Suchorowski Szczepan & Suchorowska Aniela

Rajczak, Weronika Suchorowski, Szcepan Suchorowska, Aniela The Mandel family from the town of Staszów (Sandomierz County, Kielce District) was a traditional Jewish family of six – Chaja and Szalom and their four children. During the war, they were joined in their home by Chaja’s sister, Róża Goldflus. They lived in the ghetto of Staszów until it was liquidated in 1942, at which point they moved to a hideout they had prepared in a nearby forest. After hiding there for a while together, they were forced to split up in order to find better hiding places. Szalom, who was a timber merchant that had established good relations with some of the villagers in the area, trusted them to help him in his time of need. And they did not disappoint him. The first to come to his aid was Weronika Rajczak from the village of Rytwiany, a mother of three children whose husband had been taken prisoner by the Germans. She was prepared to take the risk and hid most of the Mandels – Chaja, Róża, and two of Chaja’s sons, Moniek and Szmuel – in her home, during the three most critical months. After that time period, they were forced to leave her house because of the fear that the neighbors would inform on them. In the meantime, Szalom and his two daughters found hiding places elsewhere. When they needed to find new safe havens, Szalom turned to an old-time friend of his, Szcepan Suchorowski, who was a forester and an inhabitant of the same village, and asked him to hide his family. Szcepan agreed to take in the family members that had been staying with Weronika, plus one of the two daughters, Bracha. They stayed in his house until the liberation. Both the Rajczaks and the Suchorowskis were taking a great risk by hiding such a large Jewish family in their homes, especially since people in the village suspected they were hiding Jews. Nonetheless, they did not hesitate. Deserving of special mention are the young sons of each of these families, Jan Suchorowski and Stefan Rajczak, who were 11 and 12 at the time, because they took an active part in rescuing the Jews. They displayed extraordinary self-discipline, were always on guard, and faithfully assisted the Jews who were hiding in their homes. On July 23, 2002, Yad Vashem recognized Weronika Rajczak and Szcepan and Aniela Suchorowski as Righteous Among the Nations.