Jan & Mariana Adamczyk

Until 1942, the Frimel family lived in the township of Denkow  near Ostrowiec. Upon the liquidation of the local ghetto in October of that year, the brothers Chaim and Moshe Frimel were deported to a labor camp in nearby Bodzechow.

When the camp was liquidated in February 1943, the brothers succeeded in escaping from the transport and returned to Denkow, where they appealed for help to the Adamczyk family, with whom they had been friendly while still in the camp.

At their parents’ behest, the daughters of the family, Jadwiga, Lucjanna and Helena, and son, Jan-Jacek, had regularly smuggled in food to the Frimels across the barbed-wire fence, and the brothers were warmly received when they arrived. A bunker was dug under the floor of one of the rooms, and the brothers hid there until their liberation by the Red Army in January 1945.

All the members of the family jeopardized their lives to protect the Frimels, and assisted them to the best of their ability without requesting any recompense. Among the Adamczyks’ neighbors were German officers, and in order to ensure that the fugitives remained undiscovered, the younger members of the family curtailed their social activities and avoided inviting friends to their house.

The Adamczyks’ actions were motivated by sincere friendship that withstood the perils of the time. After the war, the brothers emigrated from Poland: Chaim went to Israel and Moshe to Canada. They continued to maintain contact with the Adamczyks for many years thereafter.

On October 7, 1975, Yad Vashem recognized Jan and Marianna Adamczyk as Righteous Among the Nations.

On January 6, 1997, Yad Vashem recognized Jan-Jacek Adamczyk, Jadwiga Szczeszak nee Adamczyk, Lucjanna Kuzńicka nee Adamczyk and Helena Adamczyk as Righteous Among the Nations.

---excerpted and edited from Yad Vashem website