Nowak Franciszek & Małgorzata ; Son: Rudolf ; Son: Franciszek

Nowak, Franciszek Nowak, Malgorzata Nowak, Franciszek Nowak, Rudolf On the evening of December 23, 1942, Shimon Lustgarten and Elsa Lapa (who later became his wife Shifra Lustgarten), participated in the attack on the Cyganerja café as part of the Jewish underground (Hechalutz Halochem) in Krakow. According to the plan, they were to have returned after the operation to the Lagiewniki labor camp, from where they had left to carry out the operation. When they returned to the camp, they discovered that the Germans were already searching for them and they were forced to seek a safe place to hide. They asked Franciszek Nowak, the owner of a nearby tavern with whom they had had no contact until then, to hide them. Nowak consulted with his wife Malgorzata, and with the help of their sons Franciszek and Rudolf, they hid the two Jewish fugitives in their home for six weeks. Because of the neighbors’ suspicions, the two fighters were forced to move somewhere else, but before they left, the Nowaks made sure to equip them with false papers. The members of the Nowak family saved Lustgarten and Lapa without asking for or receiving anything in return for their efforts, which were motivated by humane values and their religious faith. On November 20, 1986, Yad Vashem recognized Franciszek Nowak, his wife Malgorzata Nowak and their sons Franciszek Nowak and Rudolf Nowak as Righteous Among the Nations.