill where he worked, after Anna had cleaned the place out. Anna also cooked for the refugees, and saw to all their needs. When the Ukrainian police became suspicious, Cieśla, with great resourcefulness, orchestrated their escape. The eight refugees stayed with the Cieślas from October 1942 until the area was liberated by the Red Army in March 1944. Later, the survivors described their rescuers as people with humanitarian values, who had risked their lives to help them when they were in trouble. After the war, most of the survivors immigrated to Israel, and in 1967, invited Anna Cieśla to stay with them. On April 4, 1967, Yad Vashem recognized Anna Cieśla and Stanisław Ciesla as Righteous Among the Nations.