Yad
Vashem Israel Holocaust Museum to Honor Righteous Among the
Nations
By
Joel Leyden
Israel News Agency
Jerusalem,
Israel --- December 8, 2011 .... The following was communicated
by Yad Vashem to the Israel News Agency.
On Sunday,
December 11, 2011, the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Museum in
Israel will hold a ceremony posthumously honoring Jerzy Ponczynski,
as Righteous Among the Nations from Poland. His children, from
Israel and abroad, will accept the medal and certificate of honor
on his behalf. The event will take place in the presence of the
children of the Righteous and the survivor, Polish Ambassador
to Israel H.E. Agnieszka Magdziak Miszewska, family and friends.
A memorial ceremony in the Hall of Remembrance will be held at
11:00 a.m. followed by the awarding of the medal and certificate
in the Synagogue at Yad Vashem. The events will take place in
Hebrew and Polish.
At the beginning of 1942, Ita Zabara found herself wandering between
Kiev and Lvov. Her husband had disappeared, her one-and-a-half
year old daughter Svetlana was taken away by a Ukranian man in
an effort to rescue the toddler, and her parents and brother were
deported to the Caucasus region. She was now alone in the world.
Finding herself at a train station, but uncertain where to go,
she was forced by the Germans onto a train headed for Babi Yar.
When the train approached Rovno, Ita jumped from the train. She
then approached a young Pole who was fishing on the banks of the
river, and asked him for help. She confessed to him that she was
Jewish and being pursued. Luckily the young man, Jerzy Ponczynsky,
came to her aid. Initially, Jerzy hid Ita in the basement of his
parents, keeping her concealed from his mother and father. When
his parents left the house, Jerzy would bring her upstairs so
that she could wash up. Ita couldn't remain in her hiding place
for too long, and Jerzy moved her to his aunt's home. Later, when
denouncements of Jerzy's aunt for hiding Jews began to circulate,
Ita and Jerzy were once again forced to leave. Ita and Jerzy spent
the remainder of the war in the ghettos in Rovno and Czestochowa,
where they survived until liberation.
Jerzy and Ita married and had eight children. Seventeen years
after Ita parted from her daughter Svetlana, the two were reunited.
Ita passed away in 1987. Before his death in 1989, Jerzy told
his children that they should not remain in Poland, and that as
Jews they should move to Israel, where six of them now live.
On March 22, 2011, the Commission for the Designation of the Righteous
Among the Nations at Yad Vashem decided to award Jerzy Ponczynski
the title of Righteous Among the Nations. Information about the
Righteous Among the Nations Program is available at: http://www1.yadvashem.org/yv/en/righteous/index.asp
Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Martyrs and Heroes Remembrance
Authority, was established in 1953. Located in Jerusalem, Israel
it is dedicated to Holocaust remembrance, documentation, research
and education. www.yadvashem.org
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