Vale Marianna Krasnodębska (1923–2025)

Redakcja, 23 January 2025
With deep sorry, we learned of the passing of Marianna Krasnodębska nee Jarosz – a Home Army (AK) soldier with the rank of captain (pseudonym "Wiochna”), honoured in 2001 by the Yad Vashem Institute with title of Righteous Among the Nations. As a combatant and as a social activist, she was honoured by the Polish President with the Commander’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta, as well as the Cross of the Home Army, the Partisan Cross, the Golden Cross of Merit and the Medal of Merit by the City of Lublin. Marianna Krasnodębska passed away on 14th January 2025, in Lublin, at the age 101. We recall her story - read how she aided Jews during the German occupation, listen to fragments of her biographical interview and view archival photographs from the POLIN Museum collection.

"It was necessary to help them, it was simply a human duty. Jews had helped us earlier, as part of our shared life", Marianna Krasnodębska recalled in an interview for the POLIN Museum. "Every war either unleashes great heroism or barbarism in people. And people, in every nation, are the same", she said a few years ago.

Marianna Krasnodębska was born on 10th October 1923 in Piask near Lublin. She was one of the eight children of Ignacy Jarosz and Anna nee Kowalska. Her father was a civil servant. He also managed construction work, owned a farm and a rental property, which provided the Jarosz family with a steady income.

During the German occupation, Marianna, her parents and two brothers, Aleksander and Maksymilian, aided Jews. To the Piask ghetto, they brought food and medicines, as well as providing shelter, to ghetto escapees, in their home and in their farm buildings. Among those whom they helped were the Honig, Huberman and Lewin families. 

Also, Marianna, Aleksander and Maksymilian, active in the Związek Walki Zbrojnej (Union of Armed Struggle), then in the Armia Krajowa (Home Army), organised ammunition and false papers for the Żydowska Organizacja Bojowa (Jewish Fighting Organisation). Marianna served as a liaison between the AK and ŻOB, making contact with the leaders of the Jewish resistance movement in Piask.

Read, listen, view: The story of Marianna Krasnodębska and her family

After the war, Marianna was persecuted for belonging to the Home Army (AK). In 1950, she married Czesław Krasnodębski. They moved to Poznań and later to Leszno. In 1956, they returned to the Lublin region.

After 1989, Marianna Krasnodębska took an active part in communal life. As a witness to history, she participated in events organised by local authorities, schools, libraries and cultural-educational institutions, sharing her experiences of underground activities during World War II.

On 11th June 2001, the Yad Vashem Institute in Jerusalem honoured Ignacy and Anna Jarosz, as well as their children Aleksander, Marianna (Krasnodębską) and Maksymilian, with the title of Righteous Among the Nations.

Marianna Krasnodębska was the recipient of many state awards. By a decision of the President of the Republic of Poland, on 13th November 2008, she was awarded the Commander’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta.

To Marianna's family and those close to her, we extend our condolences and sincere sympathies.

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