Burzmińska Stefania (Podgórska); Sister: Podgórska Helena

Burzmińska-Podgórska, Stefania Podgórska, Helena Stefania Podgórska lived in Przemysl and worked for the Diamant family before the war. The friendly relations between her employers and herself did not cease even when the family was interned in the ghetto. In an exchange of letters with the brothers Munio and Henek Diamant, it was agreed that Stefania would prepare a hideout for them after they had succeeded in escaping from the ghetto. For this purpose, Stefania and her ten-year-old sister, Helena, left their city apartment and moved to a rented one-family house with a roomy attic in the suburbs. In September 1943, during the liquidation of the Przemysl ghetto, the Diamant brothers arrived at Stefania’s home together with another 11 Jews. All the fugitives were hidden in the attic and cared for devotedly by the Podgórska sisters. Stefania worked in a factory, and in her spare time she and the women in hiding knitted articles of clothing, which were then sold. From her salary and the proceeds of the sales, she purchased food for all the residents of the house. As the amounts she bought were large enough to arouse suspicion, she exercised great care and ingenuity in their purchase. Her younger sister, Helena, removed refuse from the attic, washed the fugitives’ clothes, and brought them water for washing. The Podgórskas were motivated solely by humanitarian considerations and received no recompense for their actions, despite the danger involved. They continued to look after their protégés until the liberation in July 1944. After the war, Stefania married Munio Diamant (subsequently Josef Burzmiński), and most of the survivors remained in contact with the two sisters, to whom they owed their lives. On January 11, 1979, Yad Vashem recognized Stefania Burzmińska-Podgórska and her sister, Helena Podgórska, as Righteous Among the Nations.