Kraków Branch of the “Żegota” Council to Aid Jews

Introduction: Circumstances Surrounding the Establishment of the Kraków Branch of the Council to Aid Jews and the Scale of its Assistance

The establishment of the RPŻ in Kraków coincided with the brutal liquidation of the Kraków ghetto carried out, by the Germans, on 13^th–14^th March 1943. This tragic event set out two primary directions for the Council’s activities in the following months – assisting Jews who were hiding alone or in small groups, and providing material aid to prisoners in forced labour camps, particularly the Zwangsarbeitslager (ZAL) Plaszow, established on the outskirts of Kraków in 1942 (which was transformed into the concentration camp KL Plaszow).

“In February 1943, I received an order from my central authorities to establish a Jewish Aid Council, in the Krakow district, consisting primarily of representatives from the political parties belonging to the ‘big four’, which included the Stronnictwo Ludowe (People’s Party, codename Trójkąt), Polska Partia Socjalistyczna (Polish Socialist Party, codename Koło), the Stronnictwo Narodowe (National Front – codename Kwadrat) and the Partia Pracy (Labour Party, codename Romb).

“Progress was slow. The People’s Party responded positively, as did the Socialists and the Democrats. However, the leadership of the Labour Party and the National Party promised their cooperation, but did not send delegates to the meetings of the organisation. Nevertheless, on 12th March 1943, the ‘Committee to Aid Jews’ was established in Kraków which, after subordinating itself to the Main Council to Aid Jews in Warsaw, called itself the Council to Aid Jews, abbreviated to RPŻ-Kraków”, recalled Tadeusz Seweryn, pseudonym “Socha”, in the monograph Ten jest z Ojczyzny mojej… Polacy z pomocą Żydom 1939–1945, edited by Władysław Bartoszewski and Zofia Lewinówna.

Initially, the RPŻ’s Kraków branch was limited to providing emergency assistance due to insufficient financial resources. This support included providing documents, food, medicines and modest cash allowances to people in hiding. This aid was restricted to the city and its immediate surroundings. Over time, thanks to an increase in the monthly subsidy from the Delegation of the Government of the Republic of Poland in the Country and the establishment of a network of collaborators, mainly linked to the Polish Socialist Party – Freedom, Equality, Independence, it became possible to expend assistance efforts to the Kraków district and to even reach the labour camps located within its borders.

The Kraków branch of the RPŻ was the only one which functioned continuously until the end of the German occupation. In May 1943, the Council cared for ninety-one individuals and, by the end of 1944, the number of regular beneficiaries had climbed to over three hundred. A significantly larger number, although difficult to accurately estimate, benefited from various types of emergency assistance.

Members of the Kraków Council to Aid Jews (RPŻ)

The Council’s chairman was Stanisław Dobrowolski. Before the war, he worked in the International Labor organisation in Geneva. During the occupation, he joined the PPS-WRN underground. Together with Andrzej Morbitzer, he ran a company selling paints and varnishes. Another employee of this company, Józef Warenica, also became involved in aiding Jews.

Dobrowolski could travel freely throughout the General Government. He travelled to the Reich, to the Śląsk region and to the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, thanks to which he was able to make contact with Jews in the area of Zagłębie Dąbrowskiego, as well as with prisoners from KL Płaszow, who had been transported to Brünnlitz.

The Kraków office of the Dobrowolski & Morbitzer company, at ul. Jagiellońska 11/7A, became the main cover for the Kraków RPŻ. It served as a meeting place for its activists, a contact point and even as a hiding place. Stanisław Dobrowolski, like other members of the Council, took care of several individuals.

Regarding Stanisław Dobrowolski, Maria Hochberg Mariańska wrote:

“His was a pleasant young man, so calm and composed so that, just by entering the office on ul. Jagiellońska, he made me feel condifent and safe. At that time, it was an illusion, but he had a positive effect on our mood and that was already a significant achievement.

“I did not know and still do not know what this office dealt with officially. I remember that there were three staff there, one of whom was a girl. I think that they all knew what was going on because, apart from the meetings which took place after the office closes, I often dropped by during the day to report on various matters and others did the same. It was clear that we were not coming there as clients of the office.

Secretary of the Council was Władysław Wójcik, a pre-war socialist activist, who had numerous contacts amongst workers. He was known for his bravado, as well as for his composure. He personally carried out many tasks. Following the death of Adam Rysiewicz, in June 1944, Wójcik took his place on the Committee for Assisting Concentration Camp Prisoners. His wife, Wanda Wójcik, ran a cosmetics shop at ul. Wrzesińska 3, which served as a cover for a “legalisation” office, where false documents were produced.

One of the most important figures in Kraków’s “Żegota” was Tadeusz Seweryn, representing the Delegation of the Government of the Republic of Poland in the Country and serving as the head of the Okręgowego Kierownictwa Walki Cywilnej [District Civil Resistance Leadership]. Thanks to him, the Kraków branch of the RPŻ obtained samples of German documents and seals.

Tadeusz Seweryn, codename “Socha”, was an outstanding ethnographer, as well as a respected painter. During World War 1, he was a member of the Polska Organizacja Wojskowa [Polish Military Organisation]. From 1941, the Germans had been searching for him. Not only had he effectively hidden, but he also personally oversaw some operations. Seweryn made efforts to combat the blackmailing and denouncing of Jews. As a prosecutor of the Special Civil Court, he approved several death sentences for those who had betrayed Jews.

The Kraków RPŻ treasurer was Anna Dobrowolska, by profession a teacher. Council meetings were held in her apartment at ul. Wielopole 6. She also preserved part of the documentation, including receipts for cash and reports.

Maria Hochberg Mariańska recalled:

“I still remember the dark gate to that building, the worn stairs and the tall, slender figure of Mrs Anna [Dobrowolska], her kind eyes behind her glasses, and the Council’s treasury books, which she maintained so carefully and meticulously, as if they were not dangerous documents, but the innocent records of pre-war social welfare.”

She, herself, joined the RPŻ in the spring of 1943, focusing on the distribution of financial aid to those under their care. She was presented as a representative of Jewish communities but, at that time, there were no longer any Jewish political parties in Kraków. Her husband, Mieczysław Kurz, and her cousin Michalina, also served as representatives of “Żegota”.

“[…] working in the organisation is my primary and most important goal”, Hochberg-Mariańska wrote in a letter to Adolf Berman, referring to the Kraków RPŻ as “the company”.

Jerzy Matus, from the People’s Party, and Janusz Strzałecki, a well-known painter, were also member of “Żegota”. Strzałecki, together with his wife Jadwiga, ran an orphanage in Warsaw at ul. Morsztyńska 45 which, in 1944, was relocated to Poronin.

The Activities, in the First Months, of the Kraków Council to Aid Jews

When it began its activities in March 1943, the Kraków branch of the RPŻ faced serious difficulties. The first of these was a lack of financial resources. The subsidy received from the RPŻ’s central office in Warsaw amounted to only a few thousand złoty. Beneficiaries were given 400 złoty, which was enough to purchase basic necessities.

In May 1943, ninety-one individuals were receiving regular support, of whom seventy-nine were under the care of the PPS-WRN, three under the People’s Party, two under the Democratic Party and seven (one family) under the care of the Delegation of the Government of the Republic of Poland in the Country, probably including Tadeusz Seweryn himself. Throughout its existence, the Kraków “Żegota” made efforts to secure additional funds, sometimes even borrowing money to cover budget deficits.

One of the significant problems was a lack of contact locations and safe hiding places. Family members, friends and PPS activists were enlisted to help Jews. They included Józef Jedynak from Wieliczki, and Zdzisław Kasparek, who provided refuge, in his apartment at ul. Bosacka 14, to Michał Borowicz, a Polish-Jewish poet and essayist. This was just after Borowicz had escaped from the forced labour camp at ul. Janowska in Lwów. Thanks to the involvement of trusted individuals, an efficiently functioning network of collaborators was established, although their exact number is not known.

In addition, documents were needed to allow, both couriers and Jews in hiding, movement around the General Government. The production f these documents was handled by, among others, Edward Kubiczek, a graphic artist, regarded as a brilliant forger.

In the first months of the RPŻ branch’s operation, the main task was to provide support to the prisoners in the Płaszow camp. The Kraków “Żegota” informed the Delegation of the Government about conditions in the camp – the hunger, the overcrowding and the lack of clothing. At that time, it received a subsidy of several tens of thousands of złoty, but it actually needed as much as 320,000 złoty.

Hiding Places, Allowances, False Documents – Assistance for Jews Hiding in Occupied Kraków

Jerzy Aleksandrowicz, who was a young child during the occupation, recalled:

“A colleague of my father’s, Dr Z., arranged for us to have an apartment in Wieliczki. We were there for a few months. However, our host’s parents, who also lived there, were afraid that we would be discovered. First, they told my father, then us, to leave.

“I remember that it was in November. The weather was terrible and overcast and we were not permitted to travel by train. So, we took a peasant’s cart and then walked part of the way. Along the way, we were very scared, because there were inspections. Members of the Secret Organisation to Aid Jews arranged for us to have an apartment on ul. Sebastiana.”

Reports, preserved in the archives of the Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw, regarding the activities of the Kraków branch of the RPŻ, provide an insight into the scale of the assistance provided. With the increase in monthly subsidies, it became possible to significantly increase support for the growing number of regular beneficiaries.

In the first half of 1944, the Kraków Council, in addition to the funds from the Delegation of the Government, received 400,000 złoty from Jewish organisations – the Bund and the Jewish National Committee – mainly for assisting prisoners in the Płaszow camp. In May 1944, 281 individuals were receiving regular support – meaning that their number had tripled within a year. During this time, the amount of a one-off allowance increased from 400 to 600 złoty.

The increase in the number of beneficiaries was the result of the activities of the RPŻ emissaries. Sometimes, it turned out that those, receiving allowances, had relatives hiding in other places. Occasionally, allowances were paid to people, who were covering the costs of their hiding places themselves, but who were running out of money. Those, who had previously received emergency assistance, could also become regular beneficiaries.

Receiving an allowance would be personally acknowledged on a scrap of paper (most often on a piece of paper torn from a notebook) by those receiving assistance or by “sub-distributors” – individuals responsible for delivering allowances on behalf of the Kraków RPŻ. Preserved documents list the codenames of nineteen such individuals. In addition to the already-mentioned Maria Hochberg-Mariańska, among them is Józefa Rysińska “Ziuta”. The sub-distributors also included trusted prisoners from the Płaszow camp, who distributed funds amongst other prisoners. One of them was architect Karol Düntuch.

Behind each of these allowance acknowledgements lay a dramatic story of people, who had escaped death and were trying to survive under extremely difficult conditions, often forced to seek out new hiding places. There were deprived of basic necessities – not only was there a lack of food and medicine, but also clothing. All of this had to be organised and discreetly delivered in accordance with the practices of the underground.

Over time, those hiding near Kraków learned that a “Jewish Committee” was operating in the city and, via couriers, they sent various requests for material assistance. Fragments of such correspondence were published in the memoirs of Maria Hochberg-Mariańska:

“Dear Marysia! Please kindly arrange for me to have the attached prescription filled. I also ask that you return the prescription to me, as I need it regularly. I apologise for bothering you, but this medicine is not available here and will not be into the future.”

“Dear Marysia! Some time ago, we sent you a letter, through Dziadek [ed. the codename of Józef Jedynak], informing you that the shoes, which were sent to Feliks, were too tight and somewhat too short. We kindly ask you to send him, as soon as possible, a stronger pair of shoes, actual size 43.”

In the archives of the Jewish Historical Institute (ŻIH), there is also another exceptional document, used by a Kraków RPŻ courier, written in Czech with handwritten notes. It contains the addresses of beneficiaries, names and identification passwords. It mentions, among others, Leon Salpeter, a member of the Kraków Judenrat, Dr Bernard Bornstein, a Płaszow camp prisoner and Alina Reckes, a little girl hiding in an apartment at ul. Podwale 7.

It is possible that the author was Feliks Jiřanek, a Czech serving in the Wehrmacht. Ewa Wachowicz mentions him in her account published, in 1968, in the “Biuletyn ŻIH”. The preserved aid acknowledgements list 309 people receiving regular support by the end of 1944. In the Yad Vashem collections, there is a list of thirty refugees from Warsaw, who received financial assistance from the Kraków RPŻ, following the fall of the Warsaw Uprising – but only some of them match the material in ŻIH, so that the actual number of regular beneficiaries may have been slightly higher.

However, it is more difficult to determine the number of individuals receiving emergency support. Years later, Tadeusz Seweryn mentioned around one thousand people, while Stanisław Dobrowolski, in his memoirs, noted that there were five times as many regular beneficiaries.

Reports mention the various forms of aid provided to those in hiding individually or in small groups. They included the supplying of false documents, medical aid, clothing, food, medicine, transportation costs and rental expenses. Just in July and August 1943 alone, the legalisation office of “Żegota” delivered over two hundred documents to Jews in hiding. However, it is important to remember that, sometimes, a single person required several sets of documents. The documents, produced in Krakow, were also used by the Warsaw RPŻ.

In the collections of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, there is a chest with a false bottom which was used for storing and transporting false documents. According to Hochberg-Mariańska, the chest was made by Wanda Wójcik’s brother. She donated the chest to the Museum’s collection in 1990.

In January and February 1944, taking advantage of a smuggling route organised by the PPS-WRN, the Kraków “Żegota” enabled the escape, to Hungary, of twenty-five people (there may have been a total of around fifty), among them being Mieczysław Kurz. This was an expensive and risky operation, so that the border was crossed in small groups, paying “professional” smugglers.

The Kraków “Żegota” also organised the escape of a group from the “Janowski camp” in Lwów, just prior to its liquidation. Among them was the engineer Yehuda Eisman, who crossed into Hungary under the name “Tadeusz Kawecki”. After the war, he became an active member of the Lwów Association in Israel.

An example of the diverse assistance provided by the Kraków RPŻ is the story of Janina Hescheles (1931–2022), the daughter of Amalia and Henryk, the pre-war founder and editor of the Polish-language, Zionist newspaper “Chwila”. On 12th October 1943, through the intervention of Michał Borwicz, Janina was rescued, from the “Janowski camp” in Lwów, by the Kraków RPŻ. She was then taken to the home of Mrs Winiarska, where she received a meal, clothing and false documents. With the help of Józef Rysińska and Tadeusz Bilewicz, she then managed to reach Kraków.

There, arrangements were made for her to be taken to further hiding places – first to the apartment of Maria Hochberg-Mariańska, then to the office of Wanda Wójcik, which was especially risky due to the RPŻ’s “legalisation office” being located there. Later, she was with the Kobyliński family. The last place was an orphanage, run by Jadwiga Strzałecka, in Poronin, which was supported by the Kraków “Żegota” and where Janina remained until the end of the war.

While still in Kraków, Janina was encouraged, by Maria Hochberg-Mariańska, to document her testimony about the German atrocities against Lwów’s Jews. The manuscript, entitled “Through the Eyes of an Eleven-Year-Old Girl”, was preserved by members of the Kraków RPŻ, and its first edition was published in Kraków in 1946.

Aid for Prisoners of Forced Labor Camps in the Kraków District of the General Government

The experience gained from aiding KL Płaszow prisoners was utilised in organising aid for other forced labour camps for Jews, although the Kraków “Żegota” could not expand that aid on the same scale as for the camp within the city. In planning activities in that area, it was crucial to determine the needs and possibilities for helping the prisoners, as well as establishing contacts near their workplaces.

“Observation points” were created near the camps in the Kraków district, although a single person could serve as such a point. Thanks to one of these points, a list was compiled of about seven hundred Jewish prisoners who were in the Mielec camp, which was at risk of liquidation.

Material aid was provided to individuals transported from KL Płaszow to a camp established in a factory, belonging to the HASAG company, in Skarżysko-Kamienna. In May 1944, over 112,000 złoty was allocated for financial allowances and for food parcels for starving prisoners.

By the end of 1944, the Kraków RPŻ had managed to send a shipment of aid, to Brünnlitz, of material from warehouses, seized in the summer of that year, belonging to JUS (Jewish Support Centre), directed by Michał Weichert. The value of the resources held by the Main Care Council (RGO) was estimated at over 1.7 million złoty.

Thanks to funds obtained from the sale of goods on the “black market”, it was possible to not only increases monthly financial allowances, but to also pay out money in advance due to the Red Army approaching Kraków. By the end of 1944, the Kraków branch of the RPŻ was yet to receive one million złoty in funding, which was intended for prisoners in the labour camps in Mielec and Stalowa Wola, as well as in the form of one-off allowances for Jewish women being transported from Hungary to KL Płaszow. It is not known whether this aid reached Kraków before the outbreak of the Warsaw Uprising

In the final months of the German occupation, information about the approaching front was provided to the prisoners in the camps, which boosted their determination to survive. Meanwhile, correspondence from the prisoners, documentation of German crimes and literary works were smuggled out of the camps. Per medium of the Kraków “Żegota”, 50,000 złoty was sent to Stefan Grajek, an activist in the Jewish resistance movement, to assist Jews from the forced labour camp in Częstochowa.

Thanks to the support of the Kraków branch of the RPŻ, it was possible to aid people in Warsaw following the fall of the Warsaw Uprising – until the Warsaw RPŻ could resume its activities in November-December 1944. Among those, who received aid from the Kraków “Żegota”, was Szymon Ratajzer (“Kazik”) who, with the help of Maria Hochberg-Mariańska, was taken from Suchedniów to Kraków.

Commemoration of the Kraków Branch of “Żegota” and Honouring its Members with the Title of “Righteous Among the Nations”

The Kraków RPŻ ended its activities in January 1945. The fate of its activists varied. Around thirty individuals, associated with the Kraków “Żegota”, were honoured with the title of “Righteous Among the Nations”. They included:

• Stanisław Dobrowolski (1979)
• Tadeusz Seweryn (1982)
• Anna Dobrowolska (1984)
• Władysław and Wanda Wójcik (1978)
• Marek Arczyński (1965)
• Józefa Rysińska (1979)

This title, according to the criteria of the Yad Vashem Institute, can only be awarded to non-Jewish individuals. Therefore, among those honoured, we do not find any of the many Jews who were engaged in the activities of “Żegota”. During the Holocaust, they helped others, while themselves having to hide. One such person was Maria Hochberg-Mariańska (after the war “Miriam Peleg”) who, in 1963-1978, served as the director of the Tel Aviv office of the Yad Vashem Institute and was a member of the committee which awards the title of “Righteous Among the Nations”.

The first articles about the Kraków Council appeared shortly after the war. More was written about it in the 1960s, coinciding with press articles, which were aligned with the antisemitic campaign of March 1968, which forced thousands of Polish Jews to leave the country under pressure from the PRL authorities.

During this time, the first exhibition about the Kraków RPŻ opened in the Old Synagogue. It was entitled “The Kraków Żegota – About Poles Helping Jews During World War II”. (The opening took place on 13^th May 1968.)

In the 1980s, the memoirs of Maria Hochberg-Mariańska and Stanisław Dobrowolski were published. In 2005, a commemorative plaque was placed on the facade of the building at ul. Jagiellońska 11 in Kraków, where the Kraków “Żegota” was located. The plaque features the following inscription in Polish, English and Hebrew:

“This building
in 1943-1945
was the secret headquarters
of the Kraków
Council to Aid Jews
“Żegota”
of the Polish Underground State,
to which many thousands of Jews
owe their survival of the Holocaust
at the cost of the lives of thousands of Poles.”

The text of te plaque, funded by the Home Army Museum in Kraków and the Józef Piłsudski Society, is an example of the manipulation of historical fact. The inscription, mentioning the thousands of Poles who lost their lives saving Jews, contradicts the findings of historians to date. An incorrect name for the Council to Aid Jews (RPŻ) was also recorded.

In 2017, the Kraków Museum revisited the topic of the Kraków “Żegota”, presenting a temporary exhibition, in its branch at Oscar Schindler’s Enamel Factory, entitled “Żegota – Hidden Aid” (16^th November 2017 – 8^th July 2018). The exhibition was accompanied by a catalogue displaying various documents relating to the activities of the Kraków RPŻ, including copies of original receipts signed by the aid recipients.

Bartosz Heksel, ed. Mateusz Szczepaniak, September 2024

Bibliography:

• The Archive of the Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw, ref. 209/308,  230/136.
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