Władysław Czarnecki and Zofia Czarnecka had a farm in the village of Czarlona in the Podlasie region. The village no longer exists on the map of Poland, but the nearby Jasionówka exists to this day. Many Jews lived there. The Czarneckis had trade relations with them. In January 1943 the Germans started the liquidation of the local ghetto. Zenon Czarnecki recalls:
“And Jews came to us, asking to save them. Yes, those who lived in harmony with us and whom we lived in harmony with […]. Later we found out that there’s death penalty [for saving Jews]”.
The brothers Eliasz, Salomon and Mojżesz Szuster, as well as Abramor Złotorzyński, Mosze Rosenblat, Szmulko Wasilkowski and Jankiel Gejzer (the youngest among them was 22, and the oldest 40 years old) dug a shelter near the Czarneckis house. It was a small dugout, inside were plank beds and a pipe supplying air. Physiological needs were satisfied into empty heavy artillery cases. It was the teenage Zenek who brought food. A few times, the farm was raided by the German police. Luckily, they never found the hiding men. For two months, the Czarneckis also helped another Jew. However, he soon left and his identity remains unknown.
In July 1944 the area was occupied by the Soviet Army. The hiding men left to Białystok, and later to Israel. The Czarneckis were resettled to Giżycko. Towards the end of the Second World War all their belongings have been destroyed – they believe it was done in revenge for helping Jews. In the sixties, Zenon was mayor of Giżycko. He feels sorrow recalling his friends of Jewish descent, who were forced to leave Poland in 1968.
It was Zofia Czarnecka who made efforts to get the medal and title “Righteous Among the Nations” awarded by the Yad Vashem Institute. In her statement to the Jewish Historical Institute she wrote: “However, I am deeply satisfied that thanks to the dedication of myself and my family I saved the lives of seven people, despite the fact that together with my family we have lost all our possessions”.
