Probably, in the early spring of 1943, 15 year old Jerzy Nędza grazed his cows near his family’s village of Bliżyce, in the Myszkowski District of the Śląsk Province. When he came upon a terrified, half-naked boy, he decided to bring him home to his parents, Franciszek and Elżbieta, who, together with numerous family members, ran a large farm.
The boy, Mojżesz Rozenbaum, whom the Nędza family called ”Heniek”, owie nazwali „Heńkiem”, cam e from the nearby village of Dobrogoszczyce, where his father, Kalman Mendel Rozenbaum, had a large farm and was a cattle trader. He had a large family – three children from his first marriage to Sura Chaja (nee Izraelowicz) - Izrael Alter, Riwka and Lea Tauba – as well as six children with Rywka Leja (nee Nudelman) - Icchak, Hirsz, Abraham, Dawid, Sara and Mojżesz (born in 1929).
When, after being denounced by the Polish neighbours, his parents, siblings and grandfather, Abram Hersz Rozenbaum, were shotin their hiding-place near the village of Sokolniki, Mojżesz managed to escape. The Rozenbaum, known by the local peasants as ”Kauma”, was well-known to Jerzy’s father, Franciszek Nędza. Before the War, they had contact through business dealings. After taking them to a bunker in the forest, he provided them with food.
Over a few months, Mojżesz grazed the cows together with Jerzy. However, when village children stripped him naked in order to check if he was a Jew, in January 1943, with the help of Franciszek Nędza, together, the boys reported for forced labour building trenchesin nearby Gródek, nearo Szczekocin, in the Lelów municipality. They remained there until liberation in January 1945. Mojżesz was also helped by Pytlewski from Lelów, who would often give the boys somewhere to sleep. Mojżesz also remained with him after liberation. From there, he was taken to the jewish orphange in Łódż. In 1950, he left for Israel.
After the War, Jerzy Nędza recommenced his studies in senior high school and later worked as a teacher. After 55 years’ during which they both looked for one another, Heniek, now Zvi Ben-Ami, came across evidence of his friend. It led to their meeting in 2000 and, from that time on, he has maintained contact with the Nędza family.
