Rudnicka Maria ; Son: Rudnicki Konrad

Rudnicka, Maria Rudnicki, Konrad The Rudnickis of Sulejów (near Piotrków Trybunalski) were among the esteemed families of the Polish nobility. Lucjan Rudnicki was an author and journalist, and he and his wife Maria had been active before the war in the illegal Communist Party. They were friendly with their neighbors, the Weintraubs and Rozenthals, who owned a sawmill in the town. During the occupation, Lucjan Rudnicki was away from home and his wife was alone with her young son Konrad. The two of them assisted the Weintraubs and the Rozenthals to the best of their ability; among other things, they copied the birth certificates of family members—living and dead—to help their Jewish friends obtain “Aryan” identity cards. In late 1942, as the Jews of Sulejów were being deported to Treblinka, Rudnicka and her son rescued their Jewish friends by finding hideouts for them in nearby villages. After an informer denounced the concealed Jews to the authorities, the Germans discovered and murdered all of them except for Liza Taksin, who survived thanks to the papers that the Rudnickas had given her. After the war, Liza adopted the name of Elzbieta, the Rudnickis’ daughter, who had died. Everything that the Rudnickis did to save their Jewish neighbors stemmed purely from humanitarianism and true friendship. On January 2, 1995, Yad Vashem recognized Maria Rudnicka and her son, Konrad Rudnicki, as Righteous Among the Nations.