Augustyniak Erazm & Kazimiera ; Daughter: Motylewska Janina ; Daughter: Niedopytalska Helena (Augustyniak); Daughter: Piątkowska Stanisława (Augustyniak)

Augustyniak, Erazm Augustyniak, Kazimiera Motylewska-Augustyniak, Janina Niedopytalska-Augustyniak, Helena Piątkowska-Augustyniak, Stanisława In late 1942, Natan and Rivka Rozenbaum and their three grown children, Tzivia, Yechezkiel and Yitzchak, fled from the Kosow Lacki ghetto shortly before its liquidation, to the village of Mursy Nowe, near Sterdyn, in the county of Sokolow Podlaski, where they had lived before the war. Upon their arrival, in January 1943, they went straight to the home of their acquaintance, Erazm Augustyniak who, before the war, had worked in a flourmill belonging to the Rozenbaum family. Augustyniak offered to hide the Rozenbaums in a cowshed on his farm. The Augustyniaks lived off the proceeds of their small farm and Erazm’s salary, yet despite their poverty, they looked after the Rozenbaums, and risked their lives by buying food for five extra people. The task of looking after the refugees fell mainly on Kazimiera and her three daughters Helena, Janina, and Stanislawa. The daughters were warned to keep the hiding place a secret, and to keep prying relatives away from the cowshed. Despite the above precautions, Erazm’s neighbors began to suspect that the Augustyniaks were hiding Jews in their yard, and denounced them to the Germans, who raided the farm on several occasions. Notwithstanding these dangers, the Augustyniaks continued hiding the Rozenbaums until the area was liberated in July 1944. This selfless act was inspired by purely humanitarian considerations, and an unwavering friendship that triumphed over danger. After the war, the Augustyniak family, anxious to escape their hostile neighbors who never forgave them for rescuing Jews during the occupation, left the village for the city, with the Rozenbaums’ help. After the war, the Rozenbaums immigrated to Israel. On September 10, 1974, Yad Vashem recognized Kazimiera Augustyniak and her husband Erazm Augustyniak as Righteous Among the Nations. On April 14, 1985, Yad Vashem recognized their daughters, Helena Niedopytalska-Augustyniak, Janina Motylewska-Augustyniak and Stanisława Piątkowska-Augustyniak, as Righteous Among the Nations.