Jadwiga Zawiślak, née Zając was born in 1947 in Witoldów where her parents Józef and Bronisława Zając lived.
Jadwiga relates that in 1942, a thirteen-year-old girl they had not known before, came to their house. Her name was Borst Chawiwa (they called her Luba) and she was from Wojsławice. Luba’s family was betrayed by the Poles who were paid to hide them and were all killed. One of Zającs’ neighbors, a man living in a neighboring village, accepted Luba, but then reported to Mr. Zając that he had no idea what to do and that she was afraid to keep her. Mr. Zając answerd him that he was ready to shelter the girl.
She stayed with them until 1944 not hiding, but helping in the house and looking after Józef and Bronisława's baby.
Jadwiga also talks about other Jewish people who were hiding in the neighborhood. It was a childless couple, who after the liberation emigrated to the United States.
After the war, Luba and other children that survived went to Israel. Luba didn’t want to go to a country which she didn’t know, but afterwards she wrote that her life there was quite good and that she did not regretted moving to Israel.
Luba and Jadwiga keep in touch. She visited the family in the mid 90’s. Jadwiga’s father, Józef Zając received the medal “The Righteous Among the Nations” in 1998, and it was Luba’s initiative to apply for it.
The relation was recorded in the framework of the project "Lights In The Darkness - The Righteous Among The Nations", courtesy of the "Ośrodek Brama Grodzka - Teatr NN" in Lublin
