The Matylda Getter Jewish Children's Rescue Museum to be built

Mateusz Szczepaniak / English translation: Andrew Rajcher, 13 August 2018

The 8th August marked the 50th anniversary of the passing of Matylda Getter (1870–1968), Mother Superior of the Warsaw Province of the Franciscan Sisters of the Family of Mary. She was a Righteous Among the Nations who, during the Holocaust and together with other sisters, saved Jewish children. In Warsaw, anniversary commemorations took place during which the museum's foundation stone was laid. The museum's patron will be Matylda Getter.

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Mother Matylda Getter, pseudonyim “Matusia” 25 February 1870 – 8th August 1968 / Superior General of the Franciscan Sisters of the Family of Mary 1914-1919/ Superior of the Warsaw Province of the Congregation 1936-1945 / Distringuished in the field of bringing up Polish youth in Odessa, St. Petersburg, Warsaw / Decorated with the Order of the Rebirth of Poland 1925, the Gold Cross of Merit 1931, the Gold Cross of Valour with Swords in 1944, the Righteous Among the Nations medal 1985 / Filled with the spirit of prayer, sacrifice and dedication to others in the service of God, the Church and the Homeland
– as written on a new plaque on the grave of Matylda Getter.

The commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the passing of this Righteous Among the Nations commenced with prayers and the dedication of a new memorial plaque on her grave which is located in the complex of the Congregation of Franciscan Sisters of the Family of Mary at the Powązkowski Cemetery in Warsaw.

Participants in the ceremony included the Congregation Superior General Janina Kierstan together with sisters, the President and Vice-President of the Institute of National Remembrance Jarosław Szarek and Mateusz Szpytma and the Secretary of State in the Chancellery of the President of Poland, who read a letter from Andrzej Duda. In that letter, the President stressed that Matylda Getter helped to shape the hearts and minds of future generations. based on values and traditions which, for centuries, have rooted us in our historical identity and allow our community to survive even the most difficult trials.

Read the story of Matylda Getter »

Then, at 53 Hoża Street, a foundation stone, coming from the Garden of the Righteous in Jerusalem, was laid at the site of the future Matylda Getter Jewish Children's Rescue Museum. It will be located in a four-storey building to be constructed in the courtyard and in the convent cellars which served as the order's provinvial house and where Jewish children were hidden during German occupation. The story of this building is present in the virtual exhibition “The Right Address. Stories of hiding Jews in occupied Warsaw” »

The museum will comprise a permanent exhibition dedicated to the saving of Jewish children by orders of nuns and priests, as well as a conference hall and a library. The congregation has already taken the first formal steps to obtain a building permit, with preliminary plans already completed. The museum is planned to open in three years.

During the ceremony at Hoża Street, an open-air exhibition dedicated to Matylda Getter was opened and congregation historian and archivist, Sister Teresa Antonietta Frącek, delivered a lecture on the saving of Jewish children by Franciscan sisters during World War II