Wojtowicz Alojzy ; Brother: Kazimierz ; Brother: Antoni

File 5664 WOJTOWICZ, ALOJZY WOJTOWICZ, KAZIMIERZ WOJTOWICZ, ANTONI The Wojtowicz brothers - Kazimierz, Alojzy, and Antoni - lived in the village of Hanaczow, about 28 kilometers from Lwow. During the occupation, they were part of the local AK command. 1942 was the year that the local Jews were being exterminated. Many Jews from the area were looking for shelter in Hanaczow and the surrounding forests. At this time, a group of Jewish men established, in agreement with the regional commander of the AK, Kazimierz Wojtowicz, a self-defense unit under the command of Bunio Tenenbaum. A reconnaissance squad was also organized under the command of Shloma Zwil, which obtained precious information regarding the UPA (Ukrainian Insurrection Army) and the German forces. In September 1943, the squad learned of a concentration of German army forces near the Hanaczow woods. It was decided to clear the area of any signs of hiding Jews. In the winter of 1943/44, however, a typhoid epidemic spread among the Jews hiding in the woods. A hospital was organized in Hanaczow, keeping the sick insulated from the healthy. Since there were no medical doctors there, Alojzy Wojtowicz, a veterinary student, was appointed as the hospital’s director. Alojzy decided to inoculate the Jewish and Polish population. In February 1944, marauding bands of Ukrainian nationalists raided the village of Hanaczow, killing 85 Poles and 20 Jews. The Jewish and Polish forces took part in the defense of the village. Jews and Poles also defended the village together during the next UPA raid in April of 1944. In May 1944, SS parties began cleansing the village. The Polish-Jewish unit under the command of Second Lieutenant Antoni Wojtowicz defended the terrain, holding the Germans back, thus allowing some of the population to hide in bunkers and the rest to run into the woods. The Germans burned most of the village and after the attack the partisans and the remaining Jews fled to the forests andorganized a new unit. In July 1944, Hanaczow was liberated. Young Jews capable of fighting, as well as former partisans, joined the Red Army. The commander of the Jewish unit, Isaac Braun, was honored with the Cross-of-Valor (Krzyz Walecznych). After the end of the war, most Jews left for the West and for Israel. “It is probably without precedent for the command of the AK anywhere in Poland... with no regard to the threat of the cleansing of a two-thousand person village that accompanies such engagements, to help the hiding Jewish population to survive for three years,” wrote the Wojtowicz brothers in their testimony. They also listed the names of 60 Jews that were rescued from Hanaczow and other localities. One of those who survived the war thanks to the help of the Wojtowicz brothers was Leopold Kleinman (later Kozlowski), a former soldier of the Jewish platoon. In his declaration he wrote among other things that, “I, Leopold Kozlowski (Kleinman)... an eye-witness to and participant in the events noted by Kazimierz, Alojzy, and Antoni Wojtowicz... I ascertain that all the facts given are in agreement with the truth. Thanks to such persons as the Wojtowiczes and the people of Hanaczow, who cooperated with the regional AK units, the Jewish population (myself included among others) of Hanaczow and the local forests could survive the horrible period of the war.” On June 6, 1993, Yad Vashem recognized Kazimierz, Antoni and Alojzy Wojtowicz as Righteous Among the Nations.