Niedziółka Stanisław & Katarzyna ; Son: Władysław

Niedziółka Stanisław Niedziółka Katarzyna Niedziółka Wladysław In June 1943, during the extermination of the last Jews of the Lwów ghetto, Leopold Charatan, a butcher by trade, sought a hiding place for his family outside the fence of the ghetto. In his distress, he approached his colleague Michał Niedziółka, who sent him to his brother Stanisław Niedziółka. The latter agreed to shelter him and his family in his home. Stanisław and his wife, Katarzyna, had six children. They lived on the outskirts of Lwów (today L’viv) on their agricultural holding not far from the Piaski sands, the main site of the murder of the Jews of Lwów. The parents Leopold and Helena were the first to arrive at the Niedziółkas in June 1943. They were followed by their two children Ludwik and Józef, who had managed to escape from the Janowska concentration camp. After a while, they were joined by two other Jews, Falik Wajzer and Henryk Halben. Keeping six people in hiding, in addition to the eight members of the family, including small children, required organization and preparation of a suitable hiding place. A special bunker was excavated in the farmyard. The Niedziółka children were trained to keep their secret and not to talk to strangers about the "guests" in the farmyard. The son Wladysław, then aged 13, played a special role in taking care of the Jews in hiding. He was their contact and, apart from staples that he purchased for them far from home, he would tell them the news from the front. For most of the period, the Jews paid for their food, but when their money ran out the family provided what was needed. The Niedziółkas were friendly people, of a pleasant nature and consciously anti-Nazi. A good atmosphere prevailed in the relations between them and their wards. The six Jews stayed in hiding with them for about 14 months, until they were liberated by the Soviet army in August 1944. Strong ties remained between the two families for decades. The Charatan family, who emigrated to the U.S.A. after the war, assisted the Niedziółkas with food parcels and medicines when needed and even invited them to their home in America for family celebrations. On May 25, 2000, Yad Vashem recognized Stanisław Niedziółka, his wife Katarzyna Niedziółka and their son Wladysław Niedziółka as Righteous Among the Nations. File: 8928