Thread
The #Righteous during World War Two
Leopold and Magdalena Socha
Rescue in the Sewers
1/n
Leopold Socha lived in a poor neighborhood of Lwow (Poland) and worked as a laborer for the municipal sanitation department in maintaining the sewage
The #Righteous during World War Two
Leopold and Magdalena Socha
Rescue in the Sewers
1/n
Leopold Socha lived in a poor neighborhood of Lwow (Poland) and worked as a laborer for the municipal sanitation department in maintaining the sewage
2/n system. When the Germans occupied Lwow, Socha, horrified by the Germans’ atrocities against the Jewish population, befriended Jews who had been interned in the ghetto. After he decided to rescue at least twenty of them, he co-opted Stefan Wroblewski, a Pole who worked with
3/n him in cleaning out sewage canals, into his plans. One night, as he worked in the canals during the Aktion in which the ghetto was liquidated, Socha noticed several Jews wading through the effluent. Socha allayed their fears, stopped them from heading toward the mouth of the
4/n river—which was swarming with large numbers of police and Gestapo agents—and proposed that they stay where they were so he could assist them. The sewage canals became the Jewish refugees’ hideout, and Socha, his wife, and the Wroblewskis met their needs from that day on.
5/n Mrs. Socha and Mrs. Wroblewski provided the fugitives with clothing and, in a complicated operation, did their shopping. Socha brought the people in hiding newspapers. He also helped them keep their Jewish traditions: he brought them a prayer book that he found in the ghetto
6/n area, and for Passover, he provided them with a sack of potatoes. The Chirowski family went into the sewers with their two children, aged 4 and 7. Keeping the children busy was not easy, and in her testimony to Yad Vashem,
The Chirowski (Cigier) family
The Chirowski (Cigier) family
7/n Paulina Chirowski told them stories and tried to teach her daughter as much as conditions permitted.
After spending 13 months hiding in the canals, ten of the 21 Jewish refugees in the group survived, including Halina Zipora Wind, the Chirowski (Chigier) family, and the
After spending 13 months hiding in the canals, ten of the 21 Jewish refugees in the group survived, including Halina Zipora Wind, the Chirowski (Chigier) family, and the
8/n Margulies family.
After the war Halina Wind, the sole survivor of her family, went back to her hometown Turka to pull out some mementos from the house she grew up in. She eventually emigrated to the US where she married George Preston, who had survived Auschwitz-Birkenau and
After the war Halina Wind, the sole survivor of her family, went back to her hometown Turka to pull out some mementos from the house she grew up in. She eventually emigrated to the US where she married George Preston, who had survived Auschwitz-Birkenau and
9/9 Buchenwald. She stayed in touch with her rescuers until her death.
Jerzy and Paulina Chirowski settled in Cracow, but in 1957 left Poland and emigrated to Israel. In 1978 Pawel Chirowski, who was 4 when he hid with his family in the sewers, was killed during his military duty
Jerzy and Paulina Chirowski settled in Cracow, but in 1957 left Poland and emigrated to Israel. In 1978 Pawel Chirowski, who was 4 when he hid with his family in the sewers, was killed during his military duty
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