The letter from Roni Reiner, daughter of the survivor rescued by Józef Pruchniewicz’s family - Instytut Pileckiego

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The letter from Roni Reiner, daughter of the survivor rescued by Józef Pruchniewicz’s family

Moshe Kuflik was one of the Jews who survived the German occupation thanks to the aid provided by the Pruchniewicz family. Roni Reiner, the daughter of the survivor wrote a letter to the participants of the commemorative event honoring the murdered Pole.

As long as I remember myself, the holocaust was part of my life.

The loss of families, of entire communities, of a nation – was and still is unimaginable.

The evil, hate, the abuse of innocent, the chaos and the massive extermination were not just stories for me - but were part of my life as a daughter of holocaust survivors.

My Father, RIP, Moshe Kuflik, talked about the holocaust, shared stories that were scarred in his soul until the day he pass away.

He wanted us to know, wanted us not to forget the family that became ember. He asked us to never forget that small village in Poland, Dukla, where he was born and deported from, without any choice only because he was a Jew.  Run away and hide day by day, orphaned, destitute, and lonely.

With the hard stories of the horrors, the unbelievable descriptions, was in his memories also a ray of light.

The light of one family that thanks to them, he was able to survive and go through the hellish years of war.

One family that risked their lives, home, resources, their entire world, to help Jews in such dark times.

The father of the family name was Jozef Pruchniewicz , his wife name - Maria. My dad also used to tell with excitement about their daughter – Jadwiga. My father was referred to her as an “Angel”.

The Pruchniewicz family didn’t just open their home to hide five haunted and beaten up human beings, they opened their soul for them. In an inhuman world, the Pruchniewicz family hided them near their house although the big danger and uncertainty.

Until the day it was discovered. From that day everything was not the same any longer.

Because of the discovery, Jozef was executed by the abominable Nazis.

The family was left with no father, without roots – the kids were orphans, Maria was a widow.

The Pruchniewicz family paid the highest price for an outstanding act of human kindness, of a divine spirit, of the love of human as human beings.

In the bible, there is a quote that is very relatable to the Pruchniewicz family: “In a place where there is no human - be one.”

The world cannot forget those special people forever, that in dark moments opened their souls and risk their entire world for other strangers, human beings – for love of the other, for getting rid of the darkness and bringing the light.

We will never forget the Pruchniewicz family and the glorious, noble act they did in those terrible, terrifying times. Times of destruction, deep hate and desecration of human dignity.

Roni Reiner

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