Szyszka Piotr & Anna (Radomska)

Szyszka Piotr Szyszka Anna After the Germans occupied Poland, the Friedman family left their home in Łopatyń and eventually came to the town of Stanisławczyk, in the Tarnopol district (today in the Ukraine). A ghetto in Stanisławczyk had already been established, and it soon became apparent that the Jews in this ghetto were about to be transferred to a larger ghetto in the town of Brody, relatively close by. Ben-Zion Friedman, the head of the family, went ahead to Brody to prepare a place for them to live in. On the night of his arrival there was an Aktion in the Brody ghetto. Ben-Zion miraculously escaped death – shots were fired towards him but the bullets missed him, and he was thrown into the burial pit alive. At night he crawled out, and with five other surviving Jews returned to Stanisławczyk. At the very end of 1942 the surviving Jews of Stanisławczyk were sent to Brody. Ben-Zion and his family survived, but when the Brody ghetto was finally liquidated the family fled the and scattered throughout the surrounding villages. Ben-Zion remained alone with his 14-year-old daughter, Rozalia (Lola). Ben-Zion and Lola made contact with Piotr and Anna Szyszka, who lived in Stanisławczyk. The Szyszkas were already sheltering Sara Szpilka, also from Stanisławczyk. Sara’s daughter Tzipora-Feiga had been hiding there as well, but just before the Friedman's arrival she had been caught and killed. Ben-Zion and the rest held a memorial service for Tzipora-Feiga and buried her in the forest. Ben-Zion and Lola went on to hide in the forest, with the Szyszkas providing them with food and clothing. Ben-Zion and Lola managed to survive there until liberation, in April 1944. Soon after they immigrated to Palestine, as did Sara Szpilka and her husband Yekhiel. Years later, Anna Szyszka managed to obtain Ben-Zion’s address in Israel and wrote to him, asking if he remembered who she was. He replied: “Dearest lady, you ask whether I remember... That entire tragicperiod and that experience are etched in my heart. Your righteous acts towards us are running through my mind as if on an endless tape, always before my eyes, and I shall never forget them… I remember your kind and honorable husband whose every act was inspired by virtue and God’s presence in his soul.” On 23 November 2010, Yad Vashem recognized Piotr and Anna Szyszka as Righteous Among the Nations.