During the World War Two Leonarda Kazanecka and her husband Czesław lived in Kock. In spring, 1943, three Jews, Jan Grzebień and his two friends, escaped from Łuków Ghetto and came to their house.
“One of them entered and said nothing, but did not close the door. Then the second and third came. They did not say anything. My husband lay on the bed without saying anything,” says Leonarda Kazanecka. “They had combed hair and were wearing suits, like children heading to church. I said, ‘Jewish boys have come to us.’”
The Kazaneckis gave the three fugitives food and decided to help in hiding them. The Jews built a shelter less than a kilometre away from the house, using materials provided by Kazaneckis. They would come a couple of times a week for cooked food.
“I would boil potatoes, take some milk and leave it for them behind the barn,” says Mrs Kazanecka. “They stayed for a year and a few months. We lived by the road so nobody was surprised that there were various people visiting us. Strangers would often come and ask for milk.”
Once, Jan came and asked, “What does your faith indicate? I dreamt of my mother, she stroked my head and said I would survive the war.”
“I replied that I knew he would survive, because the dead know [everything]. He was content,” remembers Leonarda. “Were we afraid? You had to be reasonable, and I always listened to God.”
They all survived the war. Jan Grzebień stayed in Poland for a short time and then left for Palestine. He has stayed in touch with Leonarda Kazanecka.
