“The Miller Wanted Ryfka to Stay at his Home but his Wife Said that She would Drown Her”: On the Family Members of Poles Who Assisted Jews

In this paper I deal with the issue of family members of Poles helping or rescuing Jews during the Holocaust in German-occupied Poland. Many Jewish fugitives from ghettos, forced labour camps or trains heading for death camps sought refuge in Polish homes and homesteads. Those Poles who decided to help persecuted Jews had to hide them both from German occupant and from Polish neighbours. However, in many cases, Jews had to be hidden as well from the family members of Poles who helped Jewish escapees to survive. In my paper I investigate the question of attitudes of these family members towards Jews in general and towards giving shelter to them or any assistance in particular. First of all I try to answer the question why some Poles had to hide their involvement in rescue activities from their family members. What happened when the family members discovered such involvement and how Poles assisting Jews responded then to attitudes taken by their relatives. Finally, I try to answer the question whether the attitudes of the family circle could affect the chances of survival of the hidden Jews. So far the Holocaust scholars have paid scant attention to family members relationships in the context of assisting Jews, although they have been fully aware of the occurrence of this phenomena. My presentation is based mainly on such primary sources as, among others, the Holocaust survivors testimonies Jewish Historical Institute, Warsaw, record group no. 301 and 302).