Kotowska Aniela

BIELAWSKA, IRENA (Sister Honorata) KOTOWSKA, ANIELA (Sister Klara) ZŁAMAL, BOŻENA In October 1942, Bożena Złamal helped the Weitman family (father Abraham, mother Ela, son Jakob, and daughter Bilha) escape from the ghetto in Przemysl and find shelter on the Aryan side of town. Bożena contacted two Polish nuns – Aniela Kotowska (Sister Klara) and Irena Bielawska (Sister Honorata) - and asked them to help rescue a Jewish family. Both nuns, each from a different convent in Przemysl, agreed to hide the Weitmans. Abraham Weitman later wrote about Kotowska that she was “an angel in a human body,” emphasizing her goodness and compassion towards her wards. During the war, Bielawska (Sister Honorata) also hid a Jewish couple named Fuller as well as a five-year-old Jewish girl called Lila Rosenthal (later Lea Fried). Both nuns acted without reward, receiving only small sums of money from their charges that covered the cost of their food. After the war, the Weitmans emigrated to Sweden. The fate of the Fuller couple is unknown. On September 19, 1983, Yad Vashem recognized Irena Bielawska (Sister Honorata), Aniela Kotowska (Sister Klara), and Bożena Złamal, as Righteous Among the Nations.