Helena Broda and her husband, Adam, lived in the village of Majdan Kawęczyński near Lublin. They had many friends amongst the Jews, especially around Piaski.
In 1941, the Germans established the Piaski ghetto into which they placed Jews from far off places - even from Germany and Czechoslovakia. One year later, in an operation lasting from March to November, they liquidated the ghetto, with its inhabitants being transported to the Bełżec extermination camp or to the slave labour camp in Trawniki.
At that time, Szlome Akerstein, arrived at the Broda's home. He was the son of a friend, a tailor, from Piaski. He came with his fiancée Cylia (or Cwilą) Dreszer. Both had escaped from the transports. The girl was sick and they asked Helena for shelter. The Broda's hid them and nursed Cylia. At the beginning of 1943, another Piaski Jew, Fogel, joined Szlome and Cylia in hiding. The Broda's cared for them until the end of the War.
After the War, all three emigrated to the USA, but remained in contact with Helena.
