Antoni Nagórka (1901—1977) - Instytut Pileckiego

The medal / Recipients

Antoni Nagórka (1901—1977)

Awarded in 2019.

Antoni and Władysława Nagórka lived at the edge of the town. Before the war, Antoni worked for the railways, and Władysława was a housewife. During the war they saved five Jews from the Holocaust.

Before the war, the population of Otwock near Warsaw — a town famous for its health resorts – numbered over 10,000 Jews. September 1939 brought an end to their community, which had been developing since the 19th century. During the German occupation, they were in danger of persecution and deportation. In 1940 the Germans separated Jews and Poles, who used to live side by side. The Jews from Otwock and its environs were resettled in a newly-established ghetto. During the liquidation operation of 1942, thousands of them were murdered or sent to the extermination camp in Treblinka.

Antoni and Władysława Nagórka lived at the edge of the town. Before the war, Antoni worked for the railways, and Władysława was a housewife. During the war they saved five Jews from the Holocaust. One of them was Benjamin Krochmalik. It is likely that they had known each other before the war — Krochmalik used to be a barber in nearby Kołbiela. In August 1942, while he was returning from work outside the ghetto, Władysława warned him that he might be arrested and deported. She offered him shelter. Hidden in Antoni and Władysława’s house, Benjamin survived the occupation. After the war he settled with his family in Australia, but in 1973 he started visiting the Nagórkas every year.

See also

  • Rudolf Haunschmied (1966)

    awarded

    Rudolf Haunschmied (1966)

    As a six-year-old boy growing up near Gusen, Rudolf Haunschmied learned that during the Second World War the village had been the location of a German Nazi concentration camp.

  • Sofia Kyc (1890–?) Pawło Kyc (1897–?)

    awarded

    Sofia Kyc (1890–?) Pawło Kyc (1897–?)

    Pavlo Kyts had no doubts – their Polish neighbors were in grave danger. On the evening of 15 July, Pavlo decided to help two neighboring families.

  • Martha Gammer (1947)

    awarded

    Martha Gammer (1947)

    In the 1970s, few people knew that the tunnels excavated in the hills near Gusen were the result of slave labor by prisoners of the German Nazi concentration camp that existed there during the Second World War.