Aleksandra Wiktorzak - Instytut Pileckiego
Aleksandra Wiktorzak was commemorated by Pilecki Institute on 4 June 2020 in Sterdyń.
She lived with her nephew Czesław Borowy near a brickyard on the Paulinów estate. She shared her living quarters on the farm with the families of Franciszek Augustyniak and Jan Siwiński. The German occupation and the persecution of the Jewish population meant that many refugees from the liquidated ghetto in Sterdyń were hiding in the nearby forests. Aleksandra was one of the many people who helped them, by allowing them to spend the night and eat at her home. She often took payment for this help, usually in the form of jewellery. On the night of 23 February 1943, German soldiers surrounded her home. They were accompanied by a man in civilian clothing, who was known to have come with other Jews to ask for help from the local residents, including Aleksandra. Her name was added to his list, and she had to die as a consequence. Firstly, the Germans ordered her to surrender all the valuables she had acquired for helping the Jews, and then they killed her. The execution was carried out in front of the house, just after Franciszek Augustyniak and Jan Siwiński were shot. A forty-year-old Jewish woman and her son were also shot at that time.