Działoszyńska Antonina

Działoszyńska, Antonina Działoszyński, Jan Działoszyńska, Czesława In the early spring of 1944, there was a knock on the door of the Działoszyński house in the village of Puźnik, Poland. The Działoszyńskis were very poor: Antonina Działoszyński's husband had died in 1936, and her eldest son, Antoni, in 1941. She lived with her remaining children, Jan and Czesława, trying to make ends meet by working the land and doing odd jobs for wealthy neighbors. When Antonina went to open the door, her brother-in-law, Marian Działoszyński, was standing there with a beautiful young woman and a little girl. Antonina spoke to Marian for a while, and then took the woman and the girl inside, telling her children that the strangers were her cousin Adela from Buczacz and her young daughter Marysia. She explained that they had lost their house, and would stay with them for a while. In fact, Adela and “Marysia” (actually, Mira) had been wandering about since the beginning of the war, helped time and again by Poles who later threw them out. Adela’s husband had been murdered in 1944, after which the desperate Adela taught her daughter to "act Polish" and say she was the child of a Polish lieutenant. They traveled about the region until they reached Puźnik and encountered the Działoszyńskis. At first, Adela tried to convince Antonina of her fabricated story, but then broke down and admitted she was Jewish. Despite the inherent danger of offering Adela and Mira refuge, kindhearted Antonina did not withdraw her offer to give them shelter and food. Adela and Mira stayed in the attic, pulling the ladder up after them each night when they went to sleep. One day, German soldiers came into the house looking for Jews. Antonina was frozen with fear, but her daughter Czesława piped up, telling them that there was no one else there. After a perfunctory check, the Germans left. Marian Działoszyński had given Adela an armband with the letter "P" that he had taken from his bedriddenmother. Antonina also managed to obtain false identification papers for Adela and Mira. This enabled Adela to move about town with Antonina without raising suspicion. They went everywhere together, including to Mass, and did everything with each other around the house. The children also played together all the time. Whenever the Germans approached the village, Antonina sent the children out to play and went to the fields with Adela. At night, Adela would read stories to children and help them with their studies. She also knitted sweaters and shawls that she sold to bring in money for food and other household needs. For three weeks in April-May 1944, Adela and Mira moved to a safer hiding place at the home of Antonina’s sister, Maria Komarnicka, whom they helped with her household chores. In May, they returned to the Działoszyńskis’, where they stayed until liberation in the summer of 1944. After the war, they moved away from the area, and eventually arrived in Israel. The Działoszyńskis were also forced to move – to Buczacz. In her later years, Mira became a Polish teacher at a youth center. She based the exercises she gave to the young students on her experiences during the war. On one occasion, she accompanied a youth group on a tour of Belżec. The director of the museum, Robert Kuwalek, overheard her telling her story to the young people, and offered his help locating her rescuers’ family. By the time contact was restored, only Czesława was still alive. In December 2007, Mira came to visit her dear friend in Buczacz. On January 8, 2008, Yad Vashem recognized Antonina Działoszyńska and her children, Jan and Czesława, as Righteous Among the Nations.