Pride Month

Redakcja, 1 June 2026

It is a celebration of being yourself, in harmony with who you are and your identity. During this time, we proudly display the rainbow flag in front of the POLIN Museum – a symbol of support and solidarity with the LGBTQIA+ community. Equality and counteracting all forms of discrimination are part of our mission, which we remember with particular emphasis this month. On the Polish Righteous Portal, we recall the stories of help given to Jews, during the Holocaust, by queer individuals who themselves – because of their identities – were persecuted by Nazi Germany during World War II. These are the stories of Stanisław Chmielewski, Krystyna Modrzewska, Stanisław Miciński and Witalis Wróblewski, as well as the Jews weho, they helped. They are stories of human solidarity and courage, empathy and openness to others. Read the articles written by researcher Dr. Joanna Ostrowska, who specialises in this topic.

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“During the occupation, I was called ‘Good Staś’. […] Being kind to people was always my greatest aim. It was a living protest against what the war had brought, against ruthless evil”, recalled Stanisław Chmielewski.

For friends imprisoned inside the Warsaw Ghetto, he delivered food. For those hiding on the “Aryan side”, he found shelter, organised false documents and arranged work. He helped more than twenty people. At the beginning of Stanisław Chmielewski’s underground activity – for which was later honoured with the title of Righteous Among the Nations – was a promise made to his beloved partner, Władysław Bergman.

During the German occupation, Krystyna Modrzewska lived under “Aryan papers”, hiding her triple identity – Polish, Jewish and queer. From 1943, she worked as a clerk in the county office in Garwolin, a position she successfully used to sabotage operations for the Home Army (Armia Krajowa). Earlier, in the summer of 1942, she attempted to save her family and her beloved friend from the Warsaw Ghetto.

Witalis Wróblewski i Stanisław Miciński were a couple who were living together in Warsaw. In 1941, they helped a Jewish girl, Janina Forbert (later Wierzbicka), who hid in their apartment by posing as the fiancée of one of them. It was a shared survival strategy during the occupation.

“Queer people were one of the groups who were persecuted during the period of National Socialism, both in Nazi Germany and in the conquered and occupied territories. The category ‘queer’ (‘different’), in this case, serves an inclusive function. It is the most accurate term encompassing all individuals, who were persecuted, not only because of non-heteronormative sexual orientation, but also because of diverse gender identities”, notes Dr. Joanna Ostrowska, a researcher on this topic and author of texts about queer people on the Polish Righteous portal.

Learn the stories of Stanisław Chmielewski, Krystyna Modrzewska, Stanisław Miciński and Witalis Wróblewski, as well as the Jewish men and women whom they helped. View archival photographs and learn more about the persecution of queer people during World War II: