Bogdan Jastrzębski and Krystyna Geisler met in 1940. Despite the hatred all around them, they quickly developed a beautiful bond.
In 1941, Krystyna, her father, Judge Arnold Geisler, and his wife Zofia were transported to the Częstochowa ghetto where Bogdan, already active in the underground, would visit them often. In 1942, the liquidation of the ghetto began. The father and daughter were spared and both were designated for labor. Thanks to his proficiency in German, the judge was sent to work as a supervisor on a vegetable farm; Krystyna was put to work at the Hasag arms factory.
Thanks to the Jastrzębski family, Arnold Geisler soon managed to escape, assisted by Bogdan’s mother, Maria, who disguised herself as a Red Cross nurse and transported him to Warsaw where he remained in hiding until the start of the Warsaw Uprising. Subsequently, he was put in a transit camp with Poles and then sent to work in Germany. Once again, he was fortunate to survive and returned to Poland safely.
Bogdan did not forget about Krystyna. He snatched her from a throng of Jewish women being escorted to their daily work. First, he found a hiding place for her in Częstochowa, then one in Warsaw. Following the war, the Geisler family returned to Częstochowa. In 1951, Krystyna and Bogdan were married.
In 1994, Maria and Bogdan Jastrzębski were recognized as Righteous Among the Nations.
