Zofia
and Zdzisław Bielińscy were a well-known medical family in interwar Lviv. Zdzisław
was an associate professor of physiology at the Medical Faculty of Lviv University,
and Zofia worked as his assistant. Maintaining contacts with students of
different nationalities, they publicly opposed the introduction of the practice
of numerus clausus in universities. The Bielińscy were fascinated by socialist
ideas, and their house was a meeting place for Polish, Ukrainian, and Jewish
left-wing intellectuals. During the Nazi occupation, the couple lived on ul.
Czarneckiego (now vul. Vynnychenka).
Realizing the mortal threat, Bieliński began to help
his Jewish acquaintances. "We helped because racial discrimination was
hateful to us, because we felt solidarity with the persecuted, we hated
fascism, and finally simply because we were Poles," Zofia Bielińska wrote
after the war.
Zdzisław got a job at a municipal hospital, where
there were two so-called "Jewish wards." Severely ill, exhausted Jews
from the Yanivsky forced labour camp were brought there. Bieliński did his best
to keep them in the hospital as long as possible. The doctor also visited the
Lviv ghetto, wearing an armband with the Star of David, to pass on food and
medicine to his Jewish acquaintances. Among others, he assisted Jerzy
Zieliński, Seweryn Bruh-Żurawicki, Janina Żurawicka, and Alfred Voegel. From
May 1943, when the persecution of Jews reached its apogee, Bieliński
temporarily hid ghetto fugitives in his hospital, in his private medical
office, and at home. By filling in fictitious patient cards, he saved time
looking for hiding places for them. In addition, the Bielińscy provided
financial support to the Jews hiding in the "Aryan" part of the city.
Bieliński also assisted his research mentor, Doctor of
Physiology, Professor Adolf Beck (1863–1942). He looked for safe hiding places
for him, and after the professor was exposed by the szmalcowniki, he
transported him to his hospital. However, a few days later, Adolf Beck was
arrested by the Gestapo. To avoid deportation and violent death, the professor
committed suicide by taking a capsule of cyanide.
Zdzisław Bieliński's life ended unexpectedly and
tragically: he died at the hands of the Polish underground on February 8, 1945,
receiving a letter with an explosive. Bieliński was accused of collaborating
with the Soviet regime because in 1939-41 he headed the Medical Faculty, and in
1944, after the arrival of the Red Army, he became deputy chairman of the Union
of Patriots of Poland (Związek Patriotów Polski, ZPP). Representatives
of the ZPP openly supported the establishment of Soviet rule in Poland and also
participated in the organization of the forced resettlement of Poles from Lviv
and Western Ukraine.
Zofia Bielińska also suffered from a letter with an
explosive, but survived and moved to Warsaw after the war. She worked at the
Institute of Food Hygiene. The Bielińscy were recognized as Righteous Among the
Nations on September 21, 1989.
