A CARD FROM THE CALENDAR - HELENA AND JÓZEF ZIELONKA
In 1939, Elias Bandera’s family left the occupied Poland and escaped East, to Borysław, a hundred kilometres from Lwów. This did not help them for long, though, as soon repression began there as well. At the turn of 1942 and 1943, a work camp was created in the town. Bandera’s wife and child found themselves locked there. Elias, a physician by trade, continued to work outside the camp, maintaining contact with his former Polish patients.
In the autumn of 1943, Bandera came to the home of Helena and Józef Zielonka, asking for a temporary shelter for his wife, Ryfka, and son, Myron. Bandera had previously been Helena’s physician and knew her. It felt natural for the Zielonkas to take the Jewish doctor’s family under their roof. For the sake of safety, after some time they were moved to another hiding spot with the Krzyształowskis. The Banderas managed to survive until the liberation. After the war ended, they emigrated to the United States.
