Posądza village residents - murdered for helping Jews
Place
Posądza
People
Stanisław Wierzbanowski
Maria Wierzbanowska
Katarzyna Żmuda
Teresa Żmuda
Zdzisław Żmuda
Teofil Nowak
Zębala
In Posądza, near Proszowice, Stanisław Wierzbanowski (b. February 7th, 1886), son of Jan and Ewa, née Jagiełło, ran his farm. His wife was Maria, née Kozuba, primo voto Krzeczek. She was born on 19th June 1874 in Łuczyce (commune of Luborzyca), daughter of Wojciech and Marianna, née Wójcik.
In the morning of 22 June 1943, the Gestapo came to the Wierzbanowskis’ house. They were accompanied by the then mayor, Piotr Dziadoń, and ten members of the village guard. The Germans asked Stanisław whether he was hiding Jews on his farm. Despite a negative answer, the decision was made to carry out a search. „In the barn from one of the sheds there were Jews hidden in a burrow under the straw, but they chose the other shed to be cleared of straw, where there was nothing, it was empty. After revising the barn, the landlady began a discussion with the Gestapo. Most likely, she wanted to draw the Germans’ attention away from the barn, but she only made the situation worse and was killed on the spot. The officers captured Stanisław and Teofil Nowak (born on 4 June 1932 in Posadza), who was probably his grandson.
Together with them, the Żmud family and Mr Zębala, whose name is unknown, were taken to the execution. They too were suspected of helping people of Jewish origin. It is believed that Władysław Żmuda was the son-in-law of Stanisław Wierzbanowski. Arrested together with Władysław (born on 27 June 1920) were Katarzyna Żmuda (age 40), her daughter Teresa Żmuda (age 17) and Zdzisław Żmuda (age 15), son of Piotr and Stanisława née Marzec. They were all killed, except for Władysław, who managed to escape. „The Germans were shooting after him, but Divine Providence protected him.”.
The fate of the hiding Jews is unknown. It is possible that they managed to escape and hide in the then already very tall wheat fields. All the murdered Poles were buried in the parish cemetery in Koniusza. In Posądza, at the crossroads of roads leading from Krakow to Proszowice on the one hand, and from Wierzbno to Koniusza on the other, a stone monument was erected to commemorate their deaths.
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