Komarnicki Jan & Komarnicka Apolonia ; Son: Piotr ; Son: Stefan

Komarnicki, Jan Komarnicka, Apolonia Komarnicki, Piotr Komarnicki, Stefan In the fall of 1942, Piotr Komarnicki, brought nine-year-old Esther Shein (later, Roter) to his parents’ house by wagon. Her parents from Turka had looked for a place to hide but found one only for their only daughter. When they were forced into the ghetto in Sambor, she was supposed to stay with the Komarnicki family for two weeks until a suitable place for her could be arranged. Piotr Komarnicki came in contact with Esther’s parents through Antoni Stebnicki whose relative owned a farm in the village of Borynia where Piotr worked. Piotr’s parents, Jan and Apolonia Komarnicki, in their forties, and six of their 10 children (the youngest Eugeniusz was born in 1937) ran a farm in the small village of Komarniki near Turka (Lwów District, today in Ukraine). Although Esther introduced herself as “Helka” and stressed her Christian piety, the family knew she was Jewish. During the night, Esther slept together with the other children inside the house, while during the day she was hidden in the stable, behind the stove. On one particularly dangerous occasion, when the Germans searched the village and the house for people avoiding forced labor, the 16-year-old son, Stefan Komarnicki, hid her in the snow by the well, wrapped up in a blanket. The children brought her food and reminded her to keep quiet. Afraid of denunciation by neighbors, the family considered sending Esther away but continued sheltering her. Their children were involved in keeping the secret. In 1943, the Komarnickis told Esther about her parents desire to have her returned to them in the ghetto. Her parents’ real intention is unknown because the ghetto in Sambor was liquidated before Esterka’s arrival. In consequence, the Komarnickis continued to hide and care for her. At the beginning of 1943, Apolonia Komarnicka fell sick and her oldest daughter Maria took over the chores of running the household, which included taking care of Esther for whom she also sewed dresses. Even after the liberation in the late fall of 1944. Esther stayed on with the Komarnickis for two years. During that time, she was located by Moses Bromer and his cousin, who had been her parents’ friends and was taken to Borynia, where Jewish survivors had gathered. In May 1945, the Komarnickis resettled to the village Równe (Głubczyce County), while Esther immigrated to Mandatory Palestine in 1946 with a group of Jewish youth. In June 2004, Esther located the family and called them from Jerusalem and later that summer visited them with her sons. On July 19, 2004, Yad Vashem recognized Jan and Apolonia Komarnicki and their son Piotr Komarnicki as Righteous Among the Nations. On March 23, 2005, Yad Vashem recognized Stefan Komarnicki as Righteous Among the Nations.