Strutyńska Maria (Gajewska); Daughter: Christów Teresa (Strutyńska)

File 4482 STRUTYŃSKA, MARIA-ANTONINA STRUTYŃSKA-CHRISTÓW, TERESA JADWIGA During the war, Maria-Antonina, her husband, and their four children lived in Drohobycz, Eastern Galicia. In 1941, Maria-Antonina, a teacher, was widowed. In spring 1942, she afforded shelter to Mrs. Hennefeld, her daughter Lidia, and her cousin, Szanka Kluberg. The Strutynskis had known the Hennefelds before the war. In 1939, when they were driven out of their apartment by the Soviet authorities, they paid to stay with the Strutynskis for a while. When the Nazis occupied Drohobycz, Mr. Hennefeld was murdered and his wife turned to the Strutynskas for help. This is when Maria-Antonina invited the three fugitives to shelter in one of the rooms in her home. Some time later, the Strutynskas also welcomed some of the Hennefelds’ relatives – the Krepls, her sister, Sabina Zussman, and her two sons – into their home. Shortly after, Henefeld’s brother and sister and Mr. and Mrs. Herman and Mrs. Herman’s sister, Gustawa Lieberman also found refuge in the Strutynskas’ home. Altogether, they hid thirteen people, who were placed in the attic, in certain rooms, and in a covered bunker under the floor of one of the rooms. “All my family was involved in organizing the meals,” wrote Teresa in her testimony to Yad Vashem. “We hid Jews absolutely unselfishly.” At the end of June 1943, the Gestapo and the Ukrainian police surrounded the Strutynskas’ property. They discovered all the hidden Jews apart from Lidia, who managed to escape, and detained Maria-Antonina. Maria-Antonina was incarcerated in local jails until September 1944, when she was transported to the prison in Lwów, where she was sentenced to death for hiding Jews, and executed. In the meantime, Lidia was caught, arrested and deported to Auschwitz, where she perished. During the course of the war, the Strutynskas also helped Harry Zeimer by providing him with a baptism certificate so that he could obtain an identification document inthe name of Antoni Szymanski. He succeeded in reaching Switzerland and after the war he moved to Israel. Teresa moved to Wrocław after the war. On March 29, 1990, Yad Vashem recognized Maria-Antonina Strutyńska and her daughter, Teresa Jadwiga Strutyńska-Christów, as Righteous Among the Nations.