StanisławJasiński and Emilia Słodkowska

StanisławJasiński and his daughter, Emilia Słodkowska née Jasińska, risked theirlives and the lives of their families during the Holocaust in orderto save Jews from extermination by the Ukrainian Nationalists andthe Nazis. They were awarded the medals of Righteous among theNations (Hebrew: חסידי אומותהעולם‎, Chassidey Umot HaOlam) bearingtheir name, a certificate of honor, and the privilege of having their names addedto those on the Wall of Honor in the Garden of the Righteous at YadVashem in Jerusalem, on February 28, 1985.

1939map showing Wołyń Voivodeship (no longer in existence), with the townofKostopol (now Ukraine)

At the onset of WorldWar II, Stanisław Jasiński – who was already blind and elderly – lived on afarm surrounded by forest, on the outskirts of Kostopol in WołyńVoivodeship (Volhynia) in south-eastern Poland. He was being caredfor by his daughter Emilia. They shared the house together with her husband andtheir three children. In September 1942, the German SS accompaniedby the Ukrainian auxiliary police began hunting down Polish Jews inthe area. In nearby villages of Małe Siedliszcze and Antonowka, consecutively,the Jews were massacred in the woods, after being forced first to dig their ownmass graves. There were two brothers, who escaped both pogroms, Szmuel andJosef Liderman. They ran across the fields from Siedliszcze to Antonowka, andthen again, half naked away from the execution pit while it was being dug. Theywere shot at, and Szmuel was injured in the hand. Naked and exhausted, the tworeached the house of Stanisław Jasiński, who was an acquaintance of theirmurdered father, from before the Invasion of Poland. Jasiński family tookin the two Jewish escapees. Emilia bandaged Szmuel’s hand, and clothed themboth. The brothers were put in the barn, where they slept on straw mattresses.They were housed and fed without recompense. After a few days, two more Jewsshowed up at Jasinski’s house, Szaje Odler and Akiba Kremer. They had alsoescaped the massacres in local forests, and like the other two, were givenshelter and assistance.

 Thehideout

Once the fourrefugees rested enough, it was decided that a bunker would be dug beneath thecowshed, as a more permanent hideout for themselves, with the Nazi threatof the death penalty looming over everyone, including the Jasińskichildren. However, the place became unsafe after just two months, as soon asthe Jasinskis became widely known as sheltering Jews on their farm. Thefugitives left and hid even deeper in the forest, where they remained until thearrival of the Red Army in July 1944. They were lucky enough tosurvive the massacres of Poles in Volhynia by Ukrainiannationalists which went on since 1943, however, they were caught by theUkrainian assassins in August 1944 already behind the Russian front. AkibaKremer, Szaje Odler and Josef Liderman were murdered. After the war – once herfather died – Emilia Slodkowska emigrated to the United States. SzmuelLiderman, who was the only surviving fugitive hidden by her, learned about heraddress years later and the two began corresponding. He submitted adeposition on her behalf to Yad Vashem; and, on February 28, 1985, Yad Vashemawarded the title of Righteous Among the Nations to both, Stanisław Jasiński(posthumously) and his daughter, Emilia Słodkowska (née Jasińska) for theirbravery