Górska Maria

Górska, Maria During the German occupation, Sister Maria Górska, a member of the Ursuline Sisters convent, was an active participant in the convent’s effort to save Jewish children. Officially, Górska ran a soup kitchen for orphaned or abandoned children in central Warsaw. Unofficially, her job was to help Jewish children, by arranging for them to be smuggled out of the ghetto, and transferred to institutions belonging to the Ursuline Sisters, which had branches throughout occupied Poland. In performing these and other dangerous operations, Górska was inspired by Christian love and a sense of obligation to save human life. One of Górska’s tasks was to obtain “Aryan” documents for the Jewish children, protect those who looked Jewish, and hide them during German raids. Górska was in touch with Zegota (the Council for Aid to Jews), which supplied her with documents as necessary. Górska saved the lives of many Jewish children, who left Poland after the war. Górska’s activities form the theme of Dr. Rozenblum-Szymanska’s book Bylam tylko lekarzem (“I was only a doctor”). On October 27, 1997, Yad Vashem recognized Sister Maria Górska as Righteous Among the Nations.