Kaszuba Stanisław & First name unknown ; Son: Stefan ; Son: Ryszard ; Daughter: Krupa Daniela (Kaszuba)

Kaszuba, Stanisław Kaszuba, Mrs. Kaszuba, Stefan Kaszuba, Ryszard Krupa neé Kaszuba, Daniela Eight Jews owe their lives to the members of the Kaszuba family who lived in the village of Zydow in Pinczow county in the Kielce district. The eight were members of the Szoor and Kozlowski families, from the small city of Chmielnik, who were well known to the local Polish population and to the farmers in the nearby villages. In early October 1942, news reached Chmielnik about the extermination of Jews in the surrounding area, and the Jews of the city, who were concentrated in an open ghetto, realized that they might soon meet a similar fate. Despairing and frightened, Leib Kozlowski walked about in the local market where he met an acquaintance, Stanisław Kaszuba. After he told him what was about to happen, Kaszuba, without asking for anything in return, offered to shelter Kozlowski’s entire family, and fixed a time when he would take them in the dark to his home in the village. That same night, Kaszuba drove the Szoor and Kozlowski families to his farm, and as soon as they alighted from his wagon, he took them into an underground hiding place prepared by his two sons, Stefan and Ryszard. The hiding place, under the floor of the house, had been filled by Kaszuba’s wife and his daughter, Daniela, with everything the refugees would need. For 28 months, the members of the Kaszuba family looked after the eight Jewish refugees. They fed and helped them even after rumors began to spread that there were Jewish refugees in their home and their neighbors began to threaten them. In the fall of 1944, a gang of ruffians attacked the Kaszuba’s home, robbing it, breaking furniture, causing damage to the building and beating members of the family. Nonetheless, they did not reveal the hiding place of the eight Jewish refugees, who remained at their farm under their devoted care until the area was liberated by the Red Army in January 1945. After the war, Leib Kozlowskiand his wife Miriam went on living in Poland. Alta Szoor, her daughter Sara and her sons, Nachum, Faivel, Motl, and Abram immigrated to Canada. All eight survivors never forgot that the Kaszuba family had risked their own lives to save theirs, and were extremely grateful. On August 22, 1993, Yad Vashem recognized Stanisław Kaszuba and his wife, their sons Stefan Kaszuba and Ryszard Kaszuba, and their daughter Daniela Krupa neé Kaszuba as Righteous Among the Nations.