JEWISH SIBLINGS
Mrs. Józefa Witek told us the story of Karolina Sapeta née Bober, an resident of Witanowice village near Wadowice. Mrs. Karolin took care of two Jewish children (a boy and a girl aged 10-12 years).
– Basia, Stasiu, quickly, we are leaving, so as not to run to Mass with the tongue hanging out – Karolina Sapeta disciplined her pupils. The children obediently dressed and, as every Sunday, came to church on time. The parishioners of St. Nicholas Church in Witanowice got used to their presence. – Poor little things, they probably lost their parents… – residents of Witanowice nodded with compassion at the sight of Jewish siblings. Nobody had any doubts about their identity. Their Semitic features could not be hiden „God, give courage and strength to those children and to me, and don’t let people talk so the Germans won’t get to us.” – Karolina asked in her prayers.
With time, when the German terror in the area was becoming more and more apparent, and the residents of Witanowicze began to fear that the occupiers would punish the whole village for the Jewish siblings, Karolina decided to hide the children. – Auntie, uncle, will you take them in? At my place there is nowhere to hide them – she asked Rozalia and Piotr Suchyt, who live nearby. – The orphans will not be left behind”, answered her aunt and led the children to the buildings on the farm. There, the children lived to see the end of the war, while Karolina settled in Cracow.
At that time, Karolina often thought of the Hochheisers – the parents of Basia and Stasio, actually Sarah and Samuel, because that was their real names. She also thought of Izie, the second son of the Hochheisers. They did not manage to get out of the liquidated ghetto in Cracow. She preferred not to imagine what their fate was like… They knew each other before the war – then a Polish woman from Witanowice worked for them as a nanny. When the ghetto was established, she brought them food and medicine. Until March 1943.
After the war Karolina Sapeta took the children to Cracow and raised them there as her own. In 1995 the Yad Vashem Institute awarded the Pole the Righteous Among the Nations title.
