A ceremony of awarding Olszewscy family with the medal of the Righteous Among the Nations

The memorial ceremony in the Hall of Remembrance will take place in the presence of a representative of the Polish Embassy in Israel, members of the Olszewska family and members of the Nomkin family who were rescued by the Righteous.

The Nomkin family lived in the district of Vilnius, Lithuania. The Germans captured the city on June 27, 1941 and introduced many repressions. In October 1941, the Jews of Szarkowszczyzna (Sharkovshchizna) and its surrounding areas were incarcerated in two ghettos. Among the more than 1,900 Jews forced into the crowded ghetto were Gita Nomkin, a widow, and her 13 children.

On July 18, 1942, the ghetto in Szarkowszczyzna was demolished. Only 700 people managed to escape. Gita and eight of her children were murdered along with the other 1,200 Jews that remained in the ghetto. Martin, Hirsch, Yehuda, Yehudit, and Esther Nomkin, their spouses and a family friend fled, and arrived one after the other at the home of the Olszewskas, pre-war acquaintances of the family.

Teodora Olszewska, a widow, lived in the family home with her five children. She received the Nomkins graciously and with real concern, hiding the group of eight in her home.

Rumors ran rampant among the neighbors that the Olszewskis were hiding Jews. Their home was searched and Teodora and her daughter Anna were questioned, but they protected the family hiding in their home and under their care.

At the beginning of July 1943, after spending almost two years in hiding, the Nomkin family joined a group of Russian partisans. Esther Nomkin returned to the Olszewska family and stayed hidden at their home until liberation.

Teodora Olszewska passed away in 1975, her son Kazimierz in 1946 and daughter Anna in 2006. Józefa lives today in Vilnius.