Jan Zaręba (?–1943) - Instytut Pileckiego
Jan Zaręba was commemorated by Pilecki Institute on 8 October 2020 in Stary Lipowiec.
He was a friend of Roman, the son of Wojciech and Anastazja Kusiak. He lived in nearby Aleksandrów. He reportedly visited Roman frequently, despite his father’s warnings. During the German occupation, the Kusiak family hid a young Jewish woman in their home. There was only one penalty for this type of act in occupied Poland: death. Unfortunately, the Jewish woman was captured by German gendarmes and forced to point out the houses where she had been given help. One of them was the Kusiak farm. That same day, when Jan went to see his friend, 5 January 1943, the gendarmes also arrived. The boy was forced to load farm animals onto the Germans’ carts. Realizing how tragic his situation was, he tried to flee. Roman went with him. The young men were shot by the Germans as they ran for the forest. Their bodies were thrown into the house that was then set on fire.