Vale Eugeniusz Szyfner (1922-2017)

Eugeniusz Szyfner was born on 29th December 1922 in Tarnów. He was the oldest son of Józef and Katarzyna Szyfner. He graduated from the Stanisław Konarski High School in Mielec and then studied administration at the Maria Skłodowska-Curie University, followed by legal studies the Jagiellońian University.

During World War II, the Szyfner family lived in Chorzelów (Podkarpackie Province) where, from the autumn of 1941, they assisted Jews. When, in 1942, the Germans were about to liquidate the ghetto in nearby Mielec, Katarzyna Szyfner gave shelter to, among others, Jankiel Heller, Maksymilian Gross, as well as to Dawid and Matylda Zuckerbrodt. She did so without the knowledge of her husband who, out of concern for the safety of his family, objected to helping them. One day, he discovered the presence of Jews in his home, but he pretended to see nothing. Eugeniusz helped in the hiding of escapees from the ghetto. He created a hiding place for them in the henhouse and then in the attic of the family home.

As Eugeniusz Szyfner recalls, "Why did I take such a risk? It was the 13th September 1939. I was seventeen years old then. Someone told me that the Germans had burned Jews in the synagogue in Mielec. How could you burn people alive? I didn't believe it. I then walked seven kilometres on foot. I came to that place and, shocked, I realised that it was true. Then and there, I decided that I had to save anyone who knocked on my door”.

Maksymilian Gross wrote, "In those difficult times for me, hunted by the Gestapo and the military police, Eugeniusz Szyfner and his family, selflessly helped me, hiding me and feeding me. For this, they risked the death penalty. I must emphasise that, before all that, I knew neither Eugeniusz Szyfner nor his family. I owe my life to their help, extended to me out of pure humanity, wishing to save my life from persecution by German torturers”.

All those who hid in the Szyfner home survived the War. In August 1945, Jankiel Heller returned to Mielec where, shortly after, he was murdered during a pogrom.

On 6th November 1996, Eugeniusz Szyfner and his mother Katarzyna were honoured with the title of Righteous Among the Nations. On 17th March 2016, in the Łańcut Castle, during the official opening of the Ulm Family Museum of Poles Who Saved Jews, Eugeniusz was awarded the Commander's Cross of the Order of Polish Revival by the Preident of Poland Andrzej Duda.

See: Righteous Honoured by the President of Poland in Łańcut.

The Album: "Poles Saving Jews During the Holocaust - Restoring Memory”

His story is included in the album "Poles Saving Jews During the Holocaust - Restoring Memory" published in December 2016 by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Office of the President of Poland, the Institute of National Remembrance and the POLIN Museum of the HIstory of Polish Jews.

Until his final days, Eugeniusz Szyfner would meet with young people talking about the Holocaust of the Jews. He died on 18th March 2017 at the age of ninety four.