A commemoration of Zofia Krasuska and her son Boguś Krasuski - Instytut Pileckiego
A commemoration of Zofia Krasuska and her son Boguś Krasuski
Zofia and Boguś Krasuski, murdered for helping Jews during the German occupation, were commemorated in Tworki near Siedlce. This was the last stone with a commemorative plaque to be unveiled before the summer vacations as part of the “Called by Name” project.
The Germans did not even spare the child
Zofia and Leon Krasuski, farmers from Tworki near Siedlce, had a little son, whom they named Feliks Bogusław. The boy was called Boguś in everyday life. In 1942, Jews who were hiding in the nearby forest began to reach out to the Krasuskis for help. The family shared their food with them. In autumn, when the nights were getting colder, Leon prepared a hiding place for them in a detached root cellar. Six or seven men, who today are unknown by name, found refuge there. They did not go out during the day, so none of the family or neighbors knew about the help they were receiving.
“On 13 February 1943, the Germans from nearby Łuków (Lublin District) came to the Krasuski family farm”, said Agnieszka Dąbek, the academic coordinator of the Pilecki Institute’s project. “They searched the house and outbuildings, looking for Jews in hiding. Leon’s brother, Antoni, and his son Wacław, were forced to throw out the straw from the barn. This was to facilitate the search. The Germans’ attention was drawn by shoes left at the entrance to the cellar. It turned out that they belonged to one of the hiding Jews. After finding the hiding place, everyone was taken out to the yard and joined by Zofia and Boguś. Leon, who at that time was in the barn working on the straw, took advantage of the moment of inattention and escaped through a hole in the wall covered with a board hanging by a single nail. He ran towards the forest where he found shelter. The gendarmes did not manage to capture him”, Agnieszka Dąbek added.
The Germans shot both Zofia and little Boguś, as well as all the Jews. The family received permission to bury the mother and son in the cemetery in Wiśniew, while the Jews were buried at the killing site. Leon Krasuski spent many weeks in hiding.
After the war, the remains of the Jews were moved to the Jewish cemetery. Leon Krasuski sold his farm because he did not want to return to it. He remarried and started a new family.
The commemoration in Tworki
The commemoration of Zofia and Feliks Boguslaw Krasuski began with Holy Mass in the Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in Wiśniew, celebrated by Rev. Canon Henryk Krupa.
The extraordinary devotion of the Krasuski family was emphasized by the initiator of the “Called by Name” project and Deputy Minister of Culture and National Heritage, Prof. Magdalena Gawin: “I would like to express my deepest respect for the late Zofia and Feliks Bogusław Krasuski, as well as for her husband Leon, for deciding to help, to hide Jews when they knew it meant risking their lives.”
During the commemoration, Zbigniew Krasuski (Leon’s son), who miraculously avoided death, spoke on behalf of the entire family: “In February 1943, a tragedy occurred on these lands. The Nazi Germans attacked my father’s home. All the household members and the Jews hidden there were shot. They did not even spare the little one who was not yet six years old. Everyone was shot in the back of the head.”
The director of the Pilecki Institute, Dr. Wojciech Kozłowski, highlighted: “This is our first story in which a child several years of age was killed by a German bullet. The German occupation was based on fear. This fear was induced among others by murdering with particular cruelty.”
The event was co-organized by the Pilecki Institute, headed by Dr. Wojciech Kozłowski and Anna Gutkowska, as well as by Karol Tchórzewski, the starost of Siedlce, and Krzysztof Kryszczuk, the head of the Wiśniew commune.
