Adela recounts that before the World War Two, her family had many Jewish neighbors. When a Jewish ghetto was established in Chełm, at the beginning of the war, Nazi authorities sent some people to work there, while others were killed or taken to the death camp in Sobibór. Jews from Belgium, Holland and France could also be found in the Chełm ghetto. These people were also eventually killed in Sobibór.
In the Summer of 1942, Adela’s parents Feliks and Aniela hid their acquaintance Rachela Gipsz and her two children: Bencjon Drutin and Jakub, in their cellar. They stayed in this hideout for about three years. Since a Volksdeutch family was living in the neighborhood, German officials often visited the Grzesiuks, but fortunately, no-one ever discovered the Jews. Rachela and her children left their hiding place after the Red Army liberated Chełm. After the war, Adela’s mother was afraid that the neighbors would accuse her of having accepted money for hiding the Jews, so until 2001, the family avoided talking about what had happened. When the war ended, Rachela Gipsz moved to Wałbrzych, but kept in touch with Adela’s family. Thanks to Rachela’s son, Jakub the Grzesiuk family received the medal “The Righteous Among the Nations.”
Prepared based on the relation, recorded in the framework of the project "Lights In The Darkness - The Righteous Among The Nations", courtesy of the “Grodzka Gate – NN Theatre” Centre in Lublin
