Tomczyszyn Wladyslaw ; Mother: Paulina

Tomczyszyn, Władisław Tomczyszyn, Paulina In the autumn of 1943, the Germans raided a camp of Jewish partisan families in Pinki forest, next to the town of Jezierzany (now Ozeriani, Ternopil County, Ukraine), where dozens of men, women, and children were hiding, and murdered almost all of them. Among the few survivors of the massacre were Sabina Monis and her daughter, Irena, 18; and Sabina’s sister, Roza Rozenberg, and her son, Romek, 11. They were joined by a man named Blank who was not a relative. They were desperate and did not know where to turn. Blank then suggested that they accompany him to the nearby village of Głęboczek, where he knew a farmer by the name of Władisław Tomczyszyn, from whom he used to buy various items of food. He hoped that the man would help and he was not disappointed. The group reached Władisław’s home after dark and asked to stay the night, and he offered to let them remain indefinitely. Władisław was a bachelor in his thirties who was living with his mother, Paulina; their livelihood came from the produce of their small farm. Modest and cordial, they prepared an underground hiding place for the unexpected guests beneath the hay storage. Life there was difficult, but the generous hosts did all they could to make things easier for them. On cold nights they invited them inside to warm up a little, let them wash, and even provided them with newspapers to dispel the boredom and keep them informed about developments. On one occasion, Irena fell ill and Paulina at first did not know what to do. She took Irena to her room, put her into bed, and summoned a German doctor to examine her, without hinting that she was Jewish. Paulina and Władisław were aware of the risk they were taking in hiding five Jews in their home, but humanitarian feelings overcame their fear. The five fugitives hid with the Tomczyszys for about eight months, until March 1944, when they were liberated by the Red Army. On May 14, 2000, Yad Vashem recognized WładisławTomczyszyn and his mother, Paulina Tomczyszyn, as Righteous Among the Nations.