New Polish Righteous: the Błońskis and the Skops
During the Nazi occupation Józefa and Antoni Błoński, and Marta and Andrzej Skop rescued the teenage Tzvi Norich, who had been hiding on their farms for over two years.
Norich was born in 1928 in Chorzów, where his father moved from Zawiercie. Tzvi’s mother, Tenia Bloch, came from Woźniki. His father had a mill in Masłońskie and was a corn trader. His other grandfather had a bakery in Zawiercie.
On September 3rd, 1939 the Norich family tried to escape from the Nazis in a freight train, but they did not manage to do that. After three days they reached Wolbrom and they were turned back to Silesia.
In November 1942 they were imprisoned in the Będzin Ghetto. During its liquidation they hid in their house and Tzvi was sent to Marta Skop from Woźniki, sister of his mother’s friend.
The fourteen-year-old boy arrived to Andrzej Skop’s house on July 20th, 1943. He spent 8 months on his farm. After that time his hiding place was not safe anymore. People from Chorzów arrived and recognized him.
Tzvi started to search for a new hiding place in the vicinity. This is how he reached the village of Koziegłowy-Rosochacz, where he found shelter at the house of the Błoński family. He introduced himself as Józek Łukasik from the village of Grodziec. He spent 14 months with them, until the Red Army entered. It was only after the liberation that he told the rescuers he was a Jew.
In August 1945 Tzvi left to Częstochowa, and then to Będzin. In 1948 he emigrated to Palestine.
Norich visited Koziegłowy in 2007 and 2009. His second visit was organized by the district authorities. He met with the local young people and told them his story.
It is the rescued who asked Yad Vashem to honor the Polish families with the title of the Righteous Among the Nations after he met the descendants of the Błońskis in Koziegłowy. Another person who played an important role in the honoring of the Polish Righteous was Leonard Jagoda, chairman of the Association for the Development of the Koziegłowy District.
The photographs depicting Józef and Antoni Błoński as well as Marta and Andrzej Skop will be presented in the lexicon of the Righteous, and their names will be added to the Wall of Honor in Yad Vashem, Jerusalem.
The title was awarded on June 1st, 2010 and the ceremony of awarding medals to the new Polish Righteous will take place in the spring of 2011.
