Insight
55 YEARS LATER from page 26
otherwise. The Dudziks did not sub-
scribe to the usual anti-Semitic atti-
tudes. "Jews are very good people. My
father very much liked your grandfa-
ther," she told me.
Anya's family members in the next
generations continue to show their
compassion. In May, her daughter
Ursula and granddaughter Maggie
went on a trip with a school group to
clean up Jewish cemeteries in Poland
and elsewhere.
Anya is excited about the posthu-
mous honor for her parents and fami-
ly and is hoping her sisters from
Chicago can join her for the special
evening Oct. 10.
Rabbi Charles Rosenzveig, execu-
tive director of the HMC, noted the
healing that finding Anya has brought
ZYGA ALLWEISS
Special to the Jewish News
D
wing World War II, I
recall a bright light in the
midst of evil and despair.
This shining light was
emanating from the home of Maciej
and Zofia Dudzik of Chajkowa,
Poland. The village of Chajkowa was
about two miles away from my home
village, jaslany.
I met the Dudziks in 1943, after I
escaped from a truck , delivering prison-
ers, including my three sisters, from a
slave labor camp, I3iesiaddca, which
took them to be murdered and then_
buried in one mass grave.
I did not 'mow the Duaziks before
the war. I was 12 when the war started.
My father was friends with them.
When I returned from Biesiaddca
and found my brother and father hid-
Mg in a stable, they were surprised to
find me still alive. We were all very
happy.
Nly father told us about the people
he thought were good and would share
food with us and not betray us. He
spoke very highly of Maciej Dudzik,
and told us that he had spent some
time hiding in the Dudziks' barn.
In the summer of 1943, my brother
and I went to Mr. Duclzik's house at
night to ask for a piece of bread. After
giving us bread, Mr. Dudzik pointed
out his large farm attached to his
household with a private road running
though the middle of the property. He
to the Allweiss brothers. He said,
"People like the ones that saved your
family have given the world a right to
exist. It is most unusual."
Of the award Anya will receive that
night, my father said simply, "She
deserves it." 7
The Holocaust Memorial Center
dinner, chaired by Dr. Stephen
D. Grant, starts at 5 p.m.
Sunday, Oct. 10, at the Marriott
Hotel in Detroit's Renaissance
Center. The main speaker will be
presidential candidate Bill
Bradley. For information, call
Selma Silverman at the HMC,
(248) 661-0840.
n1 ,1003..w*
. :5A:K.:* Ss? •.?
said that we could stay in his fields as
long as we needed. When it rained at
night, we could go into the stable to
warm ourselves.
These wonderful people did more
than they promised during 1943 and
1944, until we were freed by the
Russian army. They gave us hot food
and when the weather was very hot,
their children would carry cool water
to us as we hid in the fields.
The Dudzik family did not have
very much. Having nine children to
raise during the war was hard enough.
Yet they shared what they had with us.
They risked their lives helping us.
After the Russians freed our area, I
volunteered for the army proudly using
the name of Zygmunt Dudak,
The Dudzik parents are deceased.
Three of their daughters live in the
United States. They were our water
carriers during the wan
We believe that the memory of
Zofia and Maciej Dudzik should be
honored by the Holocaust Memorial
Center for their unusual kindness and
bravery in a time of insanity.
The Dudzik family makes all
mankind proud. L1
Zyga Allweiss is a resident of West
Bloomfield He and his brother SoL also
of West Bloornfiel4 arrived in New York
City in 1947, and moved the next year
to Detroit Retired today from other busi-
nesses, they are known to many in the
community as the proprietors of Sol &
Zygie's Mobil in Southfield.
Detroiters Among
Wealthiest
he Detroit Jewish com-
munity is well represented
on Forbes magazine's
annual ranking of
Michigan's wealthiest people.
Bloomfield Hills' William
Davidson, 76, head of Guardian
Industries, tops the list with
an estimated net worth of
$2.1 billion. Franklin's Max
Fisher, 91, active in oil
and investments, was
ranked fifth ($975 mil-
lion). Bloomfield Hills'
A. Alfred Taubman, 74,
a real estate magnate,
was ranked seventh
($860 million).
Microsoft Corp.
Chairman Bill Gates led
Forbes' national rankings
with an estimated net
worth of $85 billion, up
from last year's $59 billion. He is
one of 268 billionaires on the list of
400 richest Americans, who together
have amassedd -a total net worth of $1
trillion.
Rounding out the top five nation-
ally were Microsoft co-founder Paul
Allen ($40 billion); Warren Buffett,
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. chair ($31
billion); Microsoft President Steve
Ballmer ($23 billion); and Dell
Computer CEO Michael Dell ($20
billion).
Others among Michigan's top 10
were Jay Van Andel, ranked second
($1.9 billion); Richard DeVos, third
($1.8 billion); William Clay Ford,
fourth ($1.4 billion); Thomas
Monaghan, sixth ($950 mil-
lion); Josephine
Ford, eighth
($800 mil-
lion); Richard
Manoogian,
ninth ($750
million) and Peter
Karmanos, 10th
($690 million). Nationally,
Davidson ranked 112th, Fisher
268th and Taubman 295th.
The Oakland Press contributed to this
report.
Corrections
The picture of Saul Bernstein of
Windsor was misidentified on page 22
last week in "Looking Back: the year
5759 in pictures." He was incorrectly
identified as Michigan Jewish War
Veterans Junior Vice Commander Sandy
Pliskow.
Hillel third-grader Bradley Schlafer, not his brother Scott, was shown
with dad Steve Schlafer last week on page 46 at the Hillel Day School bar-
becue.
The correct Web address to access Dr.
Sidney Bolkosky's Holocaust survivor
interviews is
http://www.holocaust.umd. umich. edu
Bradley and Steve Schlafer
k„,k`M,N ,M,WeA,A,Z.a.
10/1
1999
Saul Bernstein