Władysława Nagórka z d. Lech (1895—1981) - Instytut Pileckiego

Medal 'Virtus et Fraternitas' / Recipients

Władysława Nagórka z d. Lech (1895—1981)

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

  • Konstanty Rokicki (1899—1958)

    awarded

    Konstanty Rokicki (1899—1958)

    Rokicki was responsible for one of the Ładoś Group’s most important tasks. In the years 1941—1944 he alone hand-wrote several thousand Paraguayan passports.

  • Peter Fraser (1884-1950) Janet Fraser (1888-1945)

    awarded

    Peter Fraser (1884-1950) Janet Fraser (1888-1945)

    In the autumn of 1944, the troopship USS General George M. Randall was moored at the coast of New Zealand, carrying 733 Polish children – mostly orphans – and their guardians.

  • gen. Lóránd Utassy (1897— 1974)

    awarded

    gen. Lóránd Utassy (1897— 1974)

    Utassy denied the Gestapo access to the internment camps and refused to surrender Polish soldiers. He also participated in talks with the Red Cross, aiming to establish it as the representation of Poles who had found themselves on Hungarian soil.