Polish Righteous – Irena Adamowicz

In the near future the book „Irena Adamowicz – Une Juste des Nations en Pologne” (“Irena Adamowicz – A Righteous Among the Nations in Poland”), published in France in 2009, will appear in Poland. The author, Larissa Cain, presented in her work the unique figure of this Righteous Among the Nations. The book opens with an introduction by Simone Veil, who has written: „Irena Adamowicz is one of these persons, who did not give in to the chaos and decline of Europe of that time. Such stories should be told to the young generations, as they are a touching example of engagement, an engagement that is spontaneous, unexpected, completely unforced and expressed with admirable enthusiasm and simplicity”.

The book presents the story of Irena Adamowicz during and after the Second World War. It describes her life in occupied Poland, the help she provided for the Jews – refugees from the Warsaw Ghetto, and her activity as liaison between the ghettos in Vilnius, Kaunas, Siaulai and Białystok. The author also presents the postwar history of Irena Adamowicz, the difficulties she had to cope with during the Polish People’s Republic, when saving Jews during the Second World War often became a source of persecutions.

Irena Adamowicz was an exceptional figure. She was born in 1910 in Warsaw. A religious Roman Catholic, one of the leaders of the Polish Scouting Association (Związek Harcerstwa Polskiego), she started collaborating with the Jewish youth organization Hashomer Hatzair even before the Second World War. During Nazi occupation she became a member of the Home Army and since the end of 1941 she served as a courier. She cooperated with Mordechaj Anielewicz, Icchak Cukierman, Josef Kaplan and Cywia Lubetkin. In 1985 theYad Vashem Institute honored her dedication and heroism with the title “Righteous Among the Nations”. Irena Adamowicz died in 1973.

Larissa Cain is a writer born in Poland, a Holocaust survivor. In 1946 she emigrated to France. She is the author of the books „Ghettos en révolte” (“Revolts in Ghettos”, 2003), „Une enfance dans le ghetto de Varsovie” (“A Childhood in the Warsaw Ghetto”, 2007) and „L’Odyssée d’Oleg Lerner” („The Odyssey of Oleg Lerner”, 2006).