“It was hard - Władysława recalls - especially with the water, because the well dried up and we had
to carry water from the river, 3 kilometers away.”
She was 10. And she did carry it. She is Eugenia Chrust’s cousin.
Her father, Wojciech, and her uncle decided to shelter the Hubermans, the only Jewish family in the
village of Lipniak, near Lublin. Six people were hiding in her parents’ household: Mendel, Tobcia,
Dwojra and Zelman Huberman, and Srul and Rywka Rozenberg. Her uncle, Jan Kurkiewicz was
hiding seven people.
The Kurkiewicz brothers enhanced their cottages with well-hidden underground shelters. One of the
rooms had a concealed entrance and the area of 4 x 2 meters; in case of emergencies one could move to
the attic and hide in the hay. The brothers also dug hiding places under their cowsheds and another one
under the entrance hall.
The Kurkiewicz children, Jan’s daughter Eugenia and Wojciech’s daughter Władysława, were friends with the Huberman kids from before the war. They would often come down to the hideouts to spend some time with them. At night they would also walk out to the garden.
“One day - she says - the Germans came. They found lots of potato pancakes in the house. They
were yelling: ‘For Jude the pancakes, for Jude, they got to be here.’ They beat up the mother, but found no one.”
For some time, the hidden family was paying for their upkeep. But even when they ran out of
money, they stayed. They lived to see the liberation at the Kurkiewiczs’ households. They left for USA,
Canada and Brasil.
