A plaque commemorating Polish nuns rescuing Jewish children and girls during the German occupation has been unveiled at the Monastery of the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth at 137 Czerniakowska Street in Warsaw.

“The Institute of National Remembrance (IPN) will never rest in commemorating the national heroes that are the Poles who saved Jews”, said Dr Mateusz Szpytma, deputy president of the IPN, during the ceremony in Czerniakow.

In late 1941 and early 1942, girls of Jewish origin found shelter on the premises of the school and boarding school run by the Nazareth Sisters. Sister Ezechiela Janina Szupenko, the pre-war headmaster of the school, recalled that there were nine of them, while former pupil Magdalena Czerkiewicz-Tempska writes about a dozen Jewish girls who survived the occupation and graduated from the school. It has been possible to establish the names of only a few girls rescued by the Nazareth sisters. They were Ewa Herman, Alicja Kirkien, Irma Windisch, Paula Windisch and Zuzanna Windisch. A group of Jewish children were also hidden in the convent.

Sister Superior Eutalia Jadwiga Wismont was awarded the Righteous Among the Nations medal by the Yad Vashem Institute for her work.

The ceremony in Warsaw’s Czerniaków is part of the celebrations of the National Day of Remembrance of Poles who Rescued Jews under the German occupation, which is held on 24 March.

This holiday honours all Poles who, showing mercy and compassion, helped Jews who were systematically murdered by German oppressors. “They motivated their actions in different ways – by love for their neighbour, the teachings of the Church, civic duty or common human decency. Regardless of this, every manifestation of help provided to Jews in hiding was an expression of the greatest heroism, given the death penalty imposed by the Germans on the territory of occupied Poland”, recalled the IPN.

Adrian Andrzejewski