Kurek Józef & Zofia ; Son: Tadeusz ; Son: Stanisław ; Daughter: Budzińska Helena (Kurek)

Kurek Zofia Kurek Józef Kurek Tadeusz Kurek Stanisław Budzińska-Kurek Helena In September, 1943, five Jews, prisoners in the Ostbahn-Ausbesserungswerk (O.A.W.) forced labor camp in Lwów, managed to escape. The five were: Leon Kobyliwker, Salomon Kobyliwker, Wolf Bergman, Mosze Bergman, and Jakub Szechter. A Polish acquaintance referred them to Zofia and Józef Kurek, farmers living with their five children in the village of Zubrza near Lwów. Without asking anything in return, the Kurek family sheltered the Jewish refugees, housed them in the loft of their barn and provided them with food and all their needs. About a month later, another Jewish refugee, Mozes Finkelstein, who escaped from the Janowska camp in Lwów, knocked on their door. He too was sheltered with the group already hiding on the Kureks’ farm. In November 1943, rumors spread in the village that the Kureks were hiding Jews. As a result, the Kureks decided to remove the refugees from their farm, but first, with the help of their sons, Tadeusz and Stanisław, they prepared a hiding place in a dugout in a faraway field. Throughout the winter, the Kureks visited the refugees every night, bringing them hot food and warm clothing to protect them from the winter cold. When the rumors in the village stopped and things calmed down, the six refugees returned to the Kureks’ farm, where a new, well-camouflaged hiding place awaited them, in which they remained until the liberation of the area in July 1944 by the Red Army. The Kureks did all they could to save Jews, whom they had never met before, for humanitarian reasons and out of the goodness of their hearts. On November 5, 1991, Yad Vashem recognized Józef Kurek and his son Tadeusz Kurek as Righteous Among the Nations. On April 27, 1992, Yad Vashem recognized Zofia Kurek as Righteous Among the Nations. On September 12, 1993, Yad Vashem recognized their other son Stanisław Kurek as Righteous Among the Nations. On January 06, 2002, YadVashem recognized their daughter Helena Budzińska - Kurek as Righteous Among the Nations. File 5034