Dobrowolski Kazimierz & Dobrowolska Stefania (Sołtys)

Dobrowolski, Kazimierz Dobrowolska, Stefania During the occupation, Kazimierz and Stefania Dobrowolski, who lived with their two young daughters in Kraków, were active in the Polish underground. Within the framework of their underground activities, they turned their spacious apartment into a shelter for Jewish fugitives from the Podgórze ghetto, sent to them by Żegota (the Council for Aid to Jews). From December 1942, Jewish refugees, most of who were related to each other, began turning up on the Dobrowolski’s doorstep. Among the Jews who found shelter in their home were Maria Hoffman and her two daughters, Helena and Irena, Michał and Berta Zellner, Celina Tadaner (nee Lax), and Lotta and Piroska Sternbach. The experience Dobrowolska had gained before the war running a boarding house in the holiday resort town of Zakopane, now stood her in good stead. Although some of the tenants in their building realized what was going on, they kept the secret, knowing the Dobrowolskis were working for the underground. All the refugees stayed with the Dobrowolskis until January 1945, when the area was liberated by the Red Army. After the war, most of the survivors immigrated to Israel and the United States. All remembered their rescuers as extraordinarily humane people who had been prepared to risk their lives to save Jews. On January 1, 1998, Yad Vashem recognized Stefania Dobrowolska and Kazimierz Dobrowolski as Righteous Among the Nations. File 7901