Żaryn Stanisław & Aleksandra (Jankowska)

Olizar, Władysław Olizar, Jadwiga Żaryn, Stanisław Żaryn, Aleksandra In early 1943, the commandant of the forced-labor camp near Lwów informed the Jewish prisoners that they would soon be liquidated. Irena and Lazar Engelberg, prisoners in the camp, managed to escape and they decided to go to Warsaw in the hope of finding refuge there. Matylda Getter*, a nun, found them a place to hide on the Szeligi estate, located near Warsaw. Ignoring the Engelbergs’ obvious Jewish appearance and the danger to his life, the manager of the estate, Count Władysław Olizar and his wife Jadwiga, and Stanisław and Aleksandra Żaryn agreed to give Irena a job working on the farm, and to find shelter for her husband Lazar on one of the neighboring farms. The Olizars and Żaryns soon realized that the work in the fields was too difficult for Irena, and they hired her to care for the Żaryn’s children instead. One day in 1944, a delegation of estate workers appeared before Count Olizar to demand that he dismiss Irena, claiming that her presence endangered all those living on the estate. The count declared that he took all responsibility for Irena’s presence on himself, and he was true to his word after German soldiers one day seized part of the estate house. Throughout the entire time Irena remained under the care of the Olizars and Żaryns, they treated her warmly, guarding her personal safety and caring for her every need. Without asking for or receiving anything in return, and motivated by pure altruism, Irena’s benefactors arranged periodic meetings between her and her husband. The Engelbergs remained in hiding until the liberation of the area in January 1945, and after the war, they immigrated to the United States. On January 1988, Yad Vashem recognized Jadwiga Olizar and her husband Władysław Olizar, and Aleksandra Żaryn and her husband Stanisław Żaryn as Righteous Among the Nations. File 7521, 7521a