The Bomba Family

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Story of Rescue - The Bomba Family

Kazimierz Bomba lived with his wife Kazimiera in Niebywalec, near Rzeszów and worked as a veterinarian. Dora Wilner, her sisters Franciszka Mahler and Maria Moskwa (Gisela Wilner) (b. 1910) grew up in the village of Zgłobień (county Boguchwala, near Rzeszów) in the estate run by their parents – Józef and Regina Wilner.

Kazimierz Bomba was a member of the resistance movement in 1941. He also supported Jews hiding in the area, e.g. Herszek (Hersz) Rath (Rat), because, as he wrote in 1988, "Hiding Jews often came in the evening, covered in tears, looking for food." According to the Central Database of Holocaust Victims at Yad Vashem, Hersz Rat died in 1942.

In the fall of 1942 Wiktor Moskwa asked Kazimierz Bomba to take his sister-in-law - Dora Wilner under his roof for some time. Dora was a school friend of his wife – Kazimiera. The spouses agreed to take care of Dora. Moskwa took her to the train station in Babice, where she was picked up by Bomba. She stayed in his house for about two months, in October and November 1942. Then her brother-in-law took care of her – Bomba, with the help of a coachman, Piotr Strzała, delivered her to the previously agreed station.

A few days after dropping off Dora Wilner, a German policeman Kopf conducted a search of the home of Kazimierz. His house was robbed and his family was forced to leave. From the hearing Bomba concluded that Kopf knew he had been hiding a Jewish woman in his house. Kazimierz Bomba was arrested. He stayed in the camps in Pustków and Płaszów from April 1943 until April 1944.

In 1945 Dora Wilner once again stayed with the Bomba family for several months. At that time she met her future husband Faust. With him and her sister Franciszka Mahler and her husband she first went to Paris and then to Australia. They settled in Sydney. Maria Moskwa remained in Poland and lived in Rzeszów. Kazimierz and Kazimiera Bomba lived in Kędzierzyn Koźle. Kazimierz was a member of the Union of Fighters for Freedom and Democracy.

In 1988 Kazimierz Bomba described his war experience, stating that "we would like our humanitarian act to be remembered. Saved from oblivion." In 1990 Bomba asked for support for himself and his wife "for our humanitarian attitude and the rescue of Jewish friends."

In 1991 Yad Vashem decided to award Kazimierz and Kazimiera Bomba with the title Righteous Among the Nations.

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Bibliography

  • Grynberg Michał, Księga Sprawiedliwych

    The lexicon includes the stories of Poles honoured with the title of Righteous Among the Nations in the years 1963-1989. The list of entries is preceded by a preface by Icchak Arad and Chaim CheferThe Righteous of the World.

  • Archiwum Żydowskiego Instytutu Historycznego, 349 723