Paliniewicz Jan & Emilia

Paliniewicz, Jan Paliniewicz, Emilia At the beginning of April 1943, following a murder operation against the Jews in the town of Zbaraż (Tarnopol District, today in Ukraine), the Alstadter family fled into the nearby forest in search of refuge. The five members of the family – Joseph and Rela, their two daughters, Asnath and Leah, and their niece, Rena Alstadter, aged 9, 6, and 4 – hoped to get help from farmers they knew in the region. Most of them rebuffed the fugitives, but the Paliniewicz family, from the village of Zarubińce, remained loyal and did not abandon them. Jan Paliniewicz and his wife, Emilia, brought food and other basic items to them in the forest, and hid them in their home for three critical weeks while they organized their forest refuge. Even after they set up camp in the forest, the Paliniewicz home remained their lifeline. During the 11 months they hid in the forest they returned regularly to the Paliniewicz home for food. Jan and Emilia also served as their eyes and ears, warning them about the frequent searches for Jews that were being conducted in the area, informing them about developments in the war and trying to keep their spirits up. Asnath has reported: “They risked their lives for us and had to be careful not only of the Germans but also of their neighbors. Without them we would not have held out and survived.” After the war, the Alstadters immigrated to the United States and sent the Paliniewicz family gift packages on holidays. On September 11, 2002, Yad Vashem recognized Jan and Emilia Paliniewicz as Righteous Among the Nations.