Hensel Jan ; Sister: Hagel Danuta (Wasilewska); Mother: Wasilewska Eufrozyna (Stefczuk)

Hensel, Jan Wasilewska-Hagel, Danuta Wasilewska-Hensel, Eufrozyna In 1943, before the liquidation of the forced labor camp in Sawin, in the county of Chelm, in the Lublin district, Jan Hensel, a civilian worker at the camp, rescued Lucie Pollak, a 16-year-old prisoner who was born in Czechoslovakia. After bribing one of the camp guards, Hensel smuggled Pollak out of the camp, and brought her to a nearby wheat field. Hensel continued on his own to his native Chelm, where he informed his sister, Danuta Hagel, of what he had done. Hagel immediately went to fetch the Jewish refugee and cycled with her to the home of her mother, Eufrozyna Hensel. Guided by humanitarian motives, which overrode considerations of personal safety or economic hardship, Eufrozyna took Pollak into her home, where she passed her off as her daughter’s friend. Both she and her daughter looked after Pollak and saw to all her needs without expecting anything in return. In time, Hensel obtained “Aryan” documents for Pollak, thanks to which she was sent to work in Germany where she stayed until the liberation. After the liberation, Pollak returned to Czechoslovakia, and later immigrated to Australia. On April 27, 1998, Yad Vashem recognized Jan Hensel, his sister, Danuta Wasilewska-Hagel, and their mother, Eufrozyna Wasilewska-Hensel, as Righteous Among the Nations.