Smolko Władysława & Jan

File 2673 Smółko, Jan Smółko, Władysława During the occupation, Jan and Władysława Smółko were AK activists who lived in the town of Tykocin, in the Białystok district. In his official capacity as organist and registrar at the local church, Smółko had access to the birth and death registries. In January 1943, before the first Aktion in the Białystok ghetto, Michael Turek and his brother, Menachem Turek (Tamir), were smuggled out of the ghetto by a Polish acquaintance who hid them temporarily in his home. The Smółkos, after being approached by the acquaintance, took the Turek brothers in, provided them with “Aryan” documents, and supported them financially for about one-and-a-half years, until the liberation. In risking their lives to save the Turek brothers, the Smółkos were guided by humanitarian and patriotic motives, which overrode considerations of personal safety or economic hardship. After the war, one of the Turek brothers immigrated to Israel and the other to Australia. On February 23, 1984, Yad Vashem recognized Władysława and Jan Smółko as Righteous Among the Nations.