Mozolewski Mieczysław & Mozolewska Sabina ; Son: Dyonizy

Mozolewski, Dyonizy Mozolewski, Mieczysław Mozolewski, Sabina Meilach Brzeziński ran a hardware store in Knyszyn, Poland, supplying local farmers with machinery. Everyone in the area knew him well. Brzeziński's daughter, Fania, was studying at a Jewish school in Białystok and his two sons, Szymon and Meyer (b. 1926 and 1927 respectively), first attended cheder and then a Polish middle school. There, Szymon made friends with his desk mate, Dyonizy Mozolewski. The children’s friendship brought the two families close together. In June 1941, Knyszyn was shelled by the German army. When a bomb fell on the Brzezińskis’ house, Meilach’s wife Perla, her mother Malka, and Sima Brzeziński, a cousin, were all killed. In November 1942, the Jews of the area were either deported or sent to forced labor (there was no ghetto in Knyszyn), and the Germans raided the town. Meilach, his children and his friend Jankiel Borszczewski escaped with a Polish army unit. Borszczewski was soon separated from the group, and left to join the partisans. Later, they learned he was killed. Meanwhile, the Brzezińskis managed to find a Polish acquaintance who agreed to help them out for a short while. During their stay with him, it occurred to Szymon to seek refuge with his school friend Dyonizy Mozolewski, who lived in the nearby village of Chraboły. Mozolewski told them to return later that night, when they would find food and shelter prepared for them. In his memoirs, Mozolewski wrote: “I did not know what to say to them, how to talk to people condemned to death.” The Mozolewski household comprised nine persons: Dyonizy, his parents Mieczysław and Sabina, his grandmother and five other children. Nevertheless, they did not hesitate to take in the four Brzezińskis and look after them. Sabina was a devout Catholic who believed in the utmost sanctity of human life, and therefore felt it her duty to try and save the Jewish refugees. “It was very difficult, but we accepted the risk,”wrote Dyonizy Mozolewski. “All forms of injustice had always been condemned in our house, and we were taught always to support the victim. Could we have behaved any differently in this case?” After a while, it was decided that Szymon and Meyer should be hidden elsewhere. A farmer called Zygmund Kakareko agreed to build a hiding place for them on his farm, and for a certain fee he allowed the boys to take shelter there. In 1943 the Mozolewskis’ house was raided. Meilach and Fania tried to hide in the attic, but a uniformed Pole who had arrived with the German soldiers discovered them and threatened them with immediate execution. Meilach Brzeziński told him that by denouncing them he would also be condemning nine Polish souls to certain death, and offered him gold and valuables in exchange for silence. The Pole accepted the bribe and told his German superiors that he had seen nothing. The Mozolewskis quickly created Meilach and his daughter a hideout outside the house. The next day the Pole returned with some Germans in tow, but found nobody in the house except its Polish owners. Obviously, staying any longer with the Mozolewskis was now too dangerous for both the Brzezińskis as well as their rescuers. Therefore, Meilach and Fania decided to join Szymon and Meyer who were still staying with Kakareko. The bunker was widened and deepened to accommodate two more people, but conditions in the shelter were difficult and food was scarce. Fania’s health deteriorated rapidly. After 22 months of hiding, the Brzezińskis were liberated by the Soviet Army. They returned to Knyszyn, and then moved to Białystok. In 1946 they immigrated to Mexico, where some of their family members were living. On October 31, 2007, Yad Vashem recognized Dyonizy, Mieczysław and Sabina Mozolewski as Righteous Among the Nations.