Stradowska Maria and her son Wacław - murdered for helping Jews
Place
Chmielnik
People
Stradowska Maria
Stradowski Wacław
Maria Stradowska nee Piotrowska (born 1900, daughter of Jan and Franciszka nee Stachowicz) lived with her three children in Chmielnik at 19 Szydłowska Street. The family effectively hid 5 people of Jewish origin in the utility room for several months. Help lasted from the autumn of 1942 until the winter of 1943. In February, German officers entered their buildings.
Two Pasternak brothers and a couple with a child were hiding in an unrenovated room where agricultural equipment was hidden. During the search all the Jews in hiding were murdered, and Stradowski managed to escape. Afterwards, Maria came home with her daughters Kazimiera and Matylda. Her son Wacław (born on 14 August 1921 in Chmielnik) decided to stay in hiding. When one day he came home with the intention of staying overnight, he was arrested. In a short time his mother was also called to the gendarmerie station in Chmielnik. On February 11, 1943, Maria and Wacław were taken to the prison in Pinczow, and on March 24, 1943, to Kielce. On 25 March, a hearing was held, the sentence of which was cruel. The mother and son were sentenced to death. They were murdered in a Kielce prison on 23 December 1943.
On 16 July 2001 the Yad Vashem Institute awarded Maria and Wacław Stradowski and Kazimiera Wrzesień née Stradowska the title of „Righteous Among the Nations”.
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