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Israel posthumously honors Polish family who saved Jews in the Holocaust

Yad Vashem posthumously honored a Polish family as “Righteous Among the Nations” for saving two Jews during the Holocaust. 

By: World Israel News Staff

Yad Vashem, Israel’s national Holocaust Remembrance Center, on Tuesday hosted a ceremony posthumously honoring Sabina Perzyna (previously Dziadosz), her husband Jan Dziadosz and their son Aleksandr Dziadosz from Poland as Righteous Among the Nations.

The “Righteous Among the Nations” designation is a title bestowed upon gentiles who rescued Jews during the Holocaust. Israel has recognized over 26,500 such individuals.

Director of the Righteous Among the Nations Department at Yad Vashem Irena Steinfeldt presented the medal and certificate of honor to Alicja Mularska, the daughter of the late Jan Dziadosz and Sabina Perzyna, on behalf of Yad Vashem, the State of Israel and the Jewish people.

The names of Sabina Perzyna, Jan Dziadosz and Aleksandr Dziadosz were added to the Wall of Honor in the Garden of the Righteous Among the Nations at Yad Vashem.

During the Holocaust, the Dziadosz family lived in Modliborzyce in the Lublin district of Poland. They were known to help people in need regardless of their religion or nationality.

After Jan became seriously ill, Sabina offered Felek (William) Toytman, a Jewish friend of her son, Aleksandr, a job on their farm. When the situation of Jews became more precarious, Sabina convinced Toytman to go into hiding in the attic of her cowshed.

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The Dziadosz family also hid Albert Spivak, a Jewish acquaintance from Modliborzyce. Spivak had served in the Polish Army, was captured by the Germans and escaped twice from German camps in Brest-Litovsk and Krasnik, eventually finding shelter with the Dziadosz family.

Spivak and Toytman stayed in hiding until they decided to join the partisans in the nearby woods. However, they came back to the Dziadosz farm for help on several occasions.

After the war, Toytman and Spivak emigrated from Poland. Toytman kept in touch with the Dziadosz family and visited them in 1975, but eventually the two families lost touch.

In 2017, Yad Vashem named Sabina Perzyna, Jan Dziadosz and their son Aleksandr Dziadosz as Righteous Among the Nations.