Halicki Marian & Halicka Paulina

Halicki, Marian Halicka, Paulina Eight refugees from two families managed to flee the massacre the Germans perpetrated against the Jews of Eastern Galicia. In January 1943, they reached the village of Krzywczyce, where they made their way to the home of Marian and Paulina Halicki, Polish underground activists. The Halickis, who lived in a humble two-room cottage, hid the eight refugees in the attic and, despite their straitened circumstances, looked after them to the best of their ability. Paulina, who worked as a kitchen hand in a small restaurant in Lwow, collected leftovers with which she fed the refugees. Although the leftovers staved off the refugees’ hunger, they also awakened people’s suspicions. As members of the underground, the Halickis considered helping persecuted Jews as a patriotic act directed against a common enemy, and never expected anything in return. The refugees stayed with the Halickis until July 1944, when the area was liberated. After the war, two of them – Gladys Halpern and her mother, Sara Landau – immigrated to the United States. On July 7, 1986, Yad Vashem recognized Paulina and Marian Halicki as Righteous Among the Nations.