In Poświętne, the Pilecki Institute will honor other Poles murdered by the Germans for helping Jews during World War II. The ceremony of unveiling the plaque commemorating Józefa and Józef Dmoch and Jan Kowalski will take place as part of the “Called by name” project. The project is intended to commemorate the Poles who during the Second World War paid the highest price for helping Jews condemned to extermination by the Germans.

The Dmoch family, who lived in Helenów, helped a group of about ten Jews with unknown names and surnames, probably from the beginning of the summer of 1943. When in July 1943 the Germans appeared on the Dmochs’ farm, several Jews managed to escape, two were shot, and two were captured and taken to prison in Radzymin with the Dmochs.

The Germans also arrested the sub-son of Helen, Jan Kowalski, and his wife Ludwika. It is not known what they were accused of – whether it was direct support of the Jews hidden in Dmoch’s place, or the failure to inform the occupation authorities about the hiding practice, which could also have been punishable by death. The charge was ultimately upheld only against Jan Kowalski; his wife was released.

Both Dmochs and Kowalski were shot by the Germans on July 15, 1943, in Radzymin. A memorial stone dedicated to them is standing in front of the School and Kindergarten Complex named after Lieutenant Stanisław Lech. Together with the commemorated three heroes, the Pilecki Institute restored the collective memory of 59 people who paid the highest price for helping Jews condemned by the Germans to the Holocaust.

Anna Stróż-Pawłowska from the PIlecki Institute adds that little is known about the Jews who were helped by the Dmoch family. It is known that it was a mixed group and probably came partly from Warsaw and partly from the ghetto in nearby Stanisławów. It is also not known what happened to the few Jews who managed to escape from the manhunt.

Arkadiusz Słomczyński