Lewicka Franciszka ; Daughter: Kot Janina (Lewicka)

Lewicka Franciszka Kot-Lewicka Janina One night in the autumn of 1941, immediately after the last of the Jews of the village of Ujkowice, near Przemysl, were driven out of their homes and killed, two Jewish girls – Anna Szapiro and Gina Kosmirska – knocked on the door of Franciszka Lewicka, a widow, and her daughter, Janina, asking for help and a hiding place. Lewicka and her daughter, who was the same age as the refugees, took them in and hid them in the cellar of their one-roomed house, without expecting anything in return. From that night until July 1944, when the area was liberated, Lewicka and her daughter looked after the two Jewish girls as if they were members of the family, and saw to all their needs. In risking their lives to help the Jewish girls, Lewicka and her daughter were guided by humanitarian motives, which overrode considerations of personal safety or economic hardship. After the war, Szapiro and Kosmirksa left Poland for Israel. Although Lewicka passed away, her memory remained alive in their hearts, and they continued corresponding with her daughter, Janina. On April 12, 1992, Yad Vashem recognized Franciszka Lewicka and her daughter, Janina Kot (nee Lewicka), as Righteous Among the Nations. File No. 5202