Maria Huszcz-Borusińska and her family lived in Lviv.
Maria was a housewife and her husband was a baker. Her daughter Alicia recalls
that in their mixed family they spoke both Ukrainian and Polish, attended both
Greek Catholic and Roman Catholic churches and celebrated religious holidays in
both traditions.
The Nazi occupation was a turning point in the
family's life. Maria's husband was arrested by the Gestapo and sent to the Majdanek
concentration camp, where he died. Alicia recalls:
My
mother was one of thousands of women who found themselves in an extremely
critical and difficult situation. She was 29 years old when she suddenly found
herself alone with three tiny children. The youngest was one year old and the
oldest was six years old. However, she managed to raise these children, to feed
them, and she was able to take care of someone else's child as her own, and
certainly saved her life.
The child that Maria took under her protection was
Róża Kaufman. She also helped other Jewish acquaintances. Maria passed the food
to the ghetto, it was brought by little Alicia who wore an armband with the
Star of David. The Tauchman family (Kamila, Czesław, Renia and Tadeusz) hid in the
Huszcz's apartment for some time. However, due to denunciation by neighbours,
the Gestapo arrested them. Maria miraculously escaped punishment. There was no
more information about the fate of the Tauchmans, most likely they died in Lviv
or were deported to a death camp.
After a while, an acquaintance asked Maria for a favour.
12-year-old Róża Kaufman was hiding in her house, and she had to leave for a
few days. Maria agreed to accept the girl for the time being. However, the woman
did not return after a long time. Despite hesitation, fear and danger, Maria
left Róża in her house. Due to the suspicions of neighbours, she decided to
take the girl to her mother’s house in the town of Solec-Zdrój, where Róża stayed
till the end of the Nazi occupation. In addition, Maria hid her friend Tadeusz
Barmet for some time; he also survived the war.
Róża Kaufman moved to Israel after the war and changed
her name to Shoshanna Glickstein. She maintained close contact with Maria and
her children. At the request of Róża-Shoshanna, in 1987 Maria Huszcz-Borusińska
was recognized as one of the Righteous Among the Nations.