Janicka Michalina & Janicki Cyprian

Janicki, Cyprian Janicka, Michalina In the summer of 1942, the Jews of the town of Stepan in the Volhynia district were taken to nearby Kostopol, were they were shot and buried in communal graves which had been dug in advance. Two girls and two boys aged 12-14 escaped the massacre, and fled to the surrounding fields. After wandering for days and nights, the four came to the forest adjoining the little village of Wyrka, which was populated by Polish and Ukrainian peasants. One night, exhausted and starving, the four Jewish refugees knocked on the door of Cyprian and Michalina Janicki, a Polish peasant couple, asking for help. Although the Janickis provided them with food, they were reluctant to offer them shelter. However, they let the refugees come to their home at nighttime, to wash and eat. This arrangement continued until winter, when the Janickis, realizing that the four Jewish refugees had no chance of surviving in the forest, hid them in a farm building. When the Ukrainians began killing their Polish neighbors and setting their homes on fire, the Janickis decided to leave the village and register for work in Germany. They told their charges of their plan, and agreed to take Henia Henson, one of their charges, with them. Henson was supplied with forged documents stating she was the Janickis’ daughter. After reaching Germany, all three were employed as farm hands on a farm in Lower Silesia, until the area was liberated by the Red Army in April 1945. Although the three other Jews, one of whom was Ronen Michael, had to leave their hiding place, they found another shelter and survived. After the war, the three immigrated to Israel. Henson immigrated to the United States, where she kept up ties with her saviors and, after Cyprian’s death, continued corresponding with his wife, Michalina. On May 1, 1995, Yad Vashem recognized Michalina and Cyprian Janicki as Righteous Among the Nations.