Stefan Franciszek Badowski lived in Warsaw, at 16 Krasińska Street. He met Helena Wolman at the Labor Friends of Children Society, at 1 Wilson Street, where he worked. They became friends..
Helena's sister, Irena Kerth, also lived in Warsaw to which she had travelled from Bielsko-Biała. In March 1940, she was caught without her mandatory armband, was arrested and put into prison. After nine months, she was released thanks to Stefan's strenuous efforts. She then lived in the ghetto.
Helena and her 9 year old daughter, Alicja, remained outside the ghetto. She endeavoured to get false papers for both of them Badowski rented an apartment in Żoliborz in which he hid them. Shortly thereafter, Irena, who Stefan had led out of the ghetto, also hid there.
She received the birth certificate of his deceased sister from Badowski, thanks to which, on a falsified identity card, she was known as "Irena Badowski. That document protected her when she was arrested in April 1943.
Probably due to being informed upon, members of the criminal police ("Kripo") entered the two sisters' apartment. Irena identified herself with the false papers. Stefan confirmed that she was his sister, so that the Kripo left her alone. However, they took Helena and her daughter and imprisoned them on Koszykowa Street.
Over the period of a few days, Badowski organised for a ransom to be paid and managed to get both of them out of prison. For this, he obtained the money from the former Honorary Consul of Yugoslavia in Poland, Henryk Kozłowski. The apartment in Żoliborz was no longer safe, so that Badowski hid Wolman with his friend, Maria Wardas, and Alicja was placed into the boarding house of a Polish school.
Irena Kerth and Helena Wolman, and her daughter, survived the War. They remained in Warsaw.
