Jankiewicz Tadeusz & Wiera (Hoszowska)

Jankiewicz, Tadeusz Jankiewicz, Wiera In 1942, the Germans rounded up all the Jews of the town of Turka in the Lwow district, and sent most of them to the Belzec extermination camp. The few who escaped took shelter in a gully in the nearby forest. However, the German police, alerted by an informer, raided the forest on New Year’s eve, and killed them all, except for Dr. Zofia Rosenberg who, clad only in her underwear, lay camouflaged by the snow. Once the murderers had departed, Rosenberg, frozen and exhausted, made her way to the nearby village of Losiniec where she knocked on the door of Wiera and Tadeusz Jankiewicz, a poor peasant couple. Stirred to compassion, the Jankiewiczes, gave Rosenberg a warm welcome, looked after her and protected her from Germans and antisemitic neighbors alike. During times of extreme danger, Rozenberg took refuge in an underground hiding place specially prepared for the purpose. In the summer of 1943, Rosenberg was joined by Dr. Edmund Kleinman, who escaped from a local work camp (Julag). Both Kleinman and Rosenberg stayed with the Jankiewiczes until the area was liberated by the Red Army in July 1944. In risking their lives to save the two refugees, the Jankiewiczes were prompted by humanitarian motives, which overrode considerations of personal safety or economic hardship. After the war, Rosenberg immigrated to Israel, and the Jankiewiczes moved to an area within the new Polish borders. Kleinman, who left Poland in 1968, died in Germany. On May 2, 1985, Yad Vashem recognized Wiera and Tadeusz Jankiewicz as Righteous Among the Nations.