Zelwerowicz Aleksander ; Daughter: Orchoń Helena (Zelwerowicz)

ZELWEROWICZ, ALEKSANDER ORCHOŃ-ZELWEROWICZ, HELENA When the war broke out, Aleksander Zelwerowicz, a well-known Polish actor, was living in Warsaw with his daughter Helena (later Orchoń). At the end of August 1942, one of Helena’s pre-war friends, Helena Caspari, came to her with her eleven-year-old daughter, Hania. They had managed to flee the ghetto and were looking for shelter. The Zelwerowiczes’ apartment was already serving as a hiding place for Miriam Nudel (later Caspari). Nevertheless, Helena and her daughter were invited to stay with them for a few weeks, and then after that with some friends of the Zelwerowiczes. All the while, Helena was looking for a permanent hiding place for the Jews. In the end, it was possible to hide them in a convent located in Izabelin, near Warsaw, where they were able to wait out the rest of the war. Miriam stayed with Helena - who provided for all of her needs - until Warsaw was evacuated after the suppression of the Warsaw Uprising in October 1944. She moved in with Helena’s father, Aleksander, who was a delegate of the Central Relief Council in Sochaczew at that time. “Thanks to his help I survived all the period until the entry of the Red Army in January 1945,” wrote Miriam in her testimony to Yad Vashem. During the war, Helena also lent help to David Epstein, who after leaving the ghetto in November 1942 spent many nights at her apartment. After the war, Helena and Hania Caspari, as well as Miriam Nudel, left for Israel. David Epstein immigrated to England. On October 9, 1977, Yad Vashem recognized Aleksander Zelwerowicz and his daughter, Helena Orchoń-Zelwerowicz, as Righteous Among the Nations.