During World War II, Ludwik and Wanda Krępa with their daughter Danuta lived on Aleje Jerozolimskie in Warsaw. Their apartment became a secret underground unit. Wanda was a Home Army messenger and a nurse. Every day, the Krępa family provided help to whoever was in need: they supplied them with food and gave temporary shelter. They rescued the Jewish family of the Gąsiors consisting of the brothers and sisters: Estera, Adam, Seweryn, Marian, Maria, and also Estera’s son, Henryk Freiberger. The Gąsiors escaped from the ghetto to the Krępas’ apartment by turns since 1942.
The first to come was little Henryk, who was followed by his mother, Estera Freiberger, a few weeks later. After changing their place of residence three times, the Krępa family organized for the fugitives a new hiding place in Olesinek near Góra Kalwaria, in the house belonging to painter Eligiusz Niewiadomski’s daughter-in-law. There, the Jews lived to see the end of the war.
For Estera’s brother named Adam Gąsior the Krępas secured the position of a superintendent in the sugar factory Józefów, while for Maria Gąsior – accommodation and the job of an orderly in the hospital run by the Sisters of Saint Elizabeth located on Goszczyńskiego Street. Marian Gąsior hid for just a short time in both apartments of the Krępas. Due to his poor health, Ludwik transported him to the Biłgoraj county and hid in the house of his acquaintance, a forester. Several times Seweryn Gąsior received immediate help and relief from the Krępa family, but he did not stay with them permanently.
During the search for Marian Gąsior conducted by the Gestapo police, the Krępas’ apartment was inspected twice by the Germans. During the inspection, both Ludwik and his daughter Danuta were severely beaten. In 1943 the Krępa family was warned about a planned arrest, so they hid for some time in the apartment of their acquaintance, Mrs. Zybsowa.
When World War II ended, almost all of the hiding Jews emigrated to Berlin, with the exception of Seweryn Gąsior who departed for Florida, USA. When the war finished, Danuta, the Krępas’ daughter, met with him twice. After the liberation, the Krępa family ran Fotoplasticon with the seat on Aleje Jerozolimskie.
