Ciołek Stefania ; Daughter: Helena

Ciolek, Helena Zofia Ciolek, Stefania After many vicissitudes, Ida Hanefeld, a fugitive from the town of Drohobycz in eastern Galicia, found shelter in the surrounding forests together with a group of Jewish refugees. After the group was discovered by a Ukrainian peasant in May 1944, the members, fearing arrest, dispersed. Hanefeld wandered for days and nights until she reached Rychcice, a nearby village, where Helena Zofia Ciolek, a school friend of hers, lived, together with her mother, Stefania. The Cioleks’ humanity, faith, and loyalty overcame their concern for their own safety, and they took Ida in. Despite their extreme poverty, the Cioleks looked after Hanefeld until the area was liberated by the Red Army in August 1944. After the war, she immigrated to Israel where she kept up ties with her friend and savior. In the summer of 1989, Ciolek invited Hanefeld to come and stay with her in Poland. On November 5, 1991, Yad Vashem recognized Helena Zofia Ciolek and her mother, Stefania Ciolek, as Righteous Among the Nations.