Funds Needed to Protect the Grave of Stefan Sendłak
Stefan Sendłak died in Warsaw on 2nd August 1978 at the age of eighty nine. He was buried in the Cmentarz Północny (section: W-XVI-4, row: 1, grave: 14) in an individual grave. He never had a family so, as a result, payment for his grave only covered twenty years. That period terminated in 1998 and his grave-site is now under the real threat of removal.
Funds are now being collected via the Internet. The collection is being organised by Dr. Adam Kopciowski, Associate Professor of Jewish Culture and History at Lublin's Maria Curie-Skłodowska University. 3,440 złotych are required to preserve the grave until 2038. The appeal for donations will continue until 1st November 2015. Appeal details can be found here.
Stefan Sendłak was born on 15th December 1889 in the village of Podtopole near Zamość. Before the War, he was active in the community. In Zamość, he was a well-known Polish Socialist Party activist. He intervened to pacify the peasants strike in Zamość in 1936, and also intervened in the attempted destruction of the Orthodox Church and forced conversions to Catholicism in 1939 in the Hrubieszowski District near Lublin.
He displayed great heroism during World War II through his involvement in saving Jews. In 1941, he organised help for Jewish prisoners of war from the September Campaign, who were being held in a camp on ul. Lipowa in Lublin. Later, he established the Zamość-Lublin Committee to Aid Jews, which later joined in the Poland-wide activities of Żegota. From the 272 individuals under his care, only five did not survive the War.
From July 1943, Sendłak served as Provincial Manager of Żegota. He maintained contact with the camps and Jewish communities in Radom, Starachowice, Skarżysko-Kamienna, Kielce, Piotrków, Częstochowa and in Białystok.
He took part in the Warsaw Uprising as Deputy Delegate of the Polish Government in Exile for Warsaw's Northern SUburbs District (Region III). During the fighting, he was mainly involved in providing aid to people.
After the War, he renewed his activity in the socialist movement but, in 1948, he was removed from the PPS in a purge leading up to the so-called unification of workers' parties. Until his retirement, he worked in various social institutions and co-operatives.
Stefan Sendłak was never honoured for his service in saving Jews. Once the necessary funds have been collected, Dr Adam Kopciowski intends to work for Stefan Sendłak to be honoured with the title of Righteous Among the Nations.
