A CARD FROM THE CALENDAR - MARIA DOBRUCKA
Maria had the best role models in her family. Maria’s parents, Aniela and Andrzej Dobrudzki, were known for helping those in need. Their home in Czortków was often an asylum for Jews in hiding. In 1942, just after the liquidation of the ghetto in Czortków, their door were practically never closing. Among those who turned up at the Dobrudzki’s house were: lawyer Margules, Mrs Gelber with her daughter, accountant Szor, merchant Perelmuter and others. All were given temporary shelter until a permanent hiding place could be found. Their then 15-year-old daughter Maria, on her own initiative, made her way to the ghetto and led the then 3-year-old Iza Hauser out of it. The girl was supposed to stay in the Dobrudzki’s house for one day until her mother, who was in hiding, arrived, but she remained for two years until liberation. When little Iza’s mother was able to come out of hiding in 1945, the separation of the then five-year-old Iza from her temporary family was painful. Throughout her adult life, Maria maintained contact with her step-sister.
