– Boys, what are you doing here? – asked Jan Jagiełło, a farmer from Pawłowo, amazed at the sight of two Jewish children wandering around the area on their own. At the same time, the man was checking carefully that no one was watching them. Bronek and Janek Cyngiser, brothers about 10 years old, were clearly cold and hungry. – Our father was killed, sir, a policeman shot him – explained one of them. – With our father, we fled the ghetto. At first from Szydłowiec, sir, and then from Przysłucha – he specified. – Um, so now you are, orphans.. an idea came to the Poles mind – Come with me,” he offered. – You’ll eat something, you’ll warm up, and then… we’ ll see what happens next,’ he added. He knew that if the Germans caught the boys, this time the kids would certainly not be able to escape. At Jagiełło’s house, Mrs. Jagiełło took care of both brothers. She gave them food, gave them clean clothes and ordered them to wash themselves. It was the autumn of 1942. Nights were getting colder and colder. So the boys spent them in the Jagiełłos’ home. It was like this until the time when the Germans came to arrest Jan. They arrested him for helping Jews and transported him to Auschwitz on June 3, 1943. In 1944 the man was sent to Dachau, and a year later to Mauthausen. He died there on April 15, 1945.
The boys, no longer being able to use the help of the Jagiełłos, found a hiding place in the forest. They were very young and if it weren’t for the intervention of another Polish family – Walenty and Antonina Rejczak – they probably wouldn’t have survived there. Initially, spouses from the village of Wilcze Doły used to drop the food off in the forest for them. Most often it was brought by the Rejczak’s daughter, little Janka. In case of danger, the girl rushed to warn them. When the nights became chilly, Bronek and Janek began to stay at the Rejczak family overnight. After some time Bronek stayed with them for good and Janek was taken care of by other farmers. Thanks to this support, both boys lived to see the end of the war and left for Israel.