A CARD FROM THE CALENDAR - JOSEPH AND ANNA BRONSKI
In the Smykowce village, not nine kilometres from Tarnopol, there lived the Brońskis. Despite the occupation and its inherent hardships, they tried leading normal lives, working and bringing up their two daughters, a teenage Stefania and a younger Aniela. The distance separating them from Tarnopol served as an emotional boundary of perceived safety. But when the ghetto was being liquidated in April of 1943, the Brońskis were visited by Jakub Krystian Polar, a Jew from Tarnopol, son of an apothecary. From that moment on, the Brońskis’ lives were constantly marred by fear, but they didn’t allow this to overwhelm their empathy and understanding towards Polar, who found himself in a tragic predicament. Jakub Krystian Polar survived through the nightmarish persecution in a specially-prepared hiding place, first in the attic, then in the brick stables, and finally in a tunnel that Broński dug under the bread oven. After the war, he returned to Tarnopol.
