Dziadek Alojzy & Zofia (Kopył)

Dziadek Zofia At the outbreak of war, Dr. Michał Bloch fled from Warsaw with his wife, Olga, their son, Jerzy, and their daughter, Freda, to the eastern Polish territories that had been annexed to the Soviet Union, and settled in the city of Włodzimierz Wołyński. There Dr. Bloch became director of the local hospital. When the Germans occupied the city, the Blochs were interned in the local ghetto, but in September 1942, during Aktionen in the ghetto, they managed to escape. After wandering for a year through local villages, the four Blochs returned to Włodzimierz Wołyński, where they found shelter with Alojzy and Zofia Dziadek and their three children. They hid the Blochs in their cellar until July 1944, when the area was liberated by the Red Army. In saving the Blochs’ lives, the Dziadeks were guided by humanitarian motives and a deep religious faith, which overrode considerations of personal safety. In 1948, the Blochs immigrated to Australia, after first signing over the deeds of their property in Kalisz to the Dziadeks. The Dziadeks moved to an area within the new borders of Poland and later to Australia, and until 1966, kept up a correspondence with the Blochs. On March 11, 1993, Yad Vashem recognized Zofia and Alojzy Dziadek as Righteous Among the Nations. File 5107