Stanisław and Marianna Ostrowski lived in the village of Radawczyk, 20 kilometres from Lublin. They were married duringthe War, in 1942.
In nearby Bełżyce,where in the 1920’s Jews made up half of the community, lived the Fersztman family. The knew farmers from Radawczyk due to their frequent business contacts. From December 1940, the Fersztman’s lived in the Bełżyce ghetto, which become ever more crowded as the Germans brought in Jews, not only from the surrounding area, but also from Szczecin, Kraków, Lublin and even from Thuringia and Saxony in Germany. The ghetto was closed off in January 1942 when it was decimated by an outbreak of typhus.
In Autumn of that year, the Fersztman’s managed to get to the ”Aryan” side. In the course of seeking a hiding-place, the came upon the Ostrowski’s who were actually building a home. Stanisław and Marianna decided to help them. After several months hiding in various places, the fugitives built an underground shelter in which they remained until the end of the War.
In total, ten people benefitted from the help of the Ostrowski’s: Szmul, Mosze, Szol and Hela Fersztman with their son Symek, Masza and Szlomo Goldiner; and later, Berek Fersztman with his daughter Masza and a Jewish friend from Łuck (named ”Szlomo” by Marianna nazywany Szlomo, in the Yad Vashem Encyklopedia, he is named Menasze Winer). The Goldiner’s daughter, Rywka, also survived the War, her parents having left her in the care of the Wiśliński family.
They emerged from in the summer of 1944 as the Red Army approached. The Fersztman family left for Bełżyce, then to Lublin and later they emigrated form Poland. However, they maintained contact with the Ostrowski’s. Alfter many years, Mosze and his wife visited their ancestral home.
