Matusiewicz Józef & Paulina ; Daughter: Młot Emília (Matusiewicz)

Matusiewicz, Józef Matusiewicz, Paulina Młot-Matusiewicz, Emilia During the occupation, Fiszel and Edzia Helfgott and their young daughter Anita were imprisoned in the ghetto established in the town of Skole, in the Stanisławów district. Edzia was caught in October 1942 in a roundup of Jews and deported to the Bełżec death camp, where she perished. Fiszel Helfgott was sent to a nearby forced-labor camp, where he met Józef Matusiewicz, a Polish laborer employed in the camp as a warehouse keeper. Although they had never met before, Helfgott appealed to Matusiewicz, asking him to save the life of his daughter, who had remained behind all alone in the ghetto. Motivated by a deep love of humanity stemming from his religious faith, Matusiewicz entered the ghetto, and risking his life, took the young Jewish girl out. In the dark of night, Anita was somehow taken to the home of the Matusiewicz family in the nearby village of Rozdół, where Paulina, Józef’s wife, and their daughter Emilia took her in and protected her. Within a short time, Matusiewicz managed to obtain “Aryan” papers for Anita, and she was introduced to the neighbors as an orphan whose parents had died in an epidemic. Despite their careful care for the child’s safety, Ukranian policemen burst into the house one day in search of Jews. Anita was saved thanks to Emilia’s resourcefulness and bravery; she managed to hide her before the policemen searched the rooms. In July 1943, Fiszel Helfgott was murdered, but despite this, the Matusiewicz family continued to take care of the young orphan until the end of the war. After the war, Anita immigrated to Canada, where she married and raised a family. She never forgot her benefactors and corresponded with the Matusiewicz family, who, after the war, moved to territory within the new Polish borders. On July 14, 1998, Yad Vashem recognized Paulina Matusiewicz, her husband Józef Matusiewicz and their daughter Emilia Młot (née Matusiewicz) as Righteous Among the Nations. File 8050