Stories of rescuers: Remigiusz Węgrzynowicz ID: 211

One of the most difficult trials for Jews hiding indoors was constant confinement, lack of access to air and light, and constant stress due to fear of exposure. This story shows how important psychological support was as one's resource to rescue.The story is a part of the theme Reactions of Lvivians to Holocaust, which was prepared within the program The Complicated Pages of Common History: Telling About World War II in Lviv.

Story

An important resource of the rescue was psychological support. Rescuers and those rescued were often linked by close personal contacts. At the request of his acquaintance Tadeusz Słowik, Remigiusz Węgrzynowicz, a student of the Academy of Veterinary Medicine, was hidding Słowik’s girlfriend Scharlotta Katz in Lviv from November 1942 to February 1943. The hiding place was a single room apartment at ul. Królowej Jadwigi 24, which was rented by Węgrzynowicz and his classmate.

One of the most difficult trials for Jews hiding indoors was constant confinement, lack of access to air and light, and constant stress due to fear of exposure. As Węgrzynowicz recalls, Scharlotta (Lotka) virtually did not leave her hiding place. However, despite the deadly threat, they went out to the cinema together several times in the evening (it was easier because of the Verdunkelung, an order to turn off all street lighting to mask the city from air strikes, which allowed them to move unnoticed through the streets). One day, they even dared to celebrate the New Year in a secret room nearby:

It was on the ground floor, and there were police somewhere nearby, we had to be careful… There was a gramophone… But we were already tired, and I remember that we left that room as soon as possible. I had a premonition that this place could be very dangerous. And indeed, they arrived there two days later. (...) However, no one was found there, fortunately. Someone told somewhere, because someone did it. (…), there were only a few chairs, but in any case the wall was closed and we could not be seen. So this New Year's Eve was sad, disturbing: we are in the backyard of the prison, the police, and having fun there. Anyway, we did it. We were young, we wanted to rejoice and dance, and Lotka was there with us…
(from an interview with R. Węgrzynowicz, 2009, collection of the Polin Museum)

Scharlotta Katz survived the war, in 1948 she married Tadeusz Słowik. Remigiusz Węgrzynowicz was awarded the title of Righteous Among the Nations in 1988.

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