Rejczak Walenty & Antonina (Ozimek)

Jagiełło Jan Jagiełło Janina Rejczak Walenty Rejczak Antonina In October 1942, during the liquidation of the Przysucha ghetto in the Kielce district, Cyngiser and his two sons, Bronisław and Janek, escaped. The three Jewish refugees began wandering through local villages until a policeman caught Cyngiser and killed him. Jan and Janina Jagiełło, a peasant couple who knew Cyngiser, came to the brothers’ aid. During the freezing winter nights, they put them up in their house in the nearby village of Krzcięcin, gave them food and looked after them. This continued until Jagiełło was arrested for helping Jews and sent to Auschwitz, where he perished. After Jagiełło’s arrest, the Cyngiser brothers had no one to turn to, until Walenty and Antonina Rejczak, peasants from the neighboring village of Wilcza Wola, brought them food to their hiding place in the forest, and occasionally let them stay with them overnight. As devout Catholics, the Jagiełłos and Rejczaks were guided by moral and religious considerations, and never expected anything in return. The Cyngiser brothers were liberated by the Red Army in January 1945, and after the war immigrated to Israel. On March 6, 1996, Yad Vashem recognized Janina and Jan Jagiełło and Antonina and Walenty Rejczak as Righteous Among the Nations. File 7005