Jan Bodka lived in Wola Baranowska (Podkarpackie voivodeship) during the Second World War. During the German occupation, he was the mayor of the municipality of Baranów. He used his position to help Jews by issuing them with false documents, for example, he helped a Jew called Hauser in this way. He also hid Jews in his farm buildings and helped in escapes from the Sandomierz ghetto.