During World War II, Józef Walaszczyk saved 56 Jews. He died on June 20, 2022, at the age of 103. He was the oldest Righteous Among the Nations. “What the Germans did in Poland provoked my resistance. You have to be sensitive to pain, unhappiness and feel compassion. I can say that I am satisfied with my life. I have completed my human task and I have found a sense of inner peace”, said Józef Walaszczyk in May 2019.

The Institute of National Remembrance (IPN) informed the public about the death of Józef Walaszczyk.

Józef Walaszczyk was born on November 13, 1919 in Częstochowa. He was fluent in German. During World War II, he was assigned to manage a potato flour factory in Rylsk near Rawa Mazowiecka, which worked for the needs of the German occupants.

In 1940, he fell in love with a Jewish woman, Irena Front. He found out about the girl’s origin during a search of the hotel where they were staying together. On the spot, he helped her hide and then arranged for her false documents and a flat. Soon after that, Irena, along with 20 other people, was arrested and imprisoned at the Gestapo headquarters at Szuch’s Alley. Józef Walaszczyk gained a kilogram of gold in a few hours and bought the entire group from the prison.

Józef Walaszczyk devoted himself not only to saving Irena Front but also actively worked for the benefit of unknown Jews. He entered the Warsaw ghetto many times and prepared reports for the Home Army about the situation of the closed population.

He also helped dozens of Jews from Rawa Mazowiecka. In 1941, Walaszczyk was contacted by his long-known friend-merchant who asked him to accept 40 young Jews into the factory. Józef managed to negotiate with the director of the Arbeitsamt office a consent to employ 30 workers who survived the Holocaust.

In 2002, he was awarded the title of Righteous Among the Nations. He was the vice-president of the Main Board of the Polish Society of the Righteous Among the Nations.

Adrian Andrzejewski