Henryk Rolirad
Henryk Rolirad (April 11, 1909 – January 4, 1984) was a Polish food systems engineer, who was recognized as a Righteous Among the Nations for saving Jews during WWII.[1]
Activity during WWII
In 1938, numerous Polish Jewish emigrants were deported from Nazi Germany back to Poland. Rolirad began assisting these refugees in the transit town of Zbąszyń before World War II even began.[2]
Rolirad was an active member of the "Security Corps" of the Home Army (AK) during the German occupation of Poland, and therefore he worked with the Jewish Military Union (Żydowski Związek Wojskowy) in the Warsaw Ghetto. Rolirad provided the Jews with food, medicine and forged documents, both inside the ghetto and out, and his house was used as a temporary refuge for Jews escaping from the ghetto. He also rented at least three more houses to hide more Jews in.[3]
On April 23, 1943, Rolirad was caught by Gestapo sheltering Jews in one of his houses. In German-occupied Poland, the penalty for helping Jews was death.[4] The Gestapo arrested Rolirad and two Jewish women; German secret police then took them into a truck. During transit, the truck stopped at an intersection, and the Gestapo man left the truck to enter a nearby house, leaving only two guards behind. A hand grenade was thrown into the truck by a member of the underground resistance who couldn't see who was inside. As a result, Rolirad was seriously injured[5] and remained disabled for the rest of his life.[6]
Personal life
In 1944, Rolirad met Maria Einstein, both originally from Poznań. He had come to know her while they were helping Jews in Zbąszyń. Rolirad looked after Einstein, thereby saving her life.
After the war, Rolirad married Einstein and in 1965 they immigrated to Israel with their daughters. They lived in Ramat Gan.
Rolirad died on January 4, 1984, from a malignant disease. He has been buried at the Jaffa Catholic Cemetery in Tel Aviv.[6]
Awards and recognition
On October 18, 1966, Yad Vashem recognized Henryk Rolirad as a Righteous Among the Nations.
See also
- Rescue of Jews by Poles during the Holocaust
- Home Army
- List of Righteous Among the Nations by country
References
- ↑ The Encyclopedia of the Righteous Among the Nations: Rescuers of Jews During the Holocaust. Yad Vashem. 2004. Search this book on
- ↑ "YAD VASHEM site, Rolirad Henryk". The Righteous Among The Nations. Retrieved 2020-11-22. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ According to YAD VASHEM ARCHIVES, Files of the Department for the Righteous Among the Nations, file number 218.
- ↑ Paldiel, Mordecai (1993). The Path of the Righteous: Gentile Rescuers of Jews During the Holocaust. KTAV Publishing House, Inc. p. 184. ISBN 978-0-88125-376-4.
Any Pole caught hiding a Jew could be shot on the spot... On November 10, 1942, the death penalty was enlarged to apply to those who help Jews “in any way”...
CS1 maint: Date and year (link) Search this book on
- ↑ Lewinówna, Zofia (1969). Righteous Among Nations: How Poles Helped the Jews, 1939-1945. Earlscourt Publications Limited. p. 153. Search this book on
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Patek, Artur (2016). "Polacy Sprawiedliwi pochowani na cmentarzu katolickim w Tel Awiwie-Jafie". Studia Historyczne. Cracow: Polish Academy of Sciences. ISSN 0025-1429.
pl - "Kiedy przewożono go policyjną ciężarówką do komendy Gestapo, członkowie podziemia zaatakowali samochód. Udało mu się uciec z transportu, ale od wybuchu granatu odniósł poważne obrażenia i do końca życia był inwalidą” eng. - "When he was transported in a police truck to the Gestapo headquarters, members of the underground attacked the car. He managed to escape from the transport but was seriously injured after the grenade blast and was disabled until the end of his life."
External links
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