Between 1941 and 1943 Władysław Różycki was a stationmaster in Lwow. One day, one of his subordinates, a man known at the time as Jankowski, came to him in need. He was a Jew, he told Różycki, and his real name was Kazimierz Gerkowicz. He and his wife desperately needed help.
Although Władysław was afraid for his own life, he didn’t hesitate. Instead, he did everything in his power to help Gerkowicz. As his superior, he had him perform work that did not put him in direct contact with Germans. The threat came when Gerkowicz was called in by a medical board whose members included officers of the Gestapo. Their goal was to find any remaining Jews. Różycki decided to face the board himself, using the Jankowski papers. This was a real act of courage; Różycki was risking being recognized by somebody who knew his actual identity. He was, in effect, courageously risking his own death by execution.
Kazimierz Gerkowicz survived the Nazi occupation. After the war he went to medical school and today he is a regarded ophthalmologist. In 1993 the title of Righteous Among the Nations was conffered upon Władysław Różycki.
