A CARD FROM THE CALENDAR - WIKTORIA AND PAWEŁ TRZCIŃSKI
One quiet night, through the ajar door, the teenage Gabrysia heard a moving conversation between her parents: “Wisia, are you aware of the danger you’re putting us under?”. Gabrysia’s mother swallowed her tears and replied quietly: “I cannot bear to listen to the children cry out in hunger, Paweł.” The Trzcińskis had a leather collection point in Biłgoraj, which they’d taken over from a previous Jewish owner. It was there, behind a thin wooden wall, that they hid two Jewish families with children. Wiktoria brought them hot porridge every day until 17 February 1942, when Gestapo came for the Trzcińskis. Gabrysia managed to escape, but her parents were arrested, taken to jail, tortured, and finally shot.
