Wójcik Maria ; Son: Tadeusz ; Daughter: Lewandowska Krystyna (Wójcik); Daughter: Piekart Władysława (Wójcik); Daughter: Pociecha Stanisława (Wójcik)

Wójcik, Maria Piekart, Władysława (née Wójcik) Pociecha, Stanisława (née Wójcik) Lewandowska, Krystyna (née Wójcik) Wójcik, Tadeusz During the war, Maria Wójcik lived in Felsztyn, in the county of Sambor, Eastern Galicia, with her four children. Maria’s husband and her two oldest daughters were taken to Germany for forced labor and she faced the difficulty of supporting the family alone. She owned only a small piece of land and one cow. A Jewish family, the Rubinfelds, lived near Maria. In December 1942, a ghetto was established in Sambor, to which the Jews from the surrounding villages were deported. The Rubinfelds turned to Maria and asked for help. Maria willingly agreed to shelter them in her home. She hid five people in the cowshed: eight-year-old Nitza Rubinfeld (later Segal), her cousin Sam Rubinfeld, Vita and Jedl Freindel, Sam’s grandparents, and Hershko Rauchwerker. All of them, except Sam’s grandparents, awaited liberation at Maria’s home; Sam’s grandfather passed away and was buried in the cellar. “Throughout this entire time, [Maria] was like a mother to us, shared everything she had with us,” wrote Sam in his testimony to Yad Vashem. He continues: “At the beginning we had a little money, which we gave her, but our funds were very quickly exhausted... in spite of this she kept hiding and feeding us, risking her life and her children’s lives. She did all this out of the goodness of her heart.” Nitza, who was then already an orphan, described Maria as a “holy woman” and added that, “What she did for us, and especially for me- only a mother can do!” While hiding with Maria, Nitza fell badly ill. Maria sent her daughter to the neighboring town for medicine for Nitza and then took care of the sick girl, “and so saved my life for the second time,” wrote Nitza. On September 5, 1985, Yad Vashem recognized Maria Wójcik and her children, Władysława Piekart, Stanisława Pociecha, Krystyna Lewandowska, and Tadeusz Wójcik, as Righteous Among the Nations.