The Righteous Halina Wittig Dies

KJ, 16 November 2016
Righteous Among the Nations, Halina Wittig, has died at the age of 92. During the War, she was active in the underground and, in 1941, was incarcerated in Pawiak Prison.

During the occupation, together with her husband Lech, she aided a Jewish family - Maria Spielrein and her children. The Wittig couple hid them in their home in Otwock, where they lived in 1942 after Halina was released from prison. Their home was situated next to a forest which the Germans used for shooting practice. It was searched many times by the Germans. However, no one was ever discovered and the three Jews lived with the Wittig family until the end of the War.

For the help which they extended to the Jews, in 1987, Halina and Lech Wittig were granted the title of Righteous Among the Nations. The medal presented, to them by the Yad Vashem Institute, can be found in the collection of the Museum of the History of Polish Jews. In 2009, President Lech Kaczyński awarded Halina Wittig the Commander’s Cross of the Order of Polish Renewal.

The funeral service took place on 11th April 2013 at Warsaw’s Military Cemetery.