Kosów Lacki is a small town in Mazovian Voivodeship, located near the river Bug. From the death camp at Treblinka residents of the town were separated by less than 10 km. This created a lot of opportunities to help the persecuted persons of Jewish origin, but also put those who wanted to help in a huge risk.

Jan and Aleksandra Góral, who together with their family lived in a colony of Kosów Lacki, knew that any help to Jews equals the death penalty. However, they didn’t remain indifferent to the pain of another person. Jan decided to prepare a special shelter for Jews in his farm before even someone asked him about help. He convinced his family that they will be able to help those people even for a few months. He did not expect then that „guests” will stay with them for about two years.

Górals’ prepared a special shelter in their barn. In it hid in total 11 people, at the beginning for: Isadora and Maria Koeningstein, their sons Jerry and Michael, brothers Abraham and Mendel Rzepka from Kosov. Later joined them Gitla Głownia and her pregnant daughter Feiga together with Berek, Szymon and Wilk who managed to escape from death camp in Treblinka.

Henryka Siniakowska, the oldest daughter of Jan Góral, remembers how her mom was getting up early in the morning and cook meals. Children in the morning and evening were bringing food to the barn so that no one noticed. The family has done everything possible to make the shelter safe until the end of the war. The fear of being detected accompanied Góral’s every day.

„You lay down thinking about it. And you wake up just thinking about it again” said lady Henryka Siniakowska. The Jews could not live in the house. Small rooms were not so good for that amount of people.

From couple of months that they were supposed to stay became two years – until the liberation in August 1944. It was a very difficult time for the family. All these months, they were preparing meals for their guests, they washed their clothes and cleaned their space.

They did it all just because they had great and full of love hearts.

Bibliography:

  1. E. Kopówka, ks. P. Rytel-Andrianik, „Dam im imię na wieki” (Iz 56,5). Polacy z okolic Treblinki ratujący Żydów, Oksford – Treblinka 2011.
  2. [Felieton] Ocalić od zapomnienia [odcinek 14.], emisja: TV TRWAM, 02.10.2015 r., godz. 20.50.

PHOTOS

  • Henryka Siniakowska

    Henryka Siniakowska