Grobelny Julian & Halina

Grobelny, Julian Grobelna, Halina Julian Grobelny (whose code name was Trojan) was an activist in the Polish Socialist Party (PPS) and president of Zegota (Council for Aid to Jews) since its establishment in 1942. Despite suffering from tuberculosis, Grobelny, together with his wife, Halina, was personally involved in the rescue of a large number of Jewish children. Both Julian and Halina devoted most of their time and energy to their rescue work, turning their small house in Ceglow, near Minsk Mazowiecki, into a temporary shelter for Jewish children until they could move into more permanent accommodations. The Grobelnys were in close contact with Irena Sendler*, head of the children’s section of Zegota. The Grobelnys also helped Jewish adults who fled from the ghetto, by supplying them with “Aryan” documents, money and medicines. In March 1944, the Gestapo arrested Grobelny, but during a furlough to receive medical care, he escaped. Grobelny died of tuberculosis on December 4, 1944. The names of Julian and Halina Grobelny figure prominently in books about humanitarian aid to the Jews of Warsaw and elsewhere during the occupation. On March 8, 1987, Yad Vashem recognized Halina and Julian Grobelny as Righteous Among the Nations.