Tosza Wincenti & Aniela

TOSZA, WINCENTY TOSZA, ANIELA During the war, Aniela and Wincenty Tosza and their son Tadek lived in Radziszow, near Krakow. Before the outbreak of the war, Wincenty worked as a police officer in Krakow. Once the war began, Wincenty, unwilling to serve the Germans, moved to the village of his wife’s family - Radziszow. On March 23, 1943, he met a Jew named Stanisław Hojda who had fled from the Plaszow concentration camp. The two had been acquainted before the war. Stanisław had been a furrier and sold furs to police officers’ wives. “Tosza sheltered me in the garret through 22 months and one day. He gave me meals, books and newspapers,” wrote Hojda in his testimony to Yad Vashem. Whenever the Germans were in the area, Wincenty’s son, Tadek, then eleven, would warn Stanisław of the impending danger. Then, both father and son would hide Hojda under the hay and then pour water over it in order to confuse the Germans’ dogs. “Due to their generosity only, did I survive,” emphasized Hojda. On August 21, 1991, Yad Vashem recognized Wincenty Tosza and his wife, Aniela Tosza, as Righteous Among the Nations.