Drzewiecki Jerzy & Drzewiecka Emma

Drzewiecki Jerzy Drzewiecka Emma Before the war, Roma Hartbrot lived with her parents Dawid and Jochewet and family in Lipno. Dawid Hartbrot was a well-to-do grain merchant. In 1939, Roma graduated from high school and got engaged. Soon, war broke out, and the family was forced to move to Warsaw, where they lived in horrific conditions, and a year later were closed into the ghetto and sent to work at German factories. In 1942, both Roma's parents and her sister Regina were taken away, probably to Treblinka, during one of the ghetto Aktions. They were never seen again. Roma's younger brother Izrael and Roma herself remained in the ghetto, using their fortunately obtained work permits to remain in the same shop they'd been in before. They stayed in the ghetto until its liquidation in April 1943, during which they tried to hide in bunkers within the ghetto, but were discovered, separated, and sent to Treblinka, where Izrael perished. Roma, however, jumped off the train on the way, fell, and lost consciousness. When she came to, she found a peasant standing over her. Recognizing she was Jewish, he nonetheless took her to his home, and then put her in his cart, covered her with hay, and took her to Warsaw, where she stayed for a few months with a Polish family for a fee. The Poles provided her with a fake Kennkarte. Eventually she had to move away, and following some more moves and wanderings, she ended up in Boernerów, a town outside Warsaw. There, she knocked on the door of Emma Drzewiecka, who, she'd been told, happened to be looking for a helper. Emma instantly figured out she was Jewish. She assured Roma that no harm would come to her. Drzewiecka was a stay-at-home mother to two little boys, and an enthusiastic helper to her husband Jerzy who worked in the underground. The family were extremely caring and friendly with their new helper. Emma was originally German, which helped when Germans began spending time at the house and being suspicious. One time,when they tried to send Roma away, she saved her by claiming that the girl was her only support in life, as a young mother ostensibly abandoned by her husband. Another family, the Horowitzes, were also hiding in the Drzewiecki household, in a bunker Jerzy built under the house. However, following a raid, they felt extremely threatened and left to find different hideouts. Roma, on the other hand, stayed until January 1945, when the Russian army came to liberate the area. Then she decided to leave. She went looking for her family, but found no one. After a while, Roma heard that the Drzewieckis were looking for her. She reconnected with the family in a moving encounter, during which the rescuers asked her to come back and stay with them. She declined, but remained in touch with them throughout her life, even after getting married and moving to France in the 1950s. On 31/03/2009, Yad Vashem recognized Jerzy and Emma Drzewiecki as Righteous Among the Nations. #11567