Baranek Wincenty & Łucja (Skucha); Son: Henryk ; Son: Tadeusz ; Stepmother: Katarzyna (Soczówska)

Baranek, Wincenty Baranek, Lucja Kopec-Baranek, Katarzyna Baranek Henryk Baranek Tadeusz In the early hours of the morning of March 15, 1943, a number of Germans dressed in Sonderdienst, SS, and gendarme uniforms appeared by the farm belonging to Wincenty Baranek. Baranek lived there he lived with his wife, Lucja, his adoptive mother, Katarzyna, and his two sons, Tadeusz (9) and Henryk (12). The Germans surrounded the farm, summoned the head of the village and several farmers, and ordered them to empty the hayloft and other storage areas around the farm, hoping to find hiding Jews. It seemed that the Nazis knew exactly what they were looking for. They entered the house and proceeded to question the family, beating them severely in the process. Soon four Jews were discovered in the house, taken behind the barn, and shot. Immediately after, Wincenty and Lucja were shot, as were their sons after that. The Germans knew that Katarzyna also lived in the house, but they could not find her. They ordered the local farmers to have her brought to them; otherwise the entire village would be burned. The next day, 58-year-old Katarzyna was dragged to the Germans and they murdered her as well. In the 1970s, when Polish authorities were investigating this chain of events, the testimonies of the local witnesses varied, but most tended to believe that the Baraneks had been denounced by someone in the area and that the murdered Jews were four brothers, all tailors, by the surname of Gottfried: Motl, Shmuel, Elias, and another whose name was unknown. The Gottfrieds had escaped the ghetto in Miechów, which had been liquidated at the end of 1942, making the brothers’ stay at the Baraneks’ about five months long. They would undoubtedly not have been able to pay anything for their rescue, being poor tailors following a long stay in the ghetto. On July 3, 2012, Yad Vashem recognized Wincenty and Lucja Baranek and Katarzyna Kopec-Baranek as Righteous Among the Nations, andon December 24, 2012, Tadeusz and Henryk Baranek were recognized as well.