Iżyk Władysław & Rozalia ; Daughter: Kazimiera

Iżyk, Władysław Iżyk, Rozalia Iżyk, Kazimiera Until the end of the Second World War, Władysław and Rozalia Iżyk lived with their three children in a small cottage in the village of Wybranowka, in the Tarnopol district, in Eastern Galicia. One night in 1942, 11-year-old Yehudit Kutner suddenly turned up on their doorstep, saying she was a Polish orphan, and asking to stay the night. Kutner and her elder brother had fled a few days earlier from the Nadworna ghetto, after their mother’s death. At some point, brother and sister had decided to separate, and each had headed for a different village. The Iżyks, convinced Yehudit was Polish, treated her well. Later, when Kutner realized the Iżyks were good people, she told them she was Jewish. Despite their misgivings, they agreed to keep her on, but only let their eldest daughter, Kazimiera, who was the same age as Kutner and protected her from the village children, into the secret. In deciding that “it was not right to send away an orphan in distress,” the Iżyks showed great courage, especially since Rozalia’s brother had just lost his life by bringing food to a group of Jews hiding in the forest near Buczacz. After the war, the Iżyks moved to Silesia in Western Poland, taking Kutner with them. Thanks to the Iżyks, Kutner learned a profession, and later immigrated to Israel. On December 28, 1987, Yad Vashem recognized Rozalia and Władysław Iżyk and their daughter, Kazimiera, as Righteous Among the Nations.