Górecki Piotr & Górecka Agnieszka (Landowska); Daughter: Thiel Jadwiga (Górecka)

Górecki, Piotr Górecka, Agnieszka Thiel-Górecka, Jadwiga Landowski, Józef Landowska, Zofia In the spring of 1942, Zofia Landowska obtained a forged pass enabling her to enter the Warsaw ghetto and smuggle six-year-old Chana Grabina out to the Aryan side of the city. For some weeks, Zofia hid the little girl in the apartment she shared with her husband, Józef. The Landowskis, who were underground activists, obtained “Aryan” documents for Chana and looked after her. When Chana’s presence was discovered by neighbors, the Landowskis quickly transferred her to a home for abandoned children run by Nazarene Nuns (Siostry Nazaretanki) in Komańcza, in the county of Sanok, in the Rzeszów district. Since the home was not too safe, either, Landowski, at the nuns’ advice, took Chana to stay with his sister, Agnieszka Górecka, who lived with her husband, Piotr, and their daughter Jadwiga, in the town of Chojnice, in Pomerania. The Góreckis gave Chana a warm reception and passed her off as a relative. In risking their lives to save Chana, the Góreckis were guided by humanitarian considerations only. Chana Grabina, (alias Anna Mackowicz) stayed with the Góreckis until 1951 and went on to become a Doctor of Polish Philology in Poland. On November 12, 1995, Yad Vashem recognized Agnieszka and Piotr Górecki, their daughter, Jadwiga Thiel-Górecka, and Zofia and Józef Landowski as Righteous Among the Nations. Files 6826, 6826a