THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS 8—Friday, December 25, 1970 Compassion in a World Gone Mad Exploits of Itighteous.Gentile Told BY CHARLOTTE DUBIN If you save one life, it is as though you saved the entire world—the Talmud. • • it Romualda Ciesielska has saved the world many times. She is a Christian woman, a Pole, whose heroism and that of her martyred husband Felix have earn- ed the coveted recognition of "Zadikei Umot Olam"—the Right- eous Among the Gentiles. In a world gone mad, she made a moral decision that was to link her fate with Jews whom she had sever met yet would risk her life A wreath in the national colors of Poland is laid in Obel Yizkor, to save. The number tattooed on the Tent of Mourning, In memory of Feix Cleslelski, as his widow her arm is evidence of that deci- Romualda (fifth from left) looks on. The Ciesielski name was hon- sion, made in a fleeting second ored by Yad Vashem, the Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance in December 1939. Mrs. Ciesielska, one of the Authority, when Mrs. Ciesielska paid a visit to Israel. • • • Righteous Gentiles who have, been honored by the state of Israel, is knew that should she try to con- met one of those whom she res- cued. ceal them and be discovered as a visiting here for three months as Toward the end of 1941 and into the guest of a Birmingham school collaborator, the Gestapo would 1942, Mrs. Ciesielska began to teacher, Irene Zajkowska-Jankie. kill her and her family first. Mrs. 'ankle met Mrs. Ciesiel- ska for the first time on a visit to Poland with her daughter, Barbie. The Polish woman's story left a deep impression on the two tourists; Mrs. Jankie's own two brothers had been killed in the war as members of the Polish underground. When Barbie died in an auto accident last year, Mrs. Jankie decided to do "something Barbie would have wanted me to do"—to fulfill an old dream of Mrs. Ciesiel- ska's to visit the United States. At 72, Mrs. Ciesielska looks 20 • years younger, She speaks no Eng- lish, but conveys experiences and emotions with such animation that her audience is compelled to listen, whether or not they understand Polish. For an interview with The Jew- ish News, Mrs. Ciesielska related her story with the assistance of Mrs. Jankie and Dr. John Mames, a member of Shaarit Haplaytah (Survivors of 1945)• whose own knowledge of the Holocaust era was obtained first-hand. He knew of the Ciesielskis' heroism from accounts by Yad Vashem, the Is- raeli institute dedicated to remem- brance of the Six Million. To this day, Mrs. Ciesielska ad- mits she is amazed at her activi- ties during World War II, in which she defied the Nazis again and again to rescue Jews and other "non-Aryans". How many she saved from the crematoria is un- known. but the estimate goes as high as 100. Several who survived the war testified in her behalf when the Ciesielskis' name was pro- posed for the Yad Vashem medal. Interestingly, Mrs. Ciesielska had had little contact with Jews as her odyssey began, in fall of 1939. When the Germans took over their small city of Bydgoszcz, and the townspeople were ordered to leave, Mrs. Ciesielska, her hus- band, who was a high officer in the Polish army, and their young son fled in a cattle wagon. For three months, they moved from town to town. In December, they took refuge in Krakow, their shelter two offices in a large apartment building in the .ICazi- mierz Jewish section. With street conditions increasingly violent, the Jewish inhabitants of the building were dismayed to find an Aryan family among them. Mrs. Ciesiel- ska laughs about It now, but at the time, "they looked darts at me." In this atmosphere of suspicion and fear, a compassionate act drew Jew and Gentile together. At the sight of Mrs. Ciesielska's little boy, his legs chapped and bleeding from the cold, a young woman offered him a pair of stockings. It was a small gesture, but it "bought me for life," Mrs. Ciesielska said. The debt would be repaid soon after. Suddenly, the Jewish section was completely cut off by the Gestapo. In their two small offices, the Ciesielskis were joined by 23 Jews. As the Gestapo neared the building, all Jewish eyes were riveted to Mrs. Ciesielska .s. All - - - 4'4 .11 ol 1 ••••• •'•• • There was a Catholic prayer- book in the corner of the room. Mrs. Ciesielska grabbed it, but not to pray. She tore it up, and with a paste made from flour, mounted the holy pictures on the wall outside. Her work proclaimed, "This is an Aryan home." She had taken the step, and there was no turning back. The Gestapo entered the build- ing, rounding up its inhabitants as they went from room to room. They approached the Ciesielskis' door, its sign defying entry. In the frightening silence, two women behind the door fainted, but the sound was quickly muffled. The Gestapo moved on. When the street was opened again, the Jewish families left. But the Ciesielskis were now involved. As the turmoil mounted, and the ghetto was being formed in 1940, Mrs. Ciesielska began to place Jews with peasant families out- side of town. A few days after finding shelter for a woman and her 11-year-old daughter, Mrs. Ciesielska decided to visit them and bring food. She packed a valise and set off for the neighboring town, only to fmd when she arrived that the Nazis were rounding up Jews in the town square and providing them with spades to dig their own graves in the forest. Mrs. Ciesielska pretended the heavy valise was light and strolled away so as not to draw any undue attention. At the peasant home, she alerted the women -that the Gestapo was coming. With what she describes today lb t.ard Ire, studies and the Bnai Brith Hillel Foundation at Brooklyn College to lay plans for a more intensive pro- motion and cultivation of Judaic studies at the various institutions of higher education in the New York area. CLASULLULL9 0 2 5 Q WHEN YOU /:, 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 CI 91022SULRAILLSIA.Q 0000 0000 Gingiss Formal Wear Adds Elegance to Your Special Occasion Select from highly styled or traditional forma:wear. Fancy colored shirts and flared pants available for rent or sale. 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For such an undertaking she enlisted the cooperation of two Krakow priests, one Catholic and the other. Greek Orthodox, who is- sued birth certificates to make the documents credible. The Jews who obtained such papers acquired new names and new identities. A friend working as a clerk in the Gestapo office applied the official seal to each false ID. Although some Jews were caught, Mrs. Ciesielska es- timates that up to 70 were saved in this way. In all her activities she had the assistance of her husband and an underground movement of Chris- (Continued on Page 8) as God-given inspiration, Mrs. Ciesielska ordered the older Jew- ish woman—who looked too Semi- tic to escape notice—into bed and told her to pretend she was dying. A towel was placed over her head, a cross in her hands and candles at each side. Then Mrs. Ciesielska grabbed the peasant's apron and tied it on the little girl, who was com- manded to kneel at the bed and start weeping. The peasant wo- man was sent outside to feed the chickens. When the Gestapo arrived, Mrs. Ciesielska told them, in German, that they must be quiet; here was a dying woman. The Gestapo left. But her job wasn't done. Mrs. Ciesielska ran through the fields to another village where two Jew- ish women were being .hidden. There was even less time to act here; and should she be found at a second house, the Gestapo would surely suspect her involvement. The women were concealed in the barn hay loft, and the peasant ordered to scatter barley on the floor for the chickens. As the Ger- mans entered the barn, the chick- ens flew up into their faces. The Nazis bid a hasty retreat. Mrs. Ciesielska isn't certain how many Jews she saved by placing them with Gentiles, but 13 cases have been verified, and she thinks at least half of them survived the war. When she was in Israel, she Judaic Studies Parley BROOKLYN (JTA)—The first in- ter-college student conference on Judaic studies was called Thurs- day of the department of Judaic ciltd..*..4.4.! DI 1.0569 at Schaefer Dl 1-3248 Sunday 5.6; Men..Wed. 9413S; Thurs. Fri. 9-3:31k set. 6:394 9-7131;