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

23.03.2021 (Tue)

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

See also

  • Academic conference “Oppositional Engagement of Women in Authoritarian and Totalitarian Systems of the 20th Century: Poland in a Comparative European Perspective (1919–1989)”
    Four speakers during the question-and-answer session. From the left: a participant in a leather jacket is speaking into the microphone. Next to him sits a speaker wearing glasses, a shirt with a subtle check pattern, and beige pants. Next to them is a female speaker in a white outfit holding the conference program, and a participant in a navy blue blazer. On the table in front of them are bottles of water, glasses, and a blue folder containing conference materials.

    News

    Academic conference “Oppositional Engagement of Women in Authoritarian and Totalitarian Systems of the 20th Century: Poland in a Comparative European Perspective (1919–1989)”

    The second academic conference in a series “Oppositional Engagement of Women in Authoritarian and Totalitarian Systems of the 20th Century: Poland in a Comparative European Perspective (1919–1989)” brought together representatives of various fields of the humanities and social sciences from numerous research centers in Poland and abroad.

  • Accountability for War Crimes. New book from Pilecki's expert
    It is an expanded English-language edition of the monograph "Problem odpowiedzialności karnej za zbrodnie wojenne w pracach rządu polskiego na emigracji (1939–1945)", which in 2023 was awarded a grant under the Ministry of Science and Higher Education’s “Excellent Science II” program for the translation and open-access publication of the book abroad.

    News

    Accountability for War Crimes. New book from Pilecki's expert

    It is an expanded English-language edition of the monograph "Problem odpowiedzialności karnej za zbrodnie wojenne w pracach rządu polskiego na emigracji (1939–1945)", which in 2023 was awarded a grant under the Ministry of Science and Higher Education’s “Excellent Science II” program for the translation and open-access publication of the book abroad.

  • 12 July | Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the Augustów Roundup
    A monument dedicated to the victims of the Augustów Roundup, bearing the inscription “LIPCOWI,” in front of which numerous wreaths and bouquets of flowers in white and red have been laid. Soldiers stand on either side of the monument, performing an honor guard.

    News

    12 July | Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the Augustów Roundup

    12 July is celebrated as the National Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the Augustów Roundup. The roundup began 81 years ago on this day – on 12 July 1945, two months after the end of the Second World War.

  • The Volhynian Crime: The Pilecki Institute and its scholarly and research activities
    Portraits of Ukrainians who saved Poles during the Volhynia Massacre and were awarded the Virtus et Fraternitas Medal.

    News

    The Volhynian Crime: The Pilecki Institute and its scholarly and research activities

    On the Sunday of 11 July 1943, units of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, the armed wing of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (Stepan Bandera faction) – a radical fascist organization striving to build an independent Ukrainian state without any national minorities – carried out a coordinated attack on almost a hundred Polish settlements in the German-occupied Volhynian Voivodeship of the Second Polish Republic.

  • Announcement

    News

    Announcement

    The Witold Pilecki Institute of Solidarity and Valor, the sole shareholder of Pilecki Institute (USA), Inc., announces that the Board of Directors has appointed Jack Fairweather as the interim President (CEO) of Pilecki Institute (USA), Inc., effective as of 18 June 2026. His task will be to expand the program strategy in line with the statutory mission of the Pilecki Institute’s New York branch.

  • The MODEERN FREEDOM exhibition at the Pilecki Institute NYC is now open!
    The organizers in front of the exhibition poster.

    News

    The MODEERN FREEDOM exhibition at the Pilecki Institute NYC is now open!

    The largest group presentation of Polish contemporary art in New York since MoMA’s legendary “Fifteen Polish Painters” exhibition in 1961.

  • The Witold Pilecki International Book Award for historical books. Applications accepted only until the end of June!

    News

    The Witold Pilecki International Book Award for historical books. Applications accepted only until the end of June!

    The Pilecki Institute is accepting applications for the Witold Pilecki International Book Award until the end of June. The competition, now in its sixth year, is organized with the participation of the Patron’s Family and in partnership with the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum.

  • On better protection against crimes against humanity: Summary of the international conference “The Roots of Crimes Against Humanity”

    News

    On better protection against crimes against humanity: Summary of the international conference “The Roots of Crimes Against Humanity”

    The international conference “The Roots of Crimes Against Humanity: Bridging the Normative Gap” successfully concluded at the Pilecki Institute in Warsaw. Organized on the 20th and 21st of April 2026, in cooperation with the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the event aimed to provide historical and academic foundations for the first-ever United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes Against Humanity.

  • April 30 Deadline: Poland Proposes "Child-Sensitive Approach" for New UN Convention
    The photo shows Prof. Stefanie Bock, Prof. Karolina Wierczyńska, and Dr. Krystian Wiciarz sitting in armchairs.

    News

    April 30 Deadline: Poland Proposes "Child-Sensitive Approach" for New UN Convention

    Beginning with today’s (April 30) deadline for all nations to submit their official comments to the United Nations on the draft of the proposed Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes Against Humanity, Poland has made an aggressive bid to become one of the leaders representing the globe’s most vulnerable victims.

  • Recap of the 5th edition of the Pilecki Institute International Teachers and Educators Program (ITEP)
    conference poster

    News

    Recap of the 5th edition of the Pilecki Institute International Teachers and Educators Program (ITEP)

    This year's online conference focused on the post-war decade of 1945–1955 – a time of rebuilding devastated countries, the beginning of the Cold War, and the birth of a new international order.

  • Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya visits the Augustów Roundup Memorial House

    News

    Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya visits the Augustów Roundup Memorial House

    On 22 April 2026, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, leader of the Belarusian democratic opposition, visited the Augustów Roundup Memorial House.

  • Research cooperation between the International Centre for War Crimes Trials (ICWC) and the Pilecki Institute

    News

    Research cooperation between the International Centre for War Crimes Trials (ICWC) and the Pilecki Institute

    The Witold Pilecki Institute of Solidarity and Valor has entered into official cooperation with the International Centre for War Crimes Trials (ICWC) at Philipps University in Marburg.