Zając Julian & Józefa (Gregorowicz)

ZAJĄC JULIAN ZAJĄC JÓZEFA During the war, Julian and Józefa Zajac lived in Drohobycz, in Eastern Galicia. From the second half of 1941 until August 1944, they hid seven Jews in their cellar. They were Izaak Landesman, Mendel Landesman, Naftali Borgman, Abraham Borgman, Chana Manter, Faiga Wechselberg (Chana’s mother), and Pola Sznur (Chana’s sister). Jozef worked in a bakery and provided pastry and water for the hidden Jews. Chana’s daughter, Ilana Postolski emphasized in her testimony (based on her mother’s recollections) that the Zając family risked a lot by hiding her family. To affirm this fact, she wrote that her grandmother suffered from chronic coughing, which could have resulted in the discovery of those hiding. Józefa added in her testimony that the help extended by her and her husband “was not for gain but as a result of humanitarian and religious motives. Compassion and helping the needy are expected of every Christian, God does not distinguish between people, people made the divisions themselves.” After the war, the Zając family moved to Gliwice, as did some of the survivors. Faiga and Chana immigrated to Israel, and Borgman settled in Venezuela. On January 27, 1993, Yad Vashem recognized Julian Zając and his wife, Józefa Zając, as Righteous Among the Nations. File 5582