Kinasz Michał & Stanisława ; Daughter: Bożena

Kinasz, Michał Kinasz, Stanisława Kinasz, Bożena In the summer of 1941, when the Germans occupied the town of Mikulince, in the Tarnopol district, Dr. Julian Sewerski and his son, Michał, escaped, and made their way to nearby Budzanow. The father, who found work in his profession, soon built up a reputation among the local citizens. In August 1942, when the relative calm that had prevailed came to an end, the Kinaszes sent their 12-year-old daughter, Bożena, to warn Dr. Sewerski that policemen from the district capital were inquiring about Jews hiding in Mikulince and the environs. Dr. Sewerski and his son left their apartment and, after wandering through fields and bushes along the river, arrived, in early 1943, at the home of Michał and Stanisława Kinasz, who hid them in an empty building adjoining the school where Michał was headmaster. The Kinaszes looked after the refugees devotedly and Bożena, under the vigilant eyes of Ukrainian collaborators, visited them daily, bringing them food and other necessities. In November 1943, Sewerski and his son moved, with the Kinaszes’ help, to a safer and more comfortable hiding place. The Kinaszes also hid Helena and Mieczysław Koller for a few months, despite frequent raids by the Germans and their collaborators. The four Jewish refugees were liberated by the Red Army in July 1944 and, for many years, remembered their rescuers as exceptionally humane people, who had risked their lives to help persecuted Jews without expecting anything in return. On May 7, 1987, Yad Vashem recognized Stanisława and Michał Kinasz and their daughter, Bożena, as Righteous Among the Nations.