Trojanowski Jan & Trojanowska Paulina ; Daughter: Trojanowska Barbara

Trojanowski, Jan Trojanowska, Paulina Trojanowska, Barbara During the war, Jan and Paulina Trojanowski and their daughter, Barbara, lived in the Praga quarter of Warsaw. Jan owned a store in the same building where he and his family resided. Barbara was the principle of the local trade school. In early October 1942, Jakub and Dina (Bronislawa) Wilner came to the Trojanowskis' home after escaping from the local ghetto. The Wilners knew Jan from before the war on a professional basis. Being a man of deep faith and ardent patriotism, Jan allowed the Wilners to stay. The Wilners were staying in the kitchen where an iron bed was made available to them on which to sleep. Only twice during the entire period of their stay with the Trojanowskis did the Wilners have to leave their refuge. Once was when the Germans knocked at the door and the Wilners were forced to flee through Jan's store, which was connected to the apartment by an interior passageway; later Barbara came and picked them up. The second time was in the summer of 1944. Being ever on the alert, Barbara showed the Wilners a place in the local school where they could hide. They stayed there for a week but eventually Jan decided that the safest place for them would be at his apartment. He built a hideout in the apartment for them to conceal themselves in case of danger. During their stay with the Trojanowskis, the Wilners maintained contact with their children, a daughter named Gustava and a son named Arie (Jurek), who was one of the heroes of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. Arie and his sister, Gustava, came to see their parents and once a month forwarded them some money which Barbara received from Henryk Grabowski*, a member of the AK. After the war, Jakub and Dina Wilner, along with their daughter, left for Israel. On June 8, 1986, Yad Vashem recognized Jan Trojanowski, his wife, Paulina Trojanowska, and their daughter, Barbara Trojanowska, as Righteous Among the Nations.