Gialbas Karol

Gialbas Karol During the German occupation, Karol Gialbas, a Pole from Chorzów (Katowice County, Silesia District), like many residents of this region, was classified as ethnic German (Volksdeutsche) so that he would not be expelled from his home. In 1943-1945 he acted to rescue a group of Jewish prisoners who were sent to work in the Będzin labor camp after the liquidation of the ghetto in Będzin. At first he supplied them with food at his expense. At the end of 1943, when they were about to be transported to Auschwitz, he helped 14 of them escape, saving them from extermination. Right off he took them to a friend’s house in Chorzów, and afterward he moved them around to various places in the Poznań region, placing them with Polish families for a price. The fugitives hid in this way for about 14 months and survived the war. Throughout this period, Karol provided all their essential needs – food, clothing, and footwear. Maintaining them cost some 59,000 zlotys, most of which he obtained by selling valuables that they gave him, though more than 13,000 zlotys came from his savings. Five of the 14 survivors were members of the Lieberman family – Nathan and Golda, and their children, Ruben, Abram, and Moniek. The others were Tauba Trygier, Basia Blumenfeld, Jerzy Weisbrot-Gorlitz, Naftali Lassinger, Eisig Retmann, Jerzy Feder, Abram Wilder, Leon Weintraub, and Szajer Sindel. After the war, Karol presented to the survivors and the state authorities an itemized list of the expenses he incurred for the upkeep of the survivors in hiding. He also gave the Jewish History Committee a collection of important documents, including thousands of photographs from the period. The survivors did not have the means to repay Karol, but arranged to have his story published in the press and heaped praises on him. Because of his rescue efforts, the Polish court in Chorzów cleared his name and erased it from the dubious list of Volksdeutsche in Poland. On July 7, 2002, Yad Vashem recognized Karol Gialbas as Righteous Among the Nations. File: 9751